Abstract
The eighth chapter considers three narratives that interviewees rely upon to structure their autobiographical memories of the process of integration: “regretted acts,” “risky confrontations,” and “defiant deeds.” Gill traces the origins of these narratives in popular culture. She analyzes her own recollections based on the transcript of an interview she gave about integration before she began this project. From this interview and new information acquired during an interview, she provides an example of how autobiographical memories can be reconstructed.
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Notes
- 1.
I did not directly confront the named student with the allegation of their classmate. I feared this would compromise confidentiality.
- 2.
The tales were about tricks they played on the marchers.
- 3.
The Birmingham News (9.13.1963:1) reports that students protesting school integration occupied the mayor’s office at lunchtime and “one climbed on the mayor’s desk and waved a confederate flag.”
- 4.
Among my twenty interviewees, four brought up their current religious faith and activities in our interviews in ways that presented Christianity as a core part of their identities. For example, when I contacted one man to set up an interview, he told me on the phone that he was now a Christian. In our interview he twice grounded his own racial views by saying that God saw all as equal and spoke of a number of close relationships he had formed through his church. Another mentioned several times the importance of her church activities and her love for the community developed through her church.
- 5.
While the interviews with my classmates were recorded and transcribed, I did not tape record the discussion with my mother, but typed notes immediately after our discussion.
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Gill, S.K. (2017). Techniques of Memory. In: Whites Recall the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham. Cultural Sociology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47136-5_8
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