Jim Crow Appalachia: Slavery By Another Name

At the end of the Civil War, the South emerged with destroyed transportation and shipping lines, a devastated economy, and no labor force. The North and South agreed slavery was an unacceptable form of American labor, but Black Americans were still viewed as an undesirable, inferior race in need of control. Over the next 100 years, the Appalachian South successfully re-established their system of racial caste under a new name, “Jim Crow,” a popular antebellum term. This discussion features storyteller and spoken word artist, Mitch Capel, along with Dr. Steven Nash, Associate Professor of history at East Tennessee State University, and Freedom Stories Project Director Dr. Alicestyne Turley as we explore the roots of Appalachian Jim Crow and its impact on how the region is viewed today.