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Proceedings of the annual meeting of the Southern Anthropological Society

Abstract

In recent decades, there have been increasing efforts to recognize, protect, and restore Black American historic cemeteries. At the same time, many of the historic communities in which these cemeteries lie have become increasingly gentrified. As the built environment has been reconstructed, communities have been displaced and histories erased. Nevertheless, historic cemeteries remain as stubborn and defiant reminders of those histories and provide an opportunity to challenge those erasures. This paper will tell the story of historic cemeteries in Raleigh, North Carolina, addressing key aspects of their histories, highlighting racial inequalities. It will address some of the challenges confronted by primarily Black cemeteries, and efforts by invested communities working toward recognition, protection, and restoration. Furthermore, in a time of White backlash to racial justice and reconciliation, the paper will explore the opportunities that these sites provide for continuing to tell stories that simply cannot be ignored.

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