Memphis and the Paradox of Place: Globalization in the American South
By Wanda Rushing
Book Report written by: Mary Anne Jusko, Robeson School, Champaign, IL
Wanda Rushing is an associate professor of sociology at the University of Memphis. She
has chosen to explore, through a “narrative, historical-sociological, case study approach”
(p.27) the idea of place, globalization, the South, and Memphis, which has been her home
for the past 12 years. The task took 5 years, including a one year sabbatical leave, and
has produced a very detailed, academic, and thought-provoking picture of Memphis.
Rushing supports her stance throughout the book that a place can maintain its identity and
uniqueness even with globalization impacting it, and that Memphis has indeed been
formed, shaped, reformed, and reshaped many times over in response to globalization as
well as other disruptions in its history, while still maintaining its integrity and identity.
The 18 pages of footnotes are easy to access and add much detail and specificity to the
read, and the 21 - page bibliography as well is very inclusive, citing reliable, primary
sources covering a span of a century of classic as well as more recent works on the topic
of the South.
This book takes the reader on an interesting journey through the music, art, museums,
parks, libraries, counties, yellow fever epidemics, and much more, of Memphis and the
surrounding area – the Mid-South. Although the book reads as a school textbook
initially, the case studies were eventually revealed, and the book became more readable
and enjoyable for the lay person. I was disappointed that there were only two graphics in
the book, as the rich descriptions made me want to see more. There is only one photo
and one diagram, yet these both are well chosen and very summative. The photo on page
41 is of the Nathan Bedford Forrest statue in Memphis’s Forrest Park. In the forefront of
the photo is the profile of an African American man, resting. In the background looms
the statue, larger than life, of the figure of Nathan Forrest on a horse. This photo
represents much conflict, which still exists in Memphis today. The photo by Mike Brown
captures the concept of “the paradox of memory.” Rushing explains how the past shapes
present memory, and the present selects the past memory it wishes to embrace and
preserve, forgetting some parts of it, remembering other parts, while restructuring the
image of the past as it is constantly revisited. And the fact that city officials chose, more
than 40 years after the end of the Civil war, this statue of a General from the Civil War to
display in the most prominent place of the city, speaks volumes. It was dedicated in 1905
in front of thousands of citizens. This image of a Confederate General, white male, slave
trader, Plantation Master, one of the first 13 founders of the KKK, and the Klan’s first
Grand Wizard, was chosen purposefully, with an agenda attached. It still stands in the
park today. Brown’s photo of the African American man resting in the foreground of this
statue is an example, a “testament” to the many years of manipulation and purposeful
design by city officials and other groups, such as the United Daughters of the
Confederacy, to form and shape the collective memory of Memphis citizens. The United
Daughters of the Confederacy aided in the efforts to shape the public memory and to
teach the future generations to accept their “place” in the social hierarchy. (pg.43) They
did this by purchasing textbooks, setting up scholarships, and building memorials all with
the purpose of remembering the “Confederacy and the Lost Cause” (pg.43)
The second graphic, a …“ Gallis map, shows Memphis at the center of global trade.”
(pg.87) It is a powerful graphic that shows how Memphis is truly a center-point, with
FedEx and Northeast Airline flights flying to most continents daily. Memphis is a
commercial center, with the industries of warehousing, transportation, and distribution
driving its economy. Many institutions and hospitals, including St. Jude Children’s
Research Hospital, are helping Memphis create a new biomedical technology industry.
Traditionally, however, Memphis has always put little money into education and has
recruited low paying job positions, which has contributed to the underachievement of
many generations. Today Tennessee, according to the 2003 US Census, ranks 40th in the
nation when looking at the number of 25 year olds and older that have graduated high
school. 79.5 percent of Memphians have a high school diploma. (The national average is
83.6 percent) Also, Tennessee ranks 43rd in the nation when looking at the number of 25
year olds and older that have a bachelor’s degree. 21.5 Memphians hold that degree, with
Memphis claiming 21 percent (the national average is 26 percent) (pg. 112) Rushing
states her case that the economic development is positive, but on the negative end is the
under-investment in “human capital” (pg.119). This underinvestment in education and its
people keeps inequalities alive in Memphis, and stifles its chances of becoming a “worldclass” city. (pg. 119) In studying Memphis and its struggle to position itself as a top
United States city, Rushing points out the need for the city to invest in its people – in the
education of Memphians.
Other inequalities Rushing delineates are the dual school systems, dual governments, and
the two annual carnivals. First, Memphis has two mayors, one for the city, and one for
the county. Secondly, there are two school systems, a large African American city school
system, and a smaller, mostly white county school system. ( pg.4) As well, the suburbs
are predominatenly affluent, and the urban area suffers with poverty but also some
affluence. Last, the yearly Carnival celebrations reflect the social order still in existence
today. Carnival Memphis, for the past 25 years, has become integrated, but the Carnival
king, queen, and president roles have been held by whites only. In 2007, Kemet (Black)
Jubilee operates separately from Carnival Memphis, with “relations between the two
organizations remaining amicable.” (pg.169). The carnivals continually re-establish
social order and class expectations.
Rushing also broaches the subjects of shame and embarrassment issues with the murder
of MLK, the delay of building a museum on the site, and disagreements about what the
museum should house as well as the purpose of the museum. Preserving Beale Street had
two schools of thought also, those that wanted to preserve its culture, music, and lifestyle
and those that wanted to tear it down for the same reasons, to restructure the area, to
“clean it up.” The demolition of Staxx testifies to this duality, and eventually The Stax
Museum of American Soul Music went up at the site.
In conclusion, Rushing’s book reveals how Memphis searches for its identity, rolls with
the punches of social inequality, and works through conflict. (pg.197) Rushing makes
clear that the citizens of Memphis continue to have a strong identity with their cultural
icons, their ongoing social battles, and their natural and human resources. These are all
place specific, and unique. The “spirit of place” (pg.197) that makes Memphis what it is
results from the combination of the old, combined with what is brought in through
globalization.
I highly recommend this book to the serious reader that is interested in learning more
about what a good case study is, and the appropriate use of a case study to learn about a
place. This book will increase the reader’s knowledge of the city of Memphis, its history
from the day it was founded in 1819 (one year after the Chickasaw Cession) by Andrew
Jackson, James Winchester, and John Overton, to present-day Memphis. The reader will
enjoy a deeper understanding of the economy, social structure, music, land use, and
promise of Memphis’s future. Most of all, it will reaffirm that in this age of
globalization, there is hope that a city can, and should, maintain its sense of identity, its
“place” not in spite of globalization, but hand in hand with it, with a blending of the old
and the new to continually redefine, relearn, and reshape , and maintain its own
uniqueness and identity.