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stacilorraine's review
5.0
The research alone in this book is incredible.
As a white woman, the prevailing narrative of helplessness and passive consent in the mechanisms of slavery is, of course, comforting. It’s also a complete fabrication (and Jones-Rogers brought the receipts). I’m realizing how little I know about the true nature of slavery and the ways those histories are so entrenched in current life.
The chapter about motherhood in particular changed my perspective.
As a white woman, the prevailing narrative of helplessness and passive consent in the mechanisms of slavery is, of course, comforting. It’s also a complete fabrication (and Jones-Rogers brought the receipts). I’m realizing how little I know about the true nature of slavery and the ways those histories are so entrenched in current life.
The chapter about motherhood in particular changed my perspective.
humanbuttwipe's review
5.0
“If we acknowledge that white women stood to personally and directly benefit from the commodification and enslavement of African Americans we can better understand their participation in postwar white-supremacist movements and a atrocities such as lynching - as well as their membership in organizations like the Ku Klux Klan. Souther white women’s roles in upholding and sustaining slavery form part of the much larger history of white supremacy and oppression. And through it all, they were not passive bystanders. They were co-conspirators.”
wingspan's review against another edition
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
4.0
The first few chapters were overlapping in the facts and stories so it was hard to separate. The last few chapters were different enough to know what that chapter was about if that makes sense.
almostqualified's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Trafficking, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Physical abuse and Misogyny
Minor: Rape
silent_layla's review
4.0
This book had a lot of really great information and rewrote and criticized a lot of the misinformation about white women's role in racial oppression in the South. The format was evidence-heavy so it's more of an educational read and was at times dry and occasionally repetitive, but overall a great look into a specific area of American History.
kristinisreading's review against another edition
4.0
3 1/2 stars. Tough book to rate. The subject and content is very important and informative. The role of white women in the institution of slavery is important to examine, and like in many situations, the data is hard to find. So much, history is defined by men and about men. The book uses letters, newspaper advertisements, enslaved people’s own recollections from interviews to build a counter argument that white women were involved actively in slavery.
However important the content, the style of the book is academic. Most of the book was dry and especially at the beginning, repetitive. I wanted a more compelling read. I wanted to be able to rave about the book so other people would read it. I ended up feeling like I needed to push myself to keep reading. The last couple of chapters picked up. In the first part of the book, the repetition of the idea that white women wanted to protect their property rights was so devoid of emotion, that at times you would forget the property in question was a person. There are some stories of abuse and bad behavior, but the picture of women fighting the system to maintain their property rights didn’t resonate with the human consequence of what they were fighting for ownership of. I was disappointed because the academic style seems like it will limit who gets this message.
However important the content, the style of the book is academic. Most of the book was dry and especially at the beginning, repetitive. I wanted a more compelling read. I wanted to be able to rave about the book so other people would read it. I ended up feeling like I needed to push myself to keep reading. The last couple of chapters picked up. In the first part of the book, the repetition of the idea that white women wanted to protect their property rights was so devoid of emotion, that at times you would forget the property in question was a person. There are some stories of abuse and bad behavior, but the picture of women fighting the system to maintain their property rights didn’t resonate with the human consequence of what they were fighting for ownership of. I was disappointed because the academic style seems like it will limit who gets this message.
sunrise0923's review
5.0
Read this as a combined physical and audiobook read. I appreciated the factual approach of this eye open book. In a time of historical erasure, topics discussed within this book are more essential than ever. Facts like Lincoln started on a platform of people keeping their enslaved, or outright lies to Jackson to recoup funds lost from emancipation.
As a white women who grew up in the North, this read help provide perspective on topics I or my family did not have direct ties to. And shed light on challenging relationships with colleagues.
Reading a book will never erase historical trauma, but sharing the facts widely can lighten the load. I would 100% recommend this book
As a white women who grew up in the North, this read help provide perspective on topics I or my family did not have direct ties to. And shed light on challenging relationships with colleagues.
Reading a book will never erase historical trauma, but sharing the facts widely can lighten the load. I would 100% recommend this book
manaledi's review
5.0
This is one of those books that really sits with you. It was two-fold powerful as an academic history analysis and as a big picture societal explanation. First, her use and depth of sources is amazing - the combination of interviews and legal documents and correspondence shows an incredible amount of research and the primary sources themselves play heavily throughout the book. The first-person narratives of formerly enslaved people combine with the written perspectives of slave owners in fascinating ways.
Second, the main argument that white women were slave owners in their own right is the same historical narrative that ties directly into white women voting for Trump. She lays out over and over again all of the ways that white women prioritized their own economic benefit and interests over the lives and bodies of the people that they owned. White women slaveowners are the original non-intersectional feminists who stood up to men for their own independence and economic interests but at the cost of the lives and livelihoods of African Americans.
Second, the main argument that white women were slave owners in their own right is the same historical narrative that ties directly into white women voting for Trump. She lays out over and over again all of the ways that white women prioritized their own economic benefit and interests over the lives and bodies of the people that they owned. White women slaveowners are the original non-intersectional feminists who stood up to men for their own independence and economic interests but at the cost of the lives and livelihoods of African Americans.
jollene07's review
5.0
What a phenomenal, ground-breaking, and painful read! Author Stephanie Jones-Rogers puts together a mind-blowing amount of research to demonstrate white women’s direct investment, engagement in the institution of slavery. “If we acknowledge that white women stood to personally and directly benefit from the commodification and enslavement of African Americans, we can better understand their participation in postwar white-supremacist movements and atrocities such as lynching - as well as their membership in organizations like the Ku Klux Klan. Southern white women’s roles in upholding and sustaining slavery from part of the much larger history of white supremacy and oppression. And through it all, they were not passive bystanders. They were co-conspirators.”
🔶Special note to birthworker sisters to see chapter on the role of white women in the particular exploitation of enslaved women’s birthing capacity, breastfeeding
🔶 Special note to my sisters fighting to abolish the sex trade to see chapter on the role of prostitution and particular brutality imposed on enslaved women...plus emphasis that “choice” and “consent” were non-existent, similar to today.
This took me weeks to finish because of the brutality from first-hand narratives by formerly enslaved people, but it’s one of the best books I’ve read this year.
🔶Special note to birthworker sisters to see chapter on the role of white women in the particular exploitation of enslaved women’s birthing capacity, breastfeeding
🔶 Special note to my sisters fighting to abolish the sex trade to see chapter on the role of prostitution and particular brutality imposed on enslaved women...plus emphasis that “choice” and “consent” were non-existent, similar to today.
This took me weeks to finish because of the brutality from first-hand narratives by formerly enslaved people, but it’s one of the best books I’ve read this year.