“The American South is a geographical entity, a historical fact, a place in the imagination, and the homeland for an array of Americans who consider themeselves southerners. The region is often shrouded in romance and myth, but its realities are as intriguing, as intricate, as its legends.”
–Bill Ferris
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Original caption-- An old "African-American" man wearing a disheveled outfit, with one arm akimbo & the other propping him up with a stick, casually standing in small Southern town-- 1938.
Original caption-- Window of The Poor Man's Store on Beale Street in Memphis, TN 1938.
Famous image of African American flood victims lined up to get food & clothing fr. Red Cross relief station in front of billboard ironically extolling WORLD'S HIGHEST STANDARD OF LIVING/ THERE'S NO WAY LIKE THE AMERICAN WAY-- Louisville, KY 1937.
Plantation sharecropper Lonnie Fair's daughter dressing for Sunday church services in sparsely furnished room-- MS 1936.
Plantation sharecropper Lonnie Fair helping his son dress in preparation for Sunday church services-- MS, 1936.
That can’t be the original caption on that first photo, because the term “African-American” didn’t exist in 1938. They used either “negro” or “colored” at that time.
Ah. Very good point, you’re right. I bet they PC’d the original caption later… not too many people use the word akimbo these days either.
It seems unlikely Life would change the caption on their website and then claim it as the original. But I don’t know for sure.
‘African-American’ could have been used when the photos were originally published, even though that was before the term was widely used or had acquired its PC connotations.
A little investigation has shown me to be wrong: African-American dates back to 1855 (!). However, I still maintain that the caption has been bowdlerized, as it simply wasn’t a common term at the time the photo was taken.