ABSTRACT
“Blue man” assaults on black youth in suburban environments during the 2010s have shocked many Americans, angered others, and led to riots and defensive posturing. But why broach that subject at the start of an essay on the history of race in rural context? What does racialized violence in inner cities and suburbia during the early twenty-first century have to do with race in rural places in the past? Some might argue “nothing” and defend their position by enumerating the differences between rural and urban environments. Those who argue “something” might be hard pressed to articulate the connections because no straight lines link past acts to present unrest in a “post-racial” world. Suffice it to say that much has changed over the four hundred years since the first Africans arrived in North America. A great distance exists between the rural past and the urban and suburban present, but the rural constructs must not be ignored, because of their profound historic influence.
