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4.36 AVERAGE
4.36 AVERAGE
Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery
Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, War
There is a lot on insistence that some slave owners were “good” juxtaposed to how there’s no such thing, because no matter how kind a white person was to a slave, that could change at any point because the power dynamic was always based on ownership (which I agree with). Part of me wondered if Haley found it necessary to argue both sides in order to get the book printed and the show produced. I mean, this country has never been held accountable for what it did to the Indigenous or the slaves. Many are still reluctant to acknowledge it even happened, and even they do, it often comes with an insistence that many slave owners were “good.”
I’ve reluctantly read several books on the Civil War (war history and strategy isn’t my thing). One thing that I always wondered was how news traveled. Decisions had to be made quickly, often in the absence of critical data. Until this book, I hadn’t considered the same question about civilians. Haley did a nice job of answering that question.
I get why the book progressed as it did, but given that it all started with Kunta Kinte and that 83 of the 120 chapters are about him, I kind of wish Haley would’ve circled back to storytell the rest of his life.
I hope all descendants of slaves who read this book find some grounding in their souls from it and that the rest of us learn from it. My biggest fear with this book is that many will hold it up as evidence that slave owners were “good.” They might’ve been nice sometimes, but you cannot own a slave and be “good.” This may be a controversial opinion, but it’s mine, and I’m entitled to it.
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation, Pandemic/Epidemic
