This engaging, well-researched, and frequently laugh-out-loud funny history places the Black experience at center stage with stories that should have already been part of our collective memory.
Fans of the renowned journalist and cultural critic will be happy to find Harriot's signature wit on full display. They will also be unsurprised that he pulls no punches. Harriot makes his central thesis clear early on:
Harriot peels back the layers of those lies to reveal stories about the Black experience in this country that are as remarkable for their content as they are for their absence from our history textbooks. He explains how enslaved people skilled at growing rice on the west African coast were responsible for saving"the entire Carolina economic system from collapse — with the introduction of America's first edible cash crop.
Those victories were soon undercut, sometimes through legal measures. Louisiana changed its state constitution in 1898, requiring a literacy test for voters. It could be waived, however, for those who were entitled to vote before Jan. 1, 1867 — and for their adult sons or grandsons. Thus, the low white literacy rate would not reduce white men's turnout. In 1880, Black men in Louisiana had a voter registration rate of more than 90%. By 1890, the rate was less than 3%, Harriot writes.
Despite the book's abundant humor, at no point does Harriot shy away from the brutality inflicted upon Black people since before this country's founding. His recognition of the role Black women have played in freedom struggles includes covering Ida B. Wells' groundbreaking anti-lynching work. The book also contains excruciating descriptions of the lynching parties once so prevalent in this country.
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