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Ruleville native to discuss cotton and race at Delta State

By November 3, 2009General

 

 

Ruleville native Eugene Dattel will discuss his newest book “Cotton and Race in the Making of America” Tuesday, Nov. 10, from 12:10 – 1 p.m. in the Wright Art Center Gallery on the campus.

 
The subtitle of Dattel’s book is “The human costs of economic power.” Former Governor of Mississippi William Winter has said “This is a book not just for those who grew up in the cotton fields of Mississippi as I did, but a challenging and compelling account of the complex role that cotton has played in the economic, racial, and political history of our nation.” 
 
For well over one hundred years, cotton was the most valuable commodity in the World. It was produced almost entirely by African Americans, first as slaves and later as share croppers and tenant farmers. 
 
Dattel reviews the history and economic importance of cotton production, coupled with the widespread racism that characterized the entire United States, while revealing some little known and sometimes startling facts. For example, Fernando Wood, the Mayor of New York City, proposed in 1861 that New York secede from the United States, become The Republic of New York, and support the Southern cause, largely because New York was so involved in the cotton economy. Before and after the Civil War, many northern states had restrictive “black laws” that sometimes forbade African Americans to even live in the state, and enforced segregation when residency was possible. 
 
Dattel has written “This is an American, not a Southern, story; it is a vastly unappreciated tale that is central to America’s rise to economic power. Cotton may no longer be king, but its legacy endures. In order to understand American history it is necessary to understand the role of cotton.”
 
He is a financial historian, author, lecturer, government and private sector advisor on American and Asian financial institutions, media commentator, and former international capital markets investment banker at Salomon Brothers and Morgan Stanley. He is also a theatrical contributing writer and performer.
 
 
 
Dattel, a native of Ruleville, received his B.A. in History from Yale and his J.D. from Vanderbilt Law School. He is on the Board of Advisors of the BB King Museum in Indianola and has served as an advisory scholar to The New York Historical Society on its Slavery II–Cotton and Commerce exhibition (2005).
 
This presentation which is free and open to the public is presented by the First Tuesday program at Delta State, and hosted by the Delta State’s Delta Center for Culture and Learning. For more information, contact the Center at (662) 846-4311.