What Can and Can't Be Said: Race, Uplift, and Monument Building in the Contemporary South

What Can and Can't Be Said examines public monuments and memorials in the American South, focusing on how they represent race relations and civil rights history. The book analyzes monuments created between 1970-2010, including both Confederate memorials and new works honoring civil rights leaders. The author draws on extensive research to document the complex negotiations between artists, politicians, community groups, and civic leaders involved in these memorial projects. Through case studies of specific monuments in Richmond, Birmingham, Memphis, and other Southern cities, the book traces how different constituencies shaped the final forms and messages of these public works. The narrative explores cultural debates about how to represent difficult historical events and figures in public spaces. By examining the intersection of art, politics, and collective memory, What Can and Can't Be Said reveals broader truths about how societies choose to remember - or forget - aspects of their past.

Readers value Upton's analysis of how Confederate monuments and civil rights memorials shape Southern public spaces. Many note his thorough documentation of monument controversies in Richmond, Memphis, and other cities. Positives from reviews: - Clear examples of how race impacts civic space - Strong historical context for modern debates - Detailed case studies and photographs - Academic but accessible writing style Common criticisms: - Focus sometimes too narrow on architectural details - Could include more diverse voices and perspectives - Some sections dense with academic theory - Minimal discussion of recent monument removals Ratings: Goodreads: 4.2/5 (12 ratings) Amazon: 5/5 (2 reviews) One reviewer on Goodreads noted: "Important work on how monuments reflect power dynamics in Southern cities." A reviewer on H-Net praised the "meticulous research into the political battles behind monument placement."

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Written in Stone: Public Monuments in Changing Societies by Sanford Levinson This analysis explores how societies negotiate their identities through the creation, preservation, and removal of public monuments.

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The Promise of Patriarchy: Women and the Nation's Past in Southern Memory by Melissa Walker This study reveals how Confederate monuments and memory sites reinforced gender hierarchies while shaping racial ideologies in the American South.

🏛️ The book explores over 100 public monuments and memorials across the American South, analyzing how they represent (or ignore) racial history between 1970-2010. 🗽 Dell Upton demonstrates how many Confederate monuments were strategically placed in front of courthouses and government buildings to symbolize white supremacy and intimidate African Americans seeking justice. 📚 The author is a distinguished architectural historian at UCLA who has written extensively about American architecture's relationship to social power, including award-winning books about colonial and early American building practices. 🏺 The book's title comes from a concept the author develops about "authorized discourse" - the way certain stories about race become acceptable to tell in public spaces while others remain suppressed. 🎨 Upton examines how contemporary Black artists and activists have created alternative monuments and memorials to challenge traditional Confederate imagery, including Maya Lin's Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama.