{"id":2304,"date":"2019-01-08T12:03:29","date_gmt":"2019-01-08T02:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traveltourexplore.com\/?p=2304"},"modified":"2019-08-04T15:28:35","modified_gmt":"2019-08-04T05:28:35","slug":"clarksdale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/traveltourexplore.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/08\/clarksdale\/","title":{"rendered":"Clarksdale"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clarksdale - Birthplace of the Blues<\/h3>\n
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Our first taste of Southern hospitality. \u00a0 We intended to stop for one night in Clarksdale however after a visit to the beautiful visitors centre located in the old railway station we were convinced by Bubba (Ken Murphey) the new Tourism Director to stay for a couple of days.\u00a0 Bill Sutton an ex History Teacher with extensive knowledge of the local history happened to be in the center and heard we were interested in the local history.\u00a0 He offered to take us on a tour of the county.\u00a0 We arranged to meet up with him the following day.\u00a0 We meandered around town for the next few hours in the truck.<\/p>\n

Clarksdale is a historic southern town in the middle of the cotton growing area in the \"Mississippi delta\".\u00a0 As it is out of season the town was quiet and locals were happy to chat.\u00a0 We dropped in at the local Juke bars, Harmonic builder (Deak's Mississippi) and cafe's. \u00a0 That night we went to the Blueberry Cafe' and listened to the local blues singers.\u00a0 We were frequently told by all how much they love Aussies and hope we have not left a bad impression by not living up to the precedent obviously set by others.\u00a0 We enjoyed the show and could have stayed longer however some in our group were not so interested despite the personal attention of multiple people.<\/p>\n

Next day we met Bill and drove through the area and visited the significant sites and the villages helped by \"Habitat for Humanity\" one of the projects Bill has been working on throughout his life.<\/p>\n

Bill's view is that despite the south \"surrendering\" and giving \"freedom\" to the slaves the reality was quite different.\u00a0 The life of the slaves was worse after the war than before.\u00a0 Previously at least some would have been cared for by owners.\u00a0 After the war as a means to maintain white dominance all blacks in the south were treated badly and regularly terrorised.\u00a0 The result of this culture is still in evidence today.<\/p>\n

The concept that the war was sparked by the desire for small plot farmers from the north to move into the areas controlled by large farmers in the south assisted by slave labour was a revelation.\u00a0 The \"freeing\" of the slaves was a means of ending the domination of the large holders not necessarily motivated by idealism.<\/p>\n

We visited the grave of James L Alcorn whom on the plaque says US Senator, State Governor and founder of the levee system however Bill's research suggests he might also have been a black marketeer and general scoundrel.\u00a0 We visited Friars Point near where the levee system broke and a black vs white confrontation occurred after the civil war.<\/p>\n

We visited some townships that \"Habitat for Humanity\" has built and saw the difference being made to communities that have 60% plus un-employment and a history of oppression and lack of opportunity.<\/p>\n

Clarksdale is much more than just the birthplace of the blues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>

Camping in Clarksdale<\/h3>