There’s a lot of delight in the pomp of the American South, and if you can take the ugliness out of the equation, not just historically but conceptually, there’s a lot of fun to be had. Americans are quite good at taking up pleasures of history and leaving its victims to fend for themselves. From Gone with the Wind to now, we have so many examples. Sure, today that old film has the specter of shame, with Mammy and all that. But we still have a taste for the facade. Maybe because once you agree to go down the rabbit hole, everything gets messy.
