Just finished reading another book…A little different theme than the others I’ve read before and reviewed on this site…
It’s called The Burden: African Americans and the Enduring Impact of Slavery.
Simply put: All white people need to read this book.
If you are white…and you’ve ever watched the news, seen something on social media, been involved in a conversation, and/or ever heard anything in your lifetime that triggered you to the thought(s) of…
Okay, I get it, but slavery was hundreds of years ago, get over it.
Or
What happened in the past with our ancestors has nothing to do with you and me right here in this moment.
Or
As a country we are obviously making progress…look we elected a black President.
Or
We’ve all had our struggles.
Or
What does then have to do with now?
Then you are just like me. Unfortunately.
It’s not easy to explain. Therefore I won’t try.
But if you consider yourself a fair, compassionate, open-minded person, and you like to consider all angles before forming your own conclusions, you have to read this book. It’ll at least help you get a better understanding of what I’m talking about.
Marriage experts tell couples all the time their relationship won’t last without a good foundation. They say some of the strongest married couples actual argue far more often than others, but remain happy and together for the long haul because of SED foundation.
If you don’t have that foundation to fall back on, the marriage is always one fight away from the BIG D.
Along those same lines, we all need to come to a better understanding of the impact slavery has had as the foundation of generations of black people in this country.
This book helped me better understand the relationship African Americans have to what their ancestors had to go through, and how offensive people snarking at them to ‘just get over it’ truly is in the modern generation.
There is no author. And the way the book is formatted agrees with my style of reading. It is 26 chapters in 178 pages, with 26 different authors, all assigned a chapter, basically telling you stories and articulating truths.
I didn’t like or agree with a couple of them, but I didn’t care. I knew I was only a few pages away from a fresh approach when reading one of those lackluster chapters.
Ironically the one chapter I thought I’d find the most interesting: Sports Industries As Plantations, written by renown sports writer Kevin Blackistone, was one of the chapters I found the least interesting.
I’m not expecting anyone reading this to drop what they’re doing, go buy the book, and read it cover to cover.
But if you’ve ever said to yourself, or anyone close to you, “I’m white, I’m not a racist, I feel bad, but what can I really do?”…
What you can do is read this book. Honestly.
And have a highlighter near you when you do.
I’d argue everyone should have to read it before heading out into public.
