The Long and Short of It

Some new basketball recruits?!

Today after a long day of traveling and sitting in Atlanta traffic we finally arrived in Birmingham, also known as ‘Bombingham, Alabama’. Before arriving, I had expectations that Birmingham was more of an urban society but being we haven’t made ventured into the city, I haven’t seen much urbanization. I have never been to Birmingham, but knowing its history made me believe that the atmosphere was going to be more racism based than other areas I have been. After interacting with some of the people here I noticed that some were just nice southern country folks like I am used to dealing with back home and in other parts of the south.

Once entering the restaurant, Irondale Cafe, I felt a sense that many of the customers were taking notice of the large diverse group that had came through the door. I do not feel that the only reason the customers were paying attention to out traveling group because of our quantity of persons but maybe because of the ethnic makeup of our group. In our traveling group, there are 6 black males and about 8 young white female students; no white males in our group. In the society of Birmingham, interacting with a group with the ethnic makeup we possess, may not be viewed the same as in another place not so ‘southern’ as this city. Many of the customers in the restaurant were older white couples that probably grew up/lived in the very segregated Birmingham, and probably believe some of the same ideas which were present during that time such as in aspects of racism. I noticed that there were no other black customers in the Cafe other than those on this trip which made me ask the question to myself, “Why are there not more blacks here?”

I did not have many interactions with many community members except for the waiter in the restaurant where we ate dinner. He was a very down to earth young man who engaged in friendly conversation contradicting my expectations of how white males would act when in contact with a group such as ours. I feel that in order to understand how some of the older citizens of Birmingham perceive black males or maybe even a group with the ethnic composition we possess, we must realize how things were (the culture) in the segregated south. In a reading from author Paul D. Escott he discussed how it was different interacting with Southerners and how polite the individuals were even though they may not particularly like every expect about you, or your way of thinking. I can see how that plays into society by examining our experience at the Irondale Cafe. I feel based of Escott and my interactions growing up in the South, that even though the staff and maybe some of the patrons of the Cafe may have came across as friendly and accepting us being there, but they probably have a harsh and maybe evil perception of us, because of the southern tradition of being nice and humble, those feelings would never be expressed.

Today was a long day. However, the day foreshadowed the fun that awaits the entire class during the 2-week trip. However, the thing that has fascinated me the most during the first day was how the leaders of the Civil Right Movement (ex. Dr. Martin Luther King) were able to see the interconnectedness of the events that were going on and how they affected everyone; because this is a very important component of sociology. This is important to sociology because one key to addressing any sociological problem is realizing that the problem is not just a personal issue; but affects a large number of people.

The Irondale Cafe was amazing for dinner. I had chicken, yams, mashed potatoes with gravy, and turnip greens. [The pit could really benefit from shadowing the cooks at this historical food establishment.] This restaurant has me really anticipating the food that I will be eating over the next two weeks.

Well ………. I need to get to sleep so I can get up for another day of enhanced learning.

Hello:

We had a 10 hour ride to Birmingham. While LONG, it was educational to hear the student reports and listen (and contribute) to the discussions of (a) social stratification and (b) what defines a southerner.

Many of the students from the south (even though their parents are from elsewhere) did not define themselves as “southerners.”

Everyone on the bus enjoyed the chapter by Dr. Escott.

We arrived at the hotel (Comfort Inn, Birmingham), checked in and within 90 minutes we were headed to the restaurant (Irondale Cafe’) a small, intimate place where the movie FRIED GREEN TOMATOES was filmed.

The food was OK. Cheap.

That ended day one.

Todat, 9AM we are having a tutorial session by Susan Smith and Lynn Sutton (Z Smith Reynolds Library). Everyone is listening and paying attention.

At 10AM we are off to downtown Birmingham to see sites and visit with public officials who are taking time from their Memorial Day weekend to visit with the class.

See ya,

Earl Smith

My first day on the trip was Good and Bad. The bad part of my trip was I could not make it to North Carolina to leave with the class and enjoy the class discussion and watch the movies and get to the know all the other students that were going on the trip. The good thing about it was I left at 1pm and got to Birmingham at 4pm, the bus left North Carolina at 8am and got here at 5pm. So the good thing about that was I didn’t have to make that long ride. What made my day go even better was we as a group ate at “Fried Green Tomatoes” and it was one of the best meals I ever had before. So overall I had an OK day for the first day, Peace.

Today was the first day of our trip to the South, and while we did not really get to see any of the sights planned for the trip, we were able to begin the discussion of social stratification in the American south. We had a very long bus ride from Winston-Salem to Birmingham, and it provided the class with a large amount of time to get to know each other and begin talking about the things we will experience in the next two weeks. We were able to hold class during the trip, which consisted of a combination of lecture and discussion of the readings, student presentations, and documentaries and films about our upcoming destinations. Probably the most interesting discussion we had as a class was concerning our own identifications as northerners or southerners, as well as talking about the stereotypes we have experienced in the south and what it truly means to be a southerner. As a self-proclaimed northerner, I found this conversation extremely interesting because I was able to get a glimpse into the cultural identities of people who consider themselves as southerners. I was also able to contribute to the conversation by discussing the differences I have observed between the north and the south, both good and bad, petty and significant.

After the long drive, we finally settled into the hotel, and headed to dinner at the Irondale cafe, also known as the original Whistle Stop Cafe, which inspired the movie Fried Green Tomatoes. We watched most of the movie on the way to Alabama, therefore it was interesting to experience the place that gave motivation to the well-known southern movie. While I am not much of a tomato fan, I felt that I needed to try the famous fried green tomatoes, which I did, and although they were not my favorite, I’m glad to have been able to experience them. Dinner was a great time, as has been everything else about the trip so far, even the long bus ride! Today, the first day of the trip has only increased my enthusiasm for the entire experience, and I cannot wait for the rest of it. I am especially excited to visit the 16^th Street Baptist Church tomorrow, because I did a report today on the four girls who were killed in a bombing there on September 15^th, 1963. I have really taken an interest in this story because of my presentation, and am really looking forward to seeing the place in person tomorrow.

We arrived at Wake early in the morning to load the bus and leave for Birmingham, Alabama. Today consisted mostly of traveling, but our time on the bus was divided between discussions, movies and nap time. For our first discussion we compared two theories that explain the social stratification systems. While Davis and Moore base one’s success on his/her willingness to make sacrifices and have “what it takes,” Wright takes a different stance. A neo-marxist, Wright discusses the various relationships between the ownership and exploitation of individuals. He says that the unexploitable are viewed as worthless in society; many “unexploitables” are in jail or the ghettos. Furthermore, unexploitable areas, often lower-class areas, contain little to no businesses other than Churches Chicken and a car wash. Wright’s explanation is at the basis for his disapproval of capitalist societies. I thought this dicussion was interesting because I find that people often use Davis and Moore’s claims to justify such high salaries in some professions, or to explain why it’s okay for others to work at minimum wage. Yet there are so many contradictions to this that it would be ignorant to believe that the American Dream, being rewarded for one’s hard work, is a reality. I hope this trip helps me to better understand the fallacies of Davis and Moore’s article and what can be done to change the current situation for those who are not benefited by our system of rewards.

Before we arrived in Birmingham, we watched Fried Green Tomatoes; so for dinner, we ate at the Irondale Cafe (where some of the film was shot). It was fun eating homemade sweet potatoes and fried green tomatoes (although I probably won’t order those ever again). The corn was also noteworthy and I am happy to announce that I have now eaten cream of corn not from a can. Our waiter goes to UAB and his name was Whittely Dikes- that was when I realized we really are in the deep South.

We made it to Birmingham after a very loooooong, but entertaining bus trip. It turns out, there is actually real content to this course. Who knew? (jk) Since I had been working on Hancock County Library preparation all week, I did the readings on the bus and my favorite one was the Paul Escott piece (I’ll have to tell him next time I see him). As a Yankee, still going through Southern acclimation, I had a few aha moments. Thanks, Paul!

Another treat was Fried Green Tomatoes, which was just getting good in a whodunit kind of way when we arrived at the Comfort Inn. Tonight we are eating at the restaurant that inspired the WhistleStop Cafe in the film (I’m sure Susan has a link somewhere).

So far, so good!