Home is not a physical structure rather, “home for the Southerner eases into the cracked places like Alaga, thick and dark sugarcane syrup. Remembrance of home is a motivating factor in South to America. These emotions co-exist, revealing the inescapable and guilt-ridden volatile nature of race relations.

It is earthquake, fire, unmarked graves, and ash.” In her words, shame and rage collide. In describing the state of racism in our nation, she calls it: “A polite tension on top, a flame below.” She elaborates, “The matter isn’t simply about anger, resentment, misunderstanding, or saying the right or wrong words. “What you neglect to attend to from the past, you will surely ignore in the present.” The words “lest we forget” resound here. She reminds us that history provides us with instruction and informs us. The book is replete with anecdotes from people whom Perry meets and what her observations and reflections on historical moments in cities throughout the south reveal about the state of race relations, southern traditions and mores, the significance of historical markers and monuments, the legacy of slavery, and popular culture. She contends that paying attention to the south, its past, present, and “threatening future,” allows us to understand our nation and to determine what we must do to address the “national sins” and entrenched racism in our communities, cities, and states. Thus, South to America is both Perry’s memoir of the history of her origins and a history of a southern portion of the United States that represents the diversity of people in America. Her reflections provide readers with the historical significance of these regions as an observer and as one who may have origins in these areas.

Perry’s journey begins with origin stories of Blacks in Appalachia, Virginia, Louisville, Maryland, and Washington DC. South to America, A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry, winner of the 2022 National Book Award for Nonfiction, is a memoir of her exploration of the South: its paradoxes, its landscape, its history of violence and criminalization of Black people, and the intricate and complicated relationships between Black and Whites. South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon

Imani perry south