CONCLUSION

Residents involved in the art movement in York are realistic about the scale of their achievements toward integration. Despite obvious strides in raising black participation, several residents caution that “blacks who do participate are few.” Riddick states that a “limited few” are involved and that “some will never want to mix. You do have breakthroughs,” she states, “but on a limited level. The Coleman Center has made a dent in racial segregation.” Even in integrated spaces, however, blacks and whites sometimes remain separate. A filmmaker researching York adds that York is “forty years behind, so any step toward integration is positive, but it’s been on a small scale. York has made a little progress toward integration, but it’s not all happy and harmonious.” He adds that Saxton “wanted to make sure Alabama Public Television wouldn’t present the situation in York as rosy, as art breaks down racial boundaries, because York has a long way to go to achieve that.”

York does have a long way to go to achieve racial integration, but efforts by the art movement to increase black participation have been an important first step with tangible results. Riddick states that the Coleman Center “has made progress in racial integration.” She has “seen it change a tremendous amount since the Coleman Center opened,” pointing out that “blacks and whites now sit together on the front porch at Avenue A.” Blacks have also turned out in greater numbers for recent Coleman Center events, especially those involving local artists and youth, and have participated in community art projects. Importantly, blacks have also begun to take leadership roles in the art movement.

Increasing black participation in the arts in York has tapped holes in the barrier of cultural and social segregation between the black and white communities. Through working together on community projects, black and white have begun to disprove racial stereotypes, build trust, and set the stage for future collaboration. Importantly, the art movement has facilitated contact between black and white youth in York. This boosts the probability for future integration by breaking down and preventing stereotypes in youth, raising a generation accustomed to interracial contact, and setting the stage for integration of the schools. Residents involved in the art movement cite the need to continue promoting integration by seeking open and broad based participation, actively recruiting black residents and artists, and incorporating the black community’s unique assets and resources.

York has by no means conquered the challenges which threaten the viability of the art movement. Challenges in marketing, funding, leadership, and segregation remain. Especially in a town which has been racially, culturally, and socially segregated since its foundation over 150 years ago, progress comes slowly. But York has made important steps toward integration by seeking to create an interracial art movement which builds on York’s greatest asset: its people. This fledgling integration is critical to the success of the art movement, but more importantly, it is critical to the success of York in a changing South. As one local artist states, the movement is “the beginning of a change in direction of the community. Things are changing around here,” he says. “Slowly, but they’re changing.”

This study builds upon previous research by providing an updated look at racial segregation in the Black Belt. It not only documents segregation, but offers a detailed view of the effects of segregation on community members and on community development efforts. This research reveals that segregation causes the formation of two separate societies and cultures in the Black Belt, with little interaction between them. Segregation promotes ignorance and distrust between the black and white communities and emboldens racial stereotypes, precluding the establishment of friendships, trust, and a common identity needed for effective community development. Segregation also splits community resources and omits assets held by the minority group, a particularly devastating effect in the Black Belt where resources and assets are scarce. Segregation also heightens awareness of race which increases the likelihood that neutral events will be perceived as racist, further solidifying the separation between black and white.

On the surface, the Black Belt appears unaltered from the decades in which Scheper-Hughes, Greene, Stack, and Duncan conducted their research. Despite whites’ diminishing numbers, they still hold much of the power and resources throughout the region. The experiences of York citizens, however, offer a glimmer of hope in a long history of poverty and repression. This study reveals that though some in the Black Belt still hold tight to segregation, many others are ready for integration, and in fact view integration as necessary for their community’s survival. For most in York, segregation is not perpetuated by animosity, but by habit and a lack of knowledge about how to create something to replace it. Yet, though Black Belt citizens are often unsure of how to pursue integration and reticent to take a first step, they have embraced steps toward integration provided by outsiders.

Indeed, York’s art movement reveals the complex role outside leadership plays in community development. On one hand, outside leaders served as necessary catalysts and guides for creating a racially integrated art movement in York. Unconstrained by local social boundaries, recent Coleman Center directors worked with black and white community members without being rejected by either group, thus providing needed direction for York residents. The movement’s future success, however, depends on its local leaders. With a clear path set toward integration, the art movement now needs stability and continuity. Disruptions in leadership brought by the constant departure of outside leaders often cause losses in funding, resources, and momentum. Additionally, community development efforts must be locally driven and locally defined to ensure community control and to boost community members’ abilities and pride. York ultimately belongs to its citizens, and it is up to them to carry the mantle forward.

This study also evaluates York’s art movement in the context of rural tourism. Experiences in York confirm many tenets of rural tourism, including the need for marketing, regional collaboration, support of local government, and the creation of a tourism package. The art movement has also benefited from creating an organization to move efforts forward, strategic planning, and carrying out small, visible actions to boost credibility and community support. The art movement also validates the importance of involving youth in development efforts.

Broader than its definition as a rural tourism effort, York’s art movement is also a community development effort. In this context, experiences in York confirm the importance of several community development principles and show how they function in practice. The art movement in York validates the need for community development efforts based in equity, constructed from the bottom up, and sensitive to local populations. Community development efforts like York’s art movement must be locally defined and locally driven, achieve broad based participation, and seek to build the capacity of all citizens. Community development efforts should also grow local leadership and specifically seek out leaders from minority groups.

This study specifically contributes to a rising body of knowledge about the role of social capital in community development, especially when communities are racially, socially, and culturally divided. Currently, few studies address social capital within minority communities or the effect racial division has on the creation of social capital. Some studies recognize the challenges for divided communities attempting to revitalize, but few offer concrete steps toward unification. Scholars often tout bridging social capital as a necessary ingredient for community development without offering practical strategies for accomplishing it.

Though the strategies laid out in this research are by no means new to sociologists, they can serve to strengthen the existing evidence of the importance of addressing racial divisions in community development work. When attempting to revitalize communities with diverse populations, this study confirms the importance of creating a racially neutral space, involving youth, establishing projects in the physical space of the community and projects which demand community participation, using local experts, tailoring the project to fit community interests, growing local leaders, and designing a project which is naturally non-threatening and inclusive.

This study also emphasizes the role of cultural capital in community development, a concept rarely examined in sociological studies. This study acknowledges the alternate cultural capital created by the black community in part as a result of their exclusion from dominant, white cultural capital. It recognizes the defensive, resistant quality this capital can take in order to resist oppression by whites. In York, the existence of this distinctive capital poses a barrier to boosting black support for a traditionally white art movement. In order to bridge cultural capital between the black and white communities, specific strategies must be employed by leaders in the art movement, many of which overlap with strategies for bridging social capital and promoting integration.

Bridging cultural capital requires the establishment of a racially neutral space and the inclusion of black cultural assets. York’s art movement has created bridging cultural capital by featuring local black artists, tailoring art programs to fit the interests of the black community, and creating projects which unite black and white youth. In addition, I propose that creating a common identity among black and white community members is important in bridging cultural capital. This does not involve subordinating differences between groups, but rather embracing diversity while establishing a common theme under which all community members can identify. I believe invoking a common cultural identity to be as necessary as building trust in divided communities in breaking down barriers of difference.

This study thus continues the dialogue among sociologists and community development practitioners about how to unite disparate community groups through bridging social and cultural capital. It recognizes the very real place racial division claims in many Black Belt communities. By seeking to understand how racial divisions originated and operate in York today, this study is able to suggest solutions toward overcoming these divisions. Importantly, these solutions do not include community forums held to discuss the issue of race. They do not include protests or boycotts. These things certainly have their place and have historically acted as necessary tools for establishing equity in divided communities. But in York, where segregation is now sustained out of habit rather than hostility, non-aggressive community development strategies are needed. In York, integration comes most naturally through creating spaces in which black and white can interact in a peaceful, creative, and celebratory manner rather than by emphasizing the divisions between them.

Thus, this study also confirms the effectiveness of art as a tool for promoting equity and integration in divided communities. Art is something every community member can access and enjoy. In York, art provides a non-threatening, cohesive medium which invites community members to work together toward a common goal. York’s art movement has furthered integration by preventing and breaking down racial stereotypes and by building interracial friendships. It also provides a chance for black and white youth to develop a habit of cooperation, thus solidifying integration in the next generation. Finally, art provides a visual model of integration previously absent from the community.

In summary, this research provides a detailed look at one town’s struggle to overcome a divisive past through the arts. The community development tenets emphasized are relevant to communities across the South, and to diverse communities anywhere. In a changed economy, many rural communities are in the throes of reevaluating the status quo, changing directions, and implementing new ways to sustain themselves. In divided communities, these efforts must include strategies for promoting integration. This study aids communities in the transformation process by providing tools for creating diverse and equitable community movements.