The Southern drawl of Tom Petty. The epic, slow grandeur of “Gone with the Wind.” The “Sound and Fury” of a NASCAR photo finish. The savory smells of the kitchenette — all are reminiscent of a Southern way of life we think we know. The real South, though, is considerably more complex. It’s also rapidly changing.
In her new book, “The New Mind of the South,” author Tracy Thompson explains how she felt compelled to return to her Southern upbringing to piece back together the history she learned through a prism of segregation in the post-Jim Crow-era South.
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