Crescent City Girls: The Lives of Young Black Women in Segregated New Orleans (Gender and American Culture)

What Was It Like To Grow Up Black And Female In The Segregated South? To Answer This Question, Lakisha Simmons Blends Social History And Cultural Studies, Recreating Children's Streets And Neighborhoods Within Jim Crow New Orleans And Offering A Rare Look Into Black Girls' Personal Lives. Simmons Argues That These Children Faced The Difficult Task Of Adhering To Middle-class Expectations Of Purity And Respectability Even As They Encountered The Daily Realities Of Jim Crow Violence, Which Included Interracial Sexual Aggression, Street Harassment, And Presumptions Of Black Girls' Impurity. Simmons Makes Use Of Oral Histories, The Black And White Press, Social Workers' Reports, Police Reports, Girls' Fiction Writing, And Photography To Tell The Stories Of Individual Girls: Some From Poor, Working-class Families; Some From Middle-class, Respectable Families; And Some Caught In The Jim Crow Judicial System. These Voices Come Together To Create A Group Biography Of Ordinary Girls Living In An Extraordinary Time, Girls Who Did Not Intend To Make History But Whose Stories Transform Our Understanding Of Both Segregation And Childhood. -- Publisher's Description Introduction: Growing Up Within The Double Bind, 1930-1954 -- Suppose They Don't Want Us Here? Mental Mapping Of Jim Crow New Orleans -- A Street Where Girls Were Meddled : Insults And Street Harassment -- Defending Her Honor : Interracial Sexual Violence, Silences, And Respectability -- The Geography Of Niceness : Morality, Anxiety, And Black Girlhood -- Relationships Unbecoming Of A Girl Her Age : Sexual Delinquency And The House Of The Good Shepherd -- Make-believe Land : Pleasure In Black Girl's Lives -- Epilogue : Jim Crow Girls, Hurricane Katrina Women. Lakisha Michelle Simmons. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 245-260) And Index. MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict Cover 1 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 12 INTRODUCTION: Growing Up within the Double Bind, 1930–1954 18 ONE: Suppose They Don’t Want Us Here? Mental Mapping of Jim Crow New Orleans 42 TWO: A Street Where Girls Were Meddled: Insults and Street Harassment 73 THREE: Defending Her Honor: Interracial Sexual Violence, Silences, and Respectability 99 FOUR: The Geography of Niceness: Morality, Anxiety, and Black Girlhood 125 FIVE: Relationships Unbecoming of a Girl Her Age: Sexual Delinquency and the House of the Good Shepherd 158 SIX: Make-Believe Land: Pleasure in Black Girls’ Lives 191 EPILOGUE: Jim Crow Girls, Hurricane Katrina Women 223 Notes 234 Bibliography 262 Index 278 A 278 B 278 C 278 D 279 E 279 F 279 G 279 H 279 I 280 J 280 K 280 L 280 M 280 N 281 O 281 P 281 Q 281 R 281 S 282 T 282 U 282 V 282 W 282 X 283 Y 283 Z 283 Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 12 INTRODUCTION: Growing Up within the Double Bind, 1930–1954......Page 18 ONE: Suppose They Don’t Want Us Here? Mental Mapping of Jim Crow New Orleans......Page 42 TWO: A Street Where Girls Were Meddled: Insults and Street Harassment......Page 73 THREE: Defending Her Honor: Interracial Sexual Violence, Silences, and Respectability......Page 99 FOUR: The Geography of Niceness: Morality, Anxiety, and Black Girlhood......Page 125 FIVE: Relationships Unbecoming of a Girl Her Age: Sexual Delinquency and the House of the Good Shepherd......Page 158 SIX: Make-Believe Land: Pleasure in Black Girls’ Lives......Page 191 EPILOGUE: Jim Crow Girls, Hurricane Katrina Women......Page 223 Notes......Page 234 Bibliography......Page 262 C......Page 278 H......Page 279 M......Page 280 R......Page 281 W......Page 282 Z......Page 283 What was it like to grow up black and female in the segregated South? To answer this question, this book blends social history and cultural studies, recreating children's streets and neighborhoods within Jim Crow New Orleans and offering a rare look into black girls' personal lives. The book argues that these children faced the difficult task of adhering to middle-class expectations of purity and respectability even as they encountered the daily realities of Jim Crow violence, which included interracial sexual aggression, street harassment, and presumptions of black girls' impurity. What was it like to grow up black and female in the segregated South? To answer this question, LaKisha Simmons blends social history and cultural studies, recreating children's streets and neighbourhoods within Jim Crow New Orleans and offering a rare look into black girls' personal lives