19th Annual Student Research Conference
Language & Literature
Lost in the Shadows
Martin L. Galloway
Dr. Hena Ahmad, Faculty Mentor
Dexter, Missouri, my hometown, seems like a place of little importance, but is more significant than it may appear to be. Dexter, and small towns like it, serve as political microcasm of American culture and a reflection of human nature in general. Dexter is disconnected from the outside world to an extent that enables its citizens to maintain their political and social traditions longer than more urbanized areas due less outside enforcement of modern commonlaw. Much as the prisoners in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”, who are unable to have a true view of the world due to being chained to the wall of the cave. New York is no longer run by Boss Tweed’s political machine, the supreme court has ruled that segregation to any extent is unconstitutional, and since Rodney King the public has taken notice and condemned racial profiling. Unlike more urban areas, Dexter, Missouri still embraces many of these now socially unaccepted qualities
Keywords: racism, political corruption, social change, small town life
Topic(s):Communication
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 49-1
Location: VH 1304
Time: 2:45