New, Fourth Edition of Whitewash Digs Up a Southern Cultural Minefield

Twenty-seven years ago, I began research on a book to be titled, Whitewash: A Journey Through Music, Mayhem and Murder. I had no idea at the time of the cultural minefield I was disturbing and that the true stories in the book would keep changing and developing over many years.

Yet, that’s exactly what happened on my writer’s journey. Today, I am pleased to announce the FOURTH edition of Whitewash, with new information and expanded narratives about each of the three stories in the book.?A news release with the updates can be found here:?

https://app.box.com/s/0n7rfn82jofox6hl2tdx5ewirfkb4ols

The first story, “Charlie’s Place,” examines the remarkable interracial collaboration in the segregated post-World War II years that led to the creation of South Carolina’s official state music (beach music) and dance (the shag). Since the first edition of this book was published, Charlie’s Place has been restored and run as a museum and community center by the City of Myrtle Beach.?

The second section deals with the 53-year legacy of the Orangeburg Massacre, the killing of black college students in 1968 at South Carolina State College and how centuries of racism led up to it. It is the epic story of the first mass killing on a college campus in the United States.

Part three — Mill Town Murder — is a personal story of my grandfather’s involvement in the killing of seven mill workers in my hometown of Honea Path during the Textile Strike of 1934. I could never understand “why” until now. In a nutshell, it is reduced to a simple formula: Religious Fundamentalism + Corporate Greed = Mass Murder. (Sorry, you’ll need to read the book to learn more about the newly discovered facts about the background to the story.)

“I chose the title ‘Whitewash’ for this book because only after researching these stories did I learn that each continues to live and remain fiercely unresolved for a reason. Elaborate efforts have been made to distort and misrepresent each story and to omit it from the South Carolina’s official history. Perhaps the reason for this, I found, is because these stories share cultural attributes that go back to the antebellum South: stubbornness, pride, honor, and denial. Each has a leading role in this book.”?

We have a new publisher, Tangible Press, and thank them for their interest in this “new-old” book with timeless stories that are more relevant today than ever before. Whitewash: A Southern Journey through Music, Mayhem and Murder by Frank Beacham (ISBN-13 978-1-7375810-0-0, Price: $15.95) can be purchased or ordered through major retail book outlets or online at: https://tangiblepress.net/Whitewash.html?