Communicating resistance in U.S. memoryscapes: Black memory, temporality, hauntings, and tourism in the Whitney Plantation and The Myrtles

Abstract

Louisiana remains a popular destination for vacation and sightseeing, leveraging its cultivated narrative of hospitality, timeless landscapes, and preserved antebellum architecture. However, this allure fails to reckon with the deeply rooted history of U.S. enslavement and anti-Black violence. Consequently, the Deep South, and Louisiana specifically, has rearticulated its history of racialized violence through a whitewashed lens, attracting visitors to modern plantation tourism where African and Black memories and experiences of racist brutality are systematically ignored. Therefore, this dissertation analyzes two contemporary plantations in Louisiana: the Whitney Plantation and The Myrtles, arguing that they communicate diverging narratives of resistive rhetoric and Black memory. The Whitney Plantation stands as a powerful rejection of typical plantation narratives, centering African and Black voices and showcasing their resilience. In contrast, The Myrtles erases its history as a plantation, making it more palatable for white audiences and maximizing its profitability. Ultimately, this dissertation argues that rhetorics of racial resistance serve as a crucial strategy employed by both minoritized and hegemonic groups to either foster moments of solidarity in the pursuit of social change or to perpetuate white supremacy by advocating for a return to a (white) American society.