There is always a road that winds its way through the heart and soul of black America. It may be called a street, boulevard, a drive, an avenue, or a way, but it is always named Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the roads that link to it are its nervous system. However, it has become commonplace in popular culture to identify a Martin Luther King street as a generic demarcation of black space, of ruin, as a depressing and ironic road sign of danger, and of failure and decline. While these factors may be more or less true, it is not because those who live there like living in poverty or in segregated communities. Many Americans vaguely realize that America is still residentially segregated, but few understand the depth of black segregation nor the degree to which it is institutionally and individually maintained.

"Dixie" is a body of work that challenges the value and credence of stereotypes in popular culture about black Americans. It combines large-scale portrait images of gang members and their families with written responses by those photographed about their experiences living in a segregated community and about their daily challenges.

For three years I photographed residentially segregated neighborhoods in Florida in an effort to gauge why integration has not occurred, to experience the social dynamic of the black community, and to question the perpetuation of class and race-based stereotypes.

Through the photographs, I challenge viewers to contemplate how our participation in the every-day institutions of our society reinforce self-maintaining stereotypes and propagate segregated communities.

Photo Journal: laurengrant.com