Religion, Politics, and Belonging in a Southern Community
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University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2017 The Hospitable South: Religion, Politics, And Belonging In A Southern Community Betsie Garner University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Sociology Commons Recommended Citation Garner, Betsie, "The Hospitable South: Religion, Politics, And Belonging In A Southern Community" (2017). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 2299. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2299 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2299 For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Hospitable South: Religion, Politics, And Belonging In A Southern Community Abstract This dissertation interrogates the so-called myth of Southern hospitality. I review the historical origins of hospitality on antebellum plantations and engage with theoretical distinctions that have been made between hospitality as discourse and hospitality as practice. Given decades of social and political change in the region, I ask, how is Southern hospitality practiced today, and what are the consequences? I draw on ethnographic and interview data from a community study in Rockdale County, Georgia to explore how the culture of Southern hospitality became manifested as a set of religious practices through which residents determined who did and did not belong in their local community. Originally a mostly-white farming community, Rockdale had witnessed decades of dramatic population growth and diversification during Metro Atlanta’s rapid expansion. I explain how changes like the arrival of immigrants and growth of non-white populations made the community a fitting place for observing how Southern hospitality, with its ethos of gracious hosts and warm welcomes, was actually put into practice. My findings er veal that for Rockdale’s non-Hispanic black and white Christians, the majority group who occupied countless positions of power and influence, hospitality was understood as a prominent feature of Southern history and culture as well as a central tenet of Christian belief and practice. Through joint worship services, fellowship activities, evangelic efforts, and service projects, black and white Christians constructed reciprocal patterns of hospitality aimed at achieving racial reconciliation, and in doing so they sought to improve upon the South’s shameful reputation for race-based discrimination. At the same time however, this group also came under scrutiny for their decidedly inhospitable or even hostile treatment of others, including sexual, racial-ethnic, and religious minorities. I conclude that Southern hospitality was manifested as lived religion through practices which ultimately (re)produced social inequality in the community. By illustrating the rituals through which various types of people were either welcomed or neglected, brought into the fold or turned away, I argue that Southern hospitality may indeed take on mythic proportions but nonetheless continues to be practiced in , consequential ways. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Sociology First Advisor David Grazian Keywords community, culture, ethnography, identity, regional, southern Subject Categories Sociology This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2299 THE HOSPITABLE SOUTH: RELIGION, POLITICS, AND BELONGING IN A SOUTHERN COMMUNITY Betsie Garner A DISSERTATION in Sociology Presented to the Faculties oF the University oF Pennsylvania in Partial FulFillment oF the Requirements For the Degree oF Doctor oF Philosophy 2017 Supervisor oF Dissertation _______________________ David Grazian Associate ProFessor oF Sociology Graduate Group Chairperson __________________________ David Grazian, Associate ProFessor oF Sociology Dissertation Committee Robin Leidner, Associate ProFessor oF Sociology Randall Collins, Emeritus ProFessor oF Sociology THE HOSPITABLE SOUTH: RELIGION, POLITICS, AND BELONGING IN A SOUTHERN COMMUNITY © 2017 Betsie Garner iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many sources of assistance and encouragement have contributed to the successful completion of this dissertation. The people of Rockdale County, Georgia made my project possible by giving generously of their time and attention as eager research participants. The patience with which they tolerated my curiosity and even welcomed my scrutiny is truly remarkable. My adviser David Grazian exhibited considerable confidence in my earliest inkling for this project by believing it was worth pursuing, and his constructive criticism helped me to refine my hazy ideas into more focused lines of inquiry and argumentation. Along with Robin Leidner and Randall Collins, my entire dissertation committee demonstrated an unwavering enthusiasm for my work over the years and helped sustain my interest by posing thoughtful questions and sharing insightful commentary along the way. Sociology Department staff members similarly offered guidance with their skillful administrative support and uplifting reassurance. Aline Rowens, Audra Rodgers, Nancy Bolinski, Kathleen Dougherty, and Marcus Wright were integral to many of the tasks required of me, and their dedication to student success was a valuable asset. Organizers and participants at the following events gave me the opportunity to receive useful feedback on my research while it was still in-progress: the 2015, 2016, and 2017 Annual Meetings of the Southern Sociological Society; the 2015 and 2016 Annual Meetings of the American Sociological Association; the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion; the 2016 New Rural-Urban Interface Conference; and a 2016 Urban Ethnography Workshop at the University of Pennsylvania Sociology Department. Funding from the following University of Pennsylvania sources made my endeavor affordable: a Benjamin Franklin Fellowship; a Dissertation Research Fellowship; three Gertrude and Otto Pollak Summer Research Fellowships; and two Gertrude and Otto Pollak ASA Travel Awards. A whole host of fellow sociology graduate students contributed to a culture of collaboration and camaraderie in our department which I found to be crucially important. As a newbie I was introduced to second-year students Aliya Rao and Rachel Ellis who made a habit of offering me practical support and sage advice throughout my graduate school career. I was assigned at various points to mentor Sarah Adeyinka-Skold and Chelsea Wahl but inevitably realized it was I who benefitted most from the pairings. Overall, I leaned most heavily on Patricia Tevington and Sarah Zelner, colleagues who came to be trusted confidants and cherished friends. These six women are a brilliant bunch, and I aspire to be more like each of them. Beyond Penn, I benefitted from the steadfast devotion of many family members and friends. My husband Andrew Harvard deserves that special recognition reserved for people who accompany their significant others on ethnographic adventures. He happily sacrificed many of his own wants and desires in order to support the demands of my research method. I could not have asked for a better person to have by my side. iv ABSTRACT THE HOSPITABLE SOUTH: RELIGION, POLITICS, AND BELONGING IN A SOUTHERN COMMUNITY Betsie Garner David Grazian This dissertation interrogates the so-called myth of Southern hospitality. I review the historical origins of hospitality on antebellum plantations and engage with theoretical distinctions that have been made between hospitality as discourse and hospitality as practice. Given decades of social and political change in the region, I ask, how is Southern hospitality practiced today, and what are the consequences? I draw on ethnographic and interview data from a community study in Rockdale County, Georgia to explore how the culture of Southern hospitality became manifested as a set of religious practices through which residents determined who did and did not belong in their local community. Originally a mostly-white farming community, Rockdale had witnessed decades of dramatic population growth and diversification during Metro Atlanta’s rapid expansion. I explain how changes like the arrival of immigrants and growth of non-white populations made the community a fitting place for observing how Southern hospitality, with its ethos of gracious hosts and warm welcomes, was actually put into practice. My findings reveal that for Rockdale’s non-Hispanic black and white Christians, the majority group who occupied countless positions of power and influence, hospitality was understood as a prominent feature of Southern history and culture as well as a central tenet of Christian belief and practice. Through joint worship services, fellowship activities, evangelic efforts, and service projects, black and white Christians constructed reciprocal patterns of hospitality aimed at achieving racial reconciliation, and in doing so they sought to improve upon the South’s shameful reputation for race-based discrimination. At the same time however, this group also came under scrutiny for their decidedly inhospitable or even hostile treatment of others, including sexual, racial-ethnic, and religious minorities. v I conclude that Southern hospitality was manifested as lived religion through practices which ultimately (re)produced social inequality in the community. By illustrating the rituals through which various types of people were either welcomed