Appalachian Community Fund

clearly not yet reached that place in our researches on the slavery of the mountain South. But many modern scholars hold that slavery, in whatever form, was slavery, thus inherently a tyrannical denial of basic human rights. To them Inscoe's effort to picture Western North Carolina slavery as moderate is most irritating. Yet mountain slavery in North Carolina was a different slavery from the slavery in Louisiana or the Alabama Black Belt. Rather than cursing the research done, what slavery's scholars need to do is to appeal to Inscoe and others to do further research. In fact, the two active historians of slavery from Burke County, John C. Inscoe and John E. Fleming, one black and the other white, may be in the best position to provide us with that fuller picture of the impact of the "peculiar institution " upon mountain society. —Richard B. Drake Appalachian Community Fund The Appalachian Community Fund marks its first five years of funding progressive social change in the central Appalachian region. It is a time for celebration and reflection. Its role is to fund community-based organizations working for change through challenging and attacking the underlying causes of oppression. Appalachian blacks are an integral part of the history and future of this region. They are an important resource and a symbol of strength, drive, and determination. Our commitment at the Appalachian Community Fund is to continue to unveil this resource as an important link in fighting for and sustaining improved conditions for their families , communities, and the region as a whole. The Appalachian Community Fund exists to be a source of new money for social justice movements in the region; to leverage money into the region for organizations addressing the root causes of social problems; and to provide technical assistance in fundraising and organization development to grassroots organizations in the region. The Fund is located at 517 Union Street, Knoxville , Tennessee 37902. (616) 523-5783. 70 ...