On this UVA Speaks podcast, B. Brian Foster, Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology, discusses his book, "I Don’t Like the Blues: Race, Place, & the Backbeat of Black Life," which seeks to give voice to the Black community of Clarksdale, Mississippi. Through ethnographic interviews and observations, Foster contextualizes the residents’ skepticism of blues music and heritage tourism. He explains that this critique is understandable because the Black community has not experienced the rewards of this economic development in ways that have improved their daily lives.

Transcripts of the audio broadcast can be found here.

B. Brian Foster is an Associate Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences. Foster studies Black community life in post-1960’s United States, with attention to rural communities in the U.S. South. His research focuses on neighborhood effects, economic development, racial attitudes, culture, and placemaking.