From Yoknapatawpha County to St. Raphael Parish: Faulknerian Influence on the Works of Ernest J. Gaines

Author(s):  
John Wharton Lowe ◽  
Jay Watson

This essay examines affinities between Faulkner and one of the South’s most important contemporary authors, Ernest J. Gaines. It begins by noting the powerful geographical and intertextual imagination at work in the two writers: each created a bounded fictional domain that served as the principal setting for numerous works (Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha County and Gaines’s Louisiana parish of St. Raphael), each used recurring characters across multiple fictions and each writer’s assembled books speak in a kind of dialogue with each other that integrates and amplifies the impact of the overall body of work. By his own admission, Gaines learned much from Faulkner, but just as important are the things to avoid that he found in Faulkner. Where Faulkner too often portrays African Americans in narrow terms of victimization or sheer endurance, Gaines went beyond those limitations to present black figures who achieve a full human standing acknowledged by the larger community.

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S338-S339
Author(s):  
Katherine Kricorian ◽  
Ozlem Equils ◽  
Karin Kricorian ◽  
Brianna Rochebrun

Abstract Background African-Americans suffer a disproportionate impact from COVID-19, comprising about 24% of deaths while representing 13% of the US population. We conducted a study to understand COVID-19’s impact on African-Americans’ health attitudes. Methods In April 2020, we surveyed online a national sample of US adults on their health attitudes and behaviors before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. Comparisons were analyzed using chi-squared tests. Results A total of 2,544 individuals completed the survey: 473 African-Americans, 282 Hispanics and 1,799 Caucasians responded. The mean ages of each group were 41.4 ± 11 years, 38.0 ± 11 years and 45.7 ± 13 years, respectively. Before COVID-19, African-Americans were least likely to report they had trust in science (53% vs. 68% for Hispanics and 77% for Caucasians; p< .01) and government (16% vs. 27% and 28%; p< .01). After COVID-19, the percentage of African-Americans who had trust in science and government fell further to 44% (p< .01) and 9% (p< .01), respectively, and remained significantly lower than the other two groups. Twice as many African-Americans vs. Caucasians stopped following science and health news after COVID-19 (9% vs. 4%, p< .01). The percentage of African-Americans who reported anxiety about their health rose from 30% pre-COVID to 53% after the outbreak (p< .01), and the percentage who reported anxiety about their family members’ health rose from 35% to 61% (p< .01). Only 25% of African-Americans surveyed agreed that if they contracted COVID-19, they were confident they would get the healthcare needed. Conclusion After COVID-19, African-Americans’ trust in science and government fell and a meaningful percentage stopped following science and health news, possibly reducing access to important health information. The percentage of African-Americans reporting anxiety about the future, about their health and about their family members’ health all increased significantly after COVID-19. Only a minority of African-Americans agreed they would get the needed healthcare if they contracted COVID-19. These findings have implications for the mental health and behavioral impacts of COVID-19 on African-Americans and for the development of health communications to high-disease-incidence populations. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures


Diabetes Care ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. M. Erdman ◽  
C. B. Cook ◽  
K. J. Greenlund ◽  
W. H. Giles ◽  
I. El-Kebbi ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 117 (14) ◽  
pp. 53-74
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Span

This chapter details how slavery, segregation, and racism impacted the educational experiences of African Americans from the colonial era to the present. It offers a historical overview of the African American educational experience and uses archival data and secondary source analysis to illustrate that America has yet to be a truly post-slavery and post-segregation society, let alone a post-racial society.


2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Halloran

The aim of this article is to explicate a terror management theory (TMT) analysis of the poor social and psychological well-being of African Americans by drawing upon a model of cultural trauma to explain the antecedents and effects of posttraumatic slave syndrome. Cultural trauma is defined as a state that occurs when a people’s cultural worldview has been destabilized to the point where it does not effectively meet its TMT function of providing a buffer against basic anxiety and uncertainty. The article outlines how the impact of slavery was a significant trauma to African American people, which was carried forward through successive generations; providing an explanation of their current anxiety-related conditions, poor health, and maladaptive behaviors. Findings from health and justice research and qualitative data from narratives of African Americans are presented to substantiate the adaptation of a model of cultural trauma for understanding the contemporary situation of African Americans.


Author(s):  
Muse Abdi

Disproportionate rates of HIV infection among African Americans is an increasing concern in the United States. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of HIV prevention programs on African Americans and social determinants fueling HIV-related risk behaviors. Using literature, this study analyzed the incidences of HIV infection among African Americans in the United States and the effectiveness of the prevention programs. African Americans struggle with mass incarceration, drugs, stigma, criminalization, and lack of economic opportunities, which contribute to the HIV-related risk behaviors. The existing traditional prevention programs in place are not working for African Americans. Tailored and culturally relevant programs should be designed and implemented. Further studies are needed to establish the causal relationships and develop preventive measures.


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