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• Black Towns, Black Futures: The Enduring Allure of a Black Place in the American West by Karla Slocum
• Kalenda Eaton

In Black Towns, Black Futures: The Enduring Allure of a Black Place in the American West, Karla Slocum uncovers the history of Black towns in Oklahoma to tell a current and contemporary story. Over the course of an introduction, five chapters, and an epilogue, Slocum presents a compelling and fascinating exploration of how space, place, and race converge in rural America. Slocum is clear to point out that the focus of this project is not a nostalgic or retrospective view of small-town life in a long-forgotten era. She takes care to introduce the reader to individuals, communities, and outsiders who all consider themselves to be stakeholders in the survival of these spaces. To further illustrate the current relevance of the study, the author is careful to protect the identities and locations of her subjects. In "A Note on Place Names," Slocum explains that some of the town names and those of individuals have been changed.

The book begins with an homage to the author's grandfather Mozell C. Hill, whose research in the 1940s on Black towns in Oklahoma began when he was a professor at Langston University. Through the narrative of her grandfather's [End Page 371] work and Slocum's own understanding of the primacy of this research in the twenty-first century, we are witness to the melding of anthropology and memoir. Though the book is historical in context and nature, the author deftly leans on the anthropological bent of her project. There are places in the text where she provides multiple disciplinary perspectives of the subject matter, even as she acknowledges in her first chapter (titled "History Stories") that "it is hard to visit an Oklahoma Black town without encountering a narrative about the town's history" (p. 19).

While the scope of the subject matter is vast, Slocum expertly manages family and town histories, interviews, personal anecdotes, observations, local news stories, and economic analyses. The chapters progress in an accessible and logical manner, and the book never feels as if the author is doing too much. Each chapter presents a compelling study of aspects of Black town life; however, some chapters are especially notable. For example, chapter 2, "The Case for America," is an intriguing and innovative examination of the Black heritage tourism industry in Oklahoma. The author not only investigates the intricacies of the industry but also compares how different tour operators understand their purpose (whether that be profit or preservation). Slocum identifies specific tours and uses her experiences as participant and researcher to make important observations about how many of the tours, despite their popularity, do not engage with actual Black towns. Throughout the study the author respectfully engages with this thorny topic but continues to interrogate the issue head-on. For example, she claims "that Black-town tours were sometimes dislocated from the 'official' towns' physicality" (p. 41). Later in the chapter, when reflecting on a specific stop dissociated from the tour's focus, she notes the "irony of the invisibility of Black towns in Black-town tours" (p. 65). The emphasis here on relevant connection is important and arises again in chapter 5, "The Appeal of a Black Place." In this chapter, Slocum asks readers to consider what makes a town "Black." What currency does a Black space have in the present day? More important, how does preserving and honoring historical Black places speak to the ongoing attempts to achieve the elusive and oft-quoted "more perfect union" the nation strives toward? This, Slocum argues, is the important work that includes discussions of the role of Black towns in "the economic, social, and cultural value of Black people and Black places to their communities as well as to the nation" (p. 132). Slocum continues to argue that the town, past...

审核人：

• 黑色城镇，黑色期货：美国西部黑色地方的持久魅力by卡拉·斯洛克姆（Karla Slocum）
• 卡伦达·伊顿（Kalenda Eaton）

在黑城，黑期货：美国西部黑地的持久魅力，卡拉·斯洛库姆（Karla Slocum）揭示了俄克拉荷马州黑人城镇的历史，以讲述当前和当代的故事。在介绍，五个章节和一个结语的过程中，Slocum提出了关于美国农村中的空间，地点和种族如何融合的引人入胜且引人入胜的探索。Slocum很清楚地指出，该项目的重点不是对一个长期被遗忘的时代的小镇生活的怀旧或回顾。她会小心地向读者介绍个人，社区和局外人，他们都认为自己是这些空间生存的利益相关者。为了进一步说明研究的当前相关性，作者谨慎地保护了受试者的身份和位置。在“关于地名的注释”中，Slocum解释说某些城镇名称和个人名称已更改。

该书首先向作者的祖父Mozell C. Hill致敬，他在1940年代对俄克拉荷马州的黑城镇的研究始于他在Langston大学担任教授时。通过祖父[End Page 371]作品的叙述以及斯洛克姆对二十一世纪这项研究的重要性的理解，我们见证了人类学和回忆录的融合。尽管这本书在上下文和性质上都是历史性的，但作者巧妙地依靠了她项目的人类学倾向。她在书中的某些地方提供了对该学科的多种学科观点，即使她在第一章（标题为“历史故事”）中承认“在不遇到有关俄克拉荷马州布莱克小镇的叙述的情况下，也很难参观该小镇” '

尽管主题范围很广，但Slocum擅长管理家庭和城镇的历史，访谈，个人轶事，观察，本地新闻报导和经济分析。这些章节以通俗易懂且合乎逻辑的方式进行，本书从未觉得作者做得太多。每章都对黑人城镇生活的各个方面进行了令人信服的研究。但是，有些章节特别值得注意。例如，第2章“美国案例”是对俄克拉荷马州黑人遗产旅游业的一次有趣而新颖的考察。作者不仅调查了该行业的复杂性，还比较了不同的旅行社如何理解其目的（无论是利润还是保留）。Slocum确定了特定的旅行团，并利用她作为参与者和研究者的经验对重要的观察结果进行了观察，尽管有多少次旅行团虽然很受欢迎，却并未与实际的布莱克城镇互动。在整个研究过程中，作者恭敬地参与了这个棘手的话题，但仍在正面质疑该问题。例如，她声称“黑镇之旅有时与'正式'镇的身体状况脱节”（第41页）。在本章的后面，当反思与游览重点分离的特定站点时，她指出“具有讽刺意味的是，在黑镇旅游中黑镇的隐身性具有讽刺意味”（第65页）。这里对相关连接的强调很重要，并且在第5章“黑场所的上诉”中再次出现。在这一章当中，Slocum要求读者考虑是什么使一个城镇“变黑”。如今，黑空间有什么货币？更重要的是，保存和尊重黑人历史悠久的地方如何与为实现该国努力实现的，难以捉摸且经常被引用的“更完美的联盟”而进行的尝试对话？斯洛库姆认为，这是一项重要的工作，其中包括讨论黑人城镇在“黑人和黑人对他们的社区以及对国家的经济，社会和文化价值”中的作用（第132页）。Slocum继续辩称该镇过去...