The Prevailing South

When Jimmy Carter was elected President in 1976, pundits hailed the advent of a “New South” and proclaimed an end to a century of separation. Twelve years later, both the Democrats and the Republicans went to the South to select their candidates. Inspired by this historic occasion, The Prevailing South presents some of the region’s foremost writers, historians and thinkers in an important reevaluation of the South and its role in American politics and culture.

C. Vann Woodward, eminent historian and author of The Burden of Southern History, sets the tone for the collection by defining the South’s new relationship with the rest of the country. He writes:

The remaining distinctiveness ... no longer comes at the cost of isolation, withdrawal or intransigence on the part of the South, or rejection and indifference on the part of the rest of the country, as it once did. The South no longer looks to the past for its guidelines, and it faces a future of opportunity and national influence—the promise of once more being wanted and needed.

Sixteen others join him in recording and analyzing this shift in the thinking of Southerners and non-Southerners alike, touching on almost every significant aspect of American life.

Originally commissioned by the Atlanta Journal and Constitution for the Democratic National Convention, The Prevailing South examines a changing South and a changing America at an unprecedented time in our history. Not since the classic I’ll Take My Stand in the thirties has such an impressive group of writers and thinkers turned their attention to the crucial issues raised in this collection.

Alex Haley contributed to The Prevailing South: Life & Politics In A Changing Culture by writing the preface and an essay.