The big empty spaces in the west freak me out.
Word. All that unincorporated land. I had to move to Oregon before I learned there was such a thing as unincorporated land.
Now I'm all "blah blah project site is in unincorporated eastern San Diego County".
Ranges and townships are where it's at. None of that mushy New England County thing, with town meetings and wiggly roads. Tom Jefferson knew how to lay out a country, by golly. 160 acres should be enough to raise a family on! (Unless you live on the reservation and have no tools, supplies, water, training in agriculture, or farm animals. Sigh. The Dawes Act was a Very Bad Idea.)
Yes, I know I'm being silly.
But are there really large numbers of people out there who seriously think we should go back to Jim Crow laws, or something??
I wouldn't say I've encountered quite that, but I have met quite a few people who pretty much think that it would be better if everyone just stayed with "their own kind." The will never say anything overtly racist, but they simply don't see why black people have to come into schools or neighborhoods that used to be all white, rather than staying in their own schools and neighborhoods. (School segregation is one of the places that this comes up a lot.)
What is unincorporated land?
Consuela, are you in Oregon?
What is unincorporated land?
Land that's not part of any town.
Land that doesn't count as part of a town. Virginia is organized into cities (8 of them) and counties, because there are parts of every county that just isn't part of a town, so it needs a county to govern it.
Whereas, every square inch of Massachusetts is a town, even though many parts of it are still woods.
When I imagine each state as like a separate country I can begin to imagine.
When I imagine each state as like a separate country I can begin to imagine.
See, I had to do the reverse with Europe. I used to mentally picture all of the world's countries as being America-sized. When I finally got to Europe and realized that one could drive for 1 day and pass through 3 separate nations, I think I sprained something in my head. So now I just imagine Europe as a bunch of states--okay, states that have different languages, goverments, histories currencies...well, not so much the currencies anymore...
Hayden thanks for info. Will look up Goodwyn. I don't have much specific stuff on the civil rights movement or minority politics.
Also recommended:
The Children - David Halberstam
Carry Me Home - Diane McWhorter
Civilities & Civil Rights - William Chafe
Remembering Jim Crow - William Chafe, Raymond Gavins, and Robert Korstad (or any oral history)
Schoolhouse Door - Culpepper Clark
Personal Politics - Sara Evans
But if there is no town-- who plows the roads? And has the fire department?
very confusing!
