Eastern Illinois University The Keep
Faculty Research and Creative Activity Communication Studies
April 2005 Race and Blues Tourism: A Comparison of Two Lodging Alternatives in Clarksdale, Mississippi Stephen A. King Eastern Illinois University, [email protected]
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Recommended Citation King, Stephen A., "Race and Blues Tourism: A Comparison of Two Lodging Alternatives in Clarksdale, Mississippi" (2005). Faculty Research and Creative Activity. 14. http://thekeep.eiu.edu/commstudies_fac/14
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Communication Studies at The Keep. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Research and Creative Activity by an authorized administrator of The Keep. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Race and Blues Tourism: A Co1npari on of Two Lodging A lternatives in Clark dale, Mississippi hy Stephen A. King
1 am the hlue.\. / lived the hlues. Mother {Z. L. l lill] Sll)' yott liw che blues, wall< the hlue', wll< the bl1ies · L' nles.\ 'IOll lmow che blues it·.~ hard w 1mderswml the blues. A lot /Jeu/Jle had w re£ul about the blHes. I liwd iL. - Frank "Rat" Ratliff, owner of the Riverside l lord
rhl' pnnre-.L ... rate 111 rht: 11n11111, thl' f,lcl 1-. th
26 as rrimary tourist experiences" (Craik 1997, fied because of the folk revival movement in 113 ). the 1960s, the appropriation nf blues by rock As a subset of a larger international indus and roll hands such '1'- the Rolling Stones and try, hlues tourism encnmra~ses a complex the Animals, and the "heightened vis1hdit} of series of often interrelated and multidimen black culture in the wake of the pnst-civil sional puhlic and private sector organizations, rights era." In addition, foreign visiwrs (e.g., from hlues museums to Chambers of Canadians, Europeans, and Asians) also m 27 Exterior of R1n:niJe I lotd. Phoco~a/1h fr.. Srephen A. 1'in~ dl'nt lm H 1gh" ·•) 61 .md tran ... rorred to the L oL 29 able." During my stay, Rarliff turned away three men wishing to rent rooms for four weeb. Overnight guests arc often re4u1red to undergo the same "interviewing" process, albeit a less ohvious and rigorous one. Arriving guests are ushered into the lohhy (which resemhles a living worn), asked to sign a guest book, and rarticipate in a 30- tn 60-minute "inrervie>\'." The interview resembles an extended monologue rather than a traditional question-and-answer format. This initial inter action serves a number of imrortant functiom: it allows the owner to discuss the historical imrorrnnce of the Riverside I Intel to the development of 1he blues in the area; it also allows guesb to become acquainted with Ratliff and the memory of his mother, Z. L. I lill; finally, the initial conversation allows Ratliff to evaluate each guest's ethos. Although the rules mostly aprly to long-term tenants, Ratliff did not hesitate rn discuss the importance of rules during our initial Bl11es Clalle1')' rn F1rn Floor Hallway at R1t'ersidc cncoun ter: Hotel. Phowgra/>h hy Stephen A. 1'ing Ratliff prefers to :-.pend most of his time at the In orJer to live, you h 31 Auchmutey, the Shack Ur Inn was open for security for blues mus1c1am who "till were three years hctore the first African American :-.truggling to build their careers, musicians guests arri,·eJ. Yet, in recent years, the Inn\ who would later become international recnrd customer hase has become more udturally and ing srnrs. According to Rarliff, the Riverside raLi While the Riverside Hotel has been in operation for over sixty years, the Shack Up Inn's connection is in fact longer in duration hecause it is located on a plantation, arguably one of the primary geneses of hlucs music. Blues expert Paul Oliver (2001, 7 30) argued that the origim of the blues were rooted in the " co II ect1ve. unaccompanied work-songs nf the plantation culture." For the slave, music- whether in the form of fielJ hollers, group work songs, or drumming--sen'ed to communi cate hidden messages, protest working condi tions, create solidarity within the Black com Be.~~rl' Snuth lfoom tll the Rn enicle Hotel munity, or act as a vehicle for personal cathar Phowgmph hy Ste/Jhen A. 1-:ing. sis. On the plantation, the slaves were largely re_sponsible for picking cotton and ocher forms hedrnom is a "special" place. The dimly lit nt labor-intensive work such as preparing room contains a full-size bed, a night stand, meals. Uncooperative slaves were whipped, and a small Jresser. A large painting of Smith beaten, starved, and subjected to other forms (with the ti tie "Empress of the Blues" imcribed of barbarity "unparalleled until Auschwitz" at the bottom of the frame) hangs over the (Oliver 1998, l 0). Mnst assuredly, the Delt;1's hed. On an adjoining wall, guests can view a plantation culture "secureld] the firm estab large painting which depicts an oversized lishment of modem capitalist slavery on the Black angel hovering over two small children Old Southwest frontier" (W11ods 1998, 48). who arc trying to cross a bridge during a storm. In response to this violent environment, Jim Auchmutcy of the Detroit Free Press Blacks created what wt1uld later he codified as describcJ the room as "silent and gloomy as a "the blues" to express the hardships and alien mm1soleu m." ation of second-class citizenship. Although Finally, while the hotel's main hallway and the blues is rooted in shwel), most scholars the Be:;sie Smith Rllom inform visitors of the agree that the hlues was not classified ;1s a R~vcrside's historical link to the development musical genre until the late 1890s. Man) of of the Delta blues, the hotel's close proximity the genre's early stars were born and lived on to the New World District furrher accentuates plantatiom (e.g., Charley Patton), and the the intimate relationship between the hotel titles of !>cvernl blues songs--"Plantation Song" and the blues. The New World District is (Son House), "Old Plantation" (Fats Waller), located south of the railroad crncb (which and "Wnrking on Stovall's Plantation" served as the dividing line between the Black (Muddy Waters)--rcvealed how the ngms of community and the downtown area, which planration life continued to influence the was traditionally reserved for Whites), and its direction of t~ese more topical blues songs. importance to the development of the blues While life improved for Blacks after the cannot he overestimated (Cheseborough Civil War, many workers endured a world still 2001, 74). ln the 1930sand 1940s, the distinct marked by "hard labor, institutilmal discrimi was alive with bustling restaurants, street ven nation; the threat of violence, death, and dors, blues clubs, and prostitution house;,. imprisonment" (Cobb l 992, 282). Typically Even today, despite the area's general disrepair, employing between 600 to 1000 workers, plan the New World District b still the "liveliest tation owner!> habitually exploited workers part of town" in the evenings, primarily \\ ith the hupl' nf securing huge pnifm, at the whl'rl' members of ,1 Lommun1ty, tncludmg ullKlusion nf a harvest season. As Oliver tenant farmers and field workers, collL'l ted ( l 998, I 0) uirrecrly ohserved, umditinns un their pa1chl'cb and purch,1sed groceries, thl' pl,mtations '\.med \\ 1dely," and .1pparent duth1ng, and other -..uppl1L's. Go1kl-. WL're I) ~ l1)ps1m \\".Is far n11m~ genemw. th.111 other ,1\ ;11lahle on ued1t, alheit extreme I) high pl.mtatiun tl\\ ners uf his time. ALnmlmg tu tntl'rl"'t rate-.. were charged ,ls a means tn keep Talhut, he \\;Is nm· uf the hrst plantauun own \\'urker.., "111 debt" t\l their empln}er-.. Man7 ers in the c1rea to nffer wnrker!'t health benefits Rl,1Lk field hands and tenants were 1lltteratL' and a reuremenr progrn111. De1>pite 1 lnpsnn's and forbidden to develop rudimentary mathe \'trtues, tlw working conditiom nn his planra maricnl 'ikill .... Often, pl1mtatinn owners would Clon and other farms in the .1rea prm ided d1-.mbute food and clothmg in lieu of c.ish, musiu;ms the impetus to write songs ah1)l1t although BhKks -..1Hnet1mes rl'ce1\'ed despair, pain, .md release. Oh\ 1nusl), e\ en the "Christmas" bonuses. "From the ... candp111nt nf hest plantatinn s) stems reinforced an .1sy m the pl.mter," wrote hiswn,111 James Cohh ml'trical relatinnsh1p het\\een trategy m deal mg White mmnnry .md ,1 powerless Rl 35 frL'e from the uinstramb" nt daily life (Wang n1ghr:-.tanJ, a TV, and a small rdngerator. 1999, 352, 359). The :,econJ t)re. umstn1L Smee guesh must share ,1 uimmun,tl b,uh tl\·e 36 ftt:,nions, the "aura of authenticity remaim, We JUst worked on the msiJe And hir the accordmg to Rrad Wheeler, as noted 111 a 8 most part the) look ltkl' they did 100 year ag11" June 2002 .uttcle puhlt,,heJ in The Glohe and (Ntltional Public Rad1u). Mail. AccorJmg to the Inn's own pn1mot1on Whtie the cxtem)r ha-, heen kfr '"au n.1tu al material, hlue-. fans '\hould not miss the ral, "'as the Inn's promotional matenab prom unique opportunttr rn ... stay in an authen ise, there have been cxten-,1,·e rcnovanons to tic cultural icnn--the shotgun shack." This the structure's interior design. For L'xample, theml' is reinforced and repeated on the com the Robert Clay Sh,Kk\ lmgin.11 floor plan pany's weh:-.1te: "[The shacb'] corrugated tin (two large bedrooms with a kitchen locnted m roof and Mississippi cypre~s walls will conjure rhe hack) has been reshaped rn include a liv visions of a bygone era. Restored only enough ing room/den, kitchen, bathroom, and hack to accnmmndatc 2 l st century cxpccwtions .. bedroom. The interior walls haH' hel'n pres . the shacks prm ide comfort as well as authen sure washed and ckaned, '>Ome sL'Ltllm" WL'rL' ticity" (The Shack Up Inn 2003). repl,Ked with wood frnm nHn mg Lr 37 mishmash of recycled materials." Similarly, tourists to Jistingu ish bet ween "real" and Jennifer Spencer of the Commercial A/)/Jeal "fake" toured objects. Morem-cr, the Shack Up depicted the shacks' impnrted items as '\cnti Inn's contrived nature is further minimi:cd hy mental" and "downright tacky." Nonetheless, its almost seamless relationship with ib sur each shack has been carefully rccomtructed to rounding environment. increase its "authentic" look. Perhaps, Ratliff\ critique best sums up this These seemingly "authentic" objects easily difference between objective and contrived merge with some ot Robert Clay\ original authenticity: "What'd he Uames Ru tier] got? belongings. ln the bathroom, S\)!l1e of Clay\ I le Uust] got started. I've been here. This was old m\.'Jicines arc on display, including a can huilt in 1944. I'm li\'ing on hbtnry. They're of Sulfate 7.20 Diuretic (used for those suffer trying to survi\'e ()11 hiswry.... I got the his ing from kidney problems) and a bottle of 666 tory." Preparattnn with the numher emhlazoned on the fnmt of the box. Fm blues fans, thi-.. item is Conclusion ot special interest because it highlights the long-standing association of the blues with the Despite some minor external and inter occult. In addition, the owners also found and nal mmlificatinm, the Ri\'erside Hotel has prcser\'ed Clay's 1rnn, wooden ironing board, maintained its (objccti\'e) authenticity for and dresser drawer. In the hallway leading to ll\ er half a century. In contrast, the Shack Up the hack of the shack, gucsb will find a picture is located on a local plantation, for some a vis ot Clay ~tanding nn the front porch of his ible reminder of the difficult working and liv shack. As reported hy Bill Minor in the ing conditions that many blues mu-..icians and Clarion-Ledger, Talbot \\'as quoted as saying their families endured. Yet the plantation\ that he belie\'cs that the Rohert Clay Shack transformation intn a wurist ,1ttrnction. l«1s ser\'es to hoth prcser\'e history and honor radically reconstructed the meaning of some of Clay: "To me, Robert Clny wa' a real hero. its more obvious symbols of oppression. We're honoring blacb, not making fun l)f Finally, although each shnck spl)rts its nrigmal them. Rubert Clay was a thinker, we find evi outer frame, the interior has heen almost umi dence of that e\'cryday. I le\ an example nt plctcly restructured in order to pnwide what makes America grcac." tourists, unaccustomed to living without run The Shack Up Inn\ "authenticity" 1s alM) nmg water and electricity, all the "comfort~ of enhanced b) 1ts relationship with its surround home." While the Shack Up Inn ts largely a ing rural landscape. Although local farmers contri\'ed affair, its Ov\' ncr~ have blended some have destroyed many -,hacks, some of these original artifacts with imported items to structures still exist on forms throughout the diminish the shack\ st,1gc:d appearance. Delta region. Thus, the six shacks easily merge Yet the Shack Up Inn's lack of \lhJective wtth Hopson\ cotton gin, grain silo:,, and open authenticity doc-.. nnr explam why this estab fields. Cohen ( 1985, 298) has suggested th 39 in reality, hut for the success of which a great sion to convert sharecropper shacb into a Jeal nf make-helieve, on part of hnth perform tourist Jesrination: ers and audience, is nece-;sary. They willingly, even 1f often uncnnsciously, participate play Simon. Ha-. anyone suggested to you, 1'. Ir. fully in a game of 'as if: pretending that a con Talhot, thac they're just a little uncomfmtahle trived product is authentic, even if deep Jown ahnut this? Nnt--and I don't mean rn dnw any hys they arc not convinced of its authenticity." terical an;tlogies, hut, you knnw, for cxamrle, the scene nf ..,\ll11C' nf the death camps in Eastern Eurnpe On a fmal note, the ability of the Shack ha-. been preserved, but we Jon 't tum 1t intn a hotel Up Inn to satisfy the demands of hlues tourish also symbolizes a larger issue related to the pro Talbot.... \\e\·e had a fc\\' penrle rlMt duction of culture for tourist consumption: expressed a lnrh:, )Oll km1w, concern ahout ''hat historical revisionism. While the Riverside we're Jrnng. And que..,tioneJ why. Bur then, ynu I Intel has been turneJ into a tourist Jestina knnw, they're in such the min~1rity. I mean, 99.8 tion for many blues fans, the hotel has percent of the renple \\'hn have come here love changed very little since the days Sonny Bny ''hat we'n: Jnne. And nen--we've h 40 'uch a' R&R m11re •trrealing hccausl rlw hluc' pr11Ce" of the (l id S\lll(h" (t-.IUll:I\ 2001. ') hc<.:.lml' a''ou,it1..•,I 11·1th the Jim ('roll' era lll Stnkmg .i '1mdar nnlL'. the Bl11i>' ,"\.:u·, l'orHen,lcd ",h.1rl·u11pp1nl-! .md 'hanlil',, c1,rnhn.• 1d .md lorn rhe Inn i' playmg a s1g111flL-.111t n1k· 111 l'rod111.l-! "till' 11hi,kl')-, and ::-.alllrda\' night iukc jn111t," (l-.:111n1l11 d.1unt111g pnn~rn· of rhe rel-!llll1." 1997, 92). Morc111·t'r, R&B lahcb, 'ulh ,,, 4The author \\'ould I ike ti1 t h.111k I' Rem·e Ch1c.1gll\ kgend,1ry Chl'" Rc<..ords, rl•al1:ing that F,1,tL'r t11r hl'r signilk.int u1ntrth11t111ns 11h1lh \Vhlll' aud1cncl's ll'en~ larger and lllllrl' luu-at 11·l· impro1·cd the 111·er<1ll quality llf rhi, manuscnpt. rhan tl1l'lr Rla<..k uiunterparts, hcgan 11' prom!lte Chuck Berry ;mJ Bo D1dJley as "nn,s.11·er" •lrtlsts, References suh,equently umtnhut111g tn lhe "retn:nchment f11r hlue' 41 Ft\Q{fhe Sh,icknm-,rer File. 2003 Sh.Kk l.Jp Inn -. 2001. Blue,.ln Th< ,\;eu lhor.: Drtrronm') of )1 J,mu.1n 20(1) (""''·'h,H:kurmn.n1m/t:1q.html) \111.\rc and M11srcram, l·dued h) St;111k·\ ~ 1d1l'. 2n,I ed1t11m. ew Y11rk: Cln1\ e. Filene, Benpm111. 2000. Romancing 1h.: julk: /111/Jlic n1t.>moT)' cmd .\mairnn roor., m11src. Chard I !ill O' eal, J 1111. 2004a. Ddw h/110:' mu/1 k11 1'..rn'a' Unh·L•r-,ity nt North c.1rolma Pre.,.,. City, MO: Blufa1itertLa Ard11\l'' & Prnducn11ns FrL·nkt·l, Stephen, and Judy Walton. 2000. ---. 2004h. The c1nm nu111g we llspnni.: of the hluL''· Ba,arian l L·.1,·em11irrh and rhe 'ymholiL economy /.irn1g Blue,, MarLh-June, 16-)2, 124-145. nf ,1 tlu:me tmrn. The Geugraflhical Ret'ieu• 90: 5 59 5H4. R.nltff, Frank. 200). lntl'f\ IL'W h~ authnr. 1:1pc rewrding. Clarb,ble, Mis,., )0 Augu't. Clillette, BL·ck). 2003. ShaLk Up Inn draw' vi-.itor' lrnm .1n1un1l 1he mirld. Mrs.m.si/>/ll Hmm.:" Jo11111a/, S1hL·r, Ira. 1993. Marker111g authent1Lit\ in th1r1l J.mu•tr), 1)-19, 16-17. wnrld cnuntne,. Anna/., of Tc11tn\lll R.:'l'Clrch 20: 302-)1~. Clr.1:1,111, L),1\'ld. 2003. Blt1.: Chicago: rltl! s.:ard1 {tn wah.:n!lCll) in 11rhan h/11.:s dub.\. Ch1c.1g11: Uni\ eNI) 1:1lh1H, Bill. 2003. Int en IL'\\" h .nnhnr C'l.1rbd,1k. ot Ch1c,1g11 Prt'''· t--11"., l7 Augu,t. l lnp,nn ( ~L·ne,dPg1L,1I lnhinnat1on. 15 ~ept. 2L"IO). 111011, Jeff Todd. 1998. Thl' nl'\\ hluL'' toLtrl'>lll. ( '' "'''·hnp-,nn.cnmb.:L·m·al- I .hem). Arkamas Ro:t icu: A Journal of Ddca \rwlre' 9: 5-10. 1'.mnnn, Joy Bennett. 1997. Are Wh1tl'' t.1k111g nr The Sh.1ek Ur Inn. 2003. (~'~""'h,1Lkup111n.wm). arL' Hl.tLb g11 1ng away rhe hlues! Ehmn'. Sl·ptl·mher, 86· 92. Wald, Elijah. 2004. Emrf>rng- the /Jdw. Rohen Joltn"m and rhe inwnwm of rho: hl11l's. Ne\\ Ynrk: LL·ong, w.11 Tl•ng 1989. Culrure itnll rhL· -.r.HL': I hHperColl1m. t-..L111ut.1Ltur1ng n.1d1r1nns tnr tourhm. Crrtrcal \111Jr.:s 111 ~1ms Comm11nrcarion 6: )55- '75. Wang, N mg. L999. Rethink mg .1urhl'r1t1l'1ry 111 [\lllrl\111 experience . .\mwls of Tc1url\11t ul'\O:(!J'Ch 26: ~1.ih-e::1, Cu). 2002. lnren IL'\\ h) author. 'fapL' H9- )70. rL'1.:ord111g. Cl.1rbd,1k. ~ 1,,,., 27 September. \Xlnnd,, Cink. I 99S Do:tdo/m1.:n1 anesrd: chi! h/11.:s ~1urr N.111Pn.1 I PuhhL R.1d1n. 200 I. lncen 1ew: Bill Tdhnr Ynung, Mart111. 1999. The 'nu al cnn't ruL tum 11f of thL· I lnps1111 plantanon tn M1s-,1-.,1pp1 d1sLll''L's toun'r pl;Ke,. A1mrnlum (1t'CJf..•n1/1ha k1: '7 3 389. his plan-. IP rent out sharecropper sh,1cb tn tnurisr-,. WL•ckend Ed1uon Saturday, 22 Decemher (L':prn:>.\.ddr,i-,rare.L·du:2 I 2Hh irat1ona,p!th- I & u d_b::_+Q"o2Cl "o2C4°o2C8°o2C9). 0.1kley, C1de' 1997 The denl's music: a hr,tm') of thl! h/11.:s . 2nd ed1t1lln. London: [),l C.1rn. Ohwr, Paul. 19%. The stm: of ch.: hl11l!s. l'.\,1,tlln: orthc.1,rern Unl\·er,it) Pre''· 42 Copyright of Arkansas Review: A Journal of Delta Studies is the property of Arkansas Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.