ABSTRACT
To the author's delight, when his godson graduated from a Chicago high school, he wanted to go to a Southern college. Unfortunately he picked Duke, which means that his idea of the South has no doubt come to include things like the rice diet, Mercedes Marxism, and holistic therapy with crystals. For a graduation present the author gave him a copy of the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, produced by a team at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. The encyclopedia has a problem, and it is one that, in its own little way, reflects a broader problem for the South and the nation. The editors have set aside separate sections on "Black Life" and "Women's Life". The result is shabby treatment of some Southern blacks and women who deserve better, and maybe better treatment for others than they deserve.
