Both Charles Chesnutt and W.E.B. Du Bois wrote during the time after Reconstruction’s failure. The prevalence of the Myth of the Old South encouraged American society to idealize the South and to ignore glaring racial inequities and oppression. As African American observers, both Chesnutt and Du Bois attempted to dismantle this mythology and resist the ideology of white supremacy that supported it.
For each author, point to an element of their writing that stands out to you as being particularly effective in resisting the Myth of the Old South, The Plantation Tradition, or the ideology of white supremacy. Bring in at least one quotation from each author and explain why, from your perspective, it resists, critiques, questions, or otherwise undermines the racially oppressive mythologies/ideologies of the era.
