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audaciaray's review against another edition
5.0
This is what a white person reckoning with his local history looks like. Wow. Phillips writes about Forsyth, the Georgia county he grew up in, and the racial cleansing (lynchings, forcing 1000+ blacks out of their homes, theft of black property) that white people did in 1912 and led to the county being maintained as all white for almost the next century. The research is impressive, as is his analysis of the erasure and denial of the violence that the community participated in during the latter half of the 20th century. This book didn’t exactly give me hope for white people as a whole confronting our history of violence, but it gave me hope for the possibilities of individual writings that do that work.
adamrshields's review against another edition
4.0
Short Review: This isn't a perfect book, but what book really is. This is however a well documented book about a period of racial history that most do not know anything about and that is yet one more example of how African Americans have had to pay for the sins of white supremecy.
Forsyth County, a county near where I currently live, drove out all of the African American in 1912. From that time until the late 1980s, there were almost no African Americans that even set foot in the county. It was complete racial segregation.
In the 1980s there was a shooting of a Black man on a work picnic at Lake Lanier and several demonstrations around civil rights. But even so it took about 20 years after that until the county, primarily because of demographic pressures of becoming a bedroom community of Atlanta more than anything else, did the African American population start to grow. Today around 3 percent of the 220,000 people in Forsyth County are African American (the state as a whole is about 30%.). But there still hasn't really been a reckoning of the harm.
Oprah, within six months of the start of her show went to Forsyth County to interview residents. One of them said that they thought it was their right to choose who to live around. And while they didn't have anything in particular against Black people, they didn't want to live near them. That sentiment is really what is at heart the problem of standard white racism. In Forsyth, a local and state government that were supportive of segregation allowed this reign of terror to keep African Americans out of Forsyth until other pressures and the delusion of historic population of the county dropped with a very quick population increase from other parts of the country.
But this is a good local example of why there are a variety of examples of why it is not simply good enough to say, African Americans should be doing better. Historic reasons, like being pushed off of their land and being terrorized contribute to the lack of equity today. This is about a very particular local story. But it is an example where the details change, but the result is similar. White racism robs African Americans and other minorities of the fruits of their labor while giving ignorant whites the cover of not understanding the history.
My full, nearly 1000 word description and review of Blood at the Root is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/blood-at-the-root/
Forsyth County, a county near where I currently live, drove out all of the African American in 1912. From that time until the late 1980s, there were almost no African Americans that even set foot in the county. It was complete racial segregation.
In the 1980s there was a shooting of a Black man on a work picnic at Lake Lanier and several demonstrations around civil rights. But even so it took about 20 years after that until the county, primarily because of demographic pressures of becoming a bedroom community of Atlanta more than anything else, did the African American population start to grow. Today around 3 percent of the 220,000 people in Forsyth County are African American (the state as a whole is about 30%.). But there still hasn't really been a reckoning of the harm.
Oprah, within six months of the start of her show went to Forsyth County to interview residents. One of them said that they thought it was their right to choose who to live around. And while they didn't have anything in particular against Black people, they didn't want to live near them. That sentiment is really what is at heart the problem of standard white racism. In Forsyth, a local and state government that were supportive of segregation allowed this reign of terror to keep African Americans out of Forsyth until other pressures and the delusion of historic population of the county dropped with a very quick population increase from other parts of the country.
But this is a good local example of why there are a variety of examples of why it is not simply good enough to say, African Americans should be doing better. Historic reasons, like being pushed off of their land and being terrorized contribute to the lack of equity today. This is about a very particular local story. But it is an example where the details change, but the result is similar. White racism robs African Americans and other minorities of the fruits of their labor while giving ignorant whites the cover of not understanding the history.
My full, nearly 1000 word description and review of Blood at the Root is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/blood-at-the-root/
pattydsf's review against another edition
4.0
“This book would not exist without a kind but determined push from Natasha Trethewey, who challenged me, more than a decade ago to tell this story. Having grappled with America’s racial history so often in her work, Natasha turned to me during a cab ride in New York City and asked why it was that she, a southern woman of color wrote about ‘blackness,’ yet I, a white man from one of the most racist places in the country, never said a word about ‘whiteness.’”
It is so easy, at least for me, to find excuses for why I don’t deal with issues that make me uncomfortable. For example, when I moved to my community in the 1980’s there were residents who still didn’t have indoor plumbing. That seemed appalling to me, but I didn’t try to figure out why or if there was a solution. I didn’t want to deal with the idea that some people had less access to services that I saw as common in the United States.
This is a poor example, but I wanted to state that I understand why Phillips may have found it hard to speak and write about “whiteness.” What does it take to write about your home in such a way as Phillips does? I suspect there are many in Forsyth County, GA who never want to see him again. This history does not do many people credit – it shows clearly that racism can easily take over a community.
Fortunately for our country and hopefully for Forsyte County, Phillips eventually researched and wrote this amazing work. This is a part of our history and it needs to be told. It probably needs to be written about other places, but at least the light has been shown on Forsyth County.
I think anyone who regularly reads or studies American history should be picking up this book. This is not easy reading, but it is necessary.
It is so easy, at least for me, to find excuses for why I don’t deal with issues that make me uncomfortable. For example, when I moved to my community in the 1980’s there were residents who still didn’t have indoor plumbing. That seemed appalling to me, but I didn’t try to figure out why or if there was a solution. I didn’t want to deal with the idea that some people had less access to services that I saw as common in the United States.
This is a poor example, but I wanted to state that I understand why Phillips may have found it hard to speak and write about “whiteness.” What does it take to write about your home in such a way as Phillips does? I suspect there are many in Forsyth County, GA who never want to see him again. This history does not do many people credit – it shows clearly that racism can easily take over a community.
Fortunately for our country and hopefully for Forsyte County, Phillips eventually researched and wrote this amazing work. This is a part of our history and it needs to be told. It probably needs to be written about other places, but at least the light has been shown on Forsyth County.
I think anyone who regularly reads or studies American history should be picking up this book. This is not easy reading, but it is necessary.
jeffmauch's review against another edition
5.0
This is an eye opening and disturbing account of the racial cleansing of Forsyth County in GA from 1912 up to present day times. After two crimes on white women where young black men were rounded up as the guilty party, without any real evidence, the whites of the county systematically threatened and forced the removal of all blacks from the county. This on it's own is incredible, but the fact that this policy of no black in their county went into the 1980's and beyond is the really harrowing part of the story. Most African American's knew well to avoid the county, but from time to time one would simply drive across the county line unknowingly and be threatened or shot at. Overall this is a very eye opening account of racial cleansing and white supremacy. While I realize that even today, there are pockets of vehement racism in our country, I just couldn't imagine the level that Forsyth County was on even to the late 1980s and 1990s.
moviebuffkt's review against another edition
3.0
this is a really difficult book, and how can a book on this topic *not* be. It's written by a historian who grew up in an all white county north of atlanta where black people had been chased out of town following a 1912 crime that was falsely attributed to two black teens. this county managed to stay all white until the late 1980s and has a deep history to recover from.
the writing is not that engaging, it reads like a lengthy honors term paper, but the horrific racist story holds up as important reading.
the writing is not that engaging, it reads like a lengthy honors term paper, but the horrific racist story holds up as important reading.
beccamcostello's review against another edition
5.0
I was lucky enough to hear the author speak about the process of researching this book and I'm so glad I had that opportunity. The author's note at the end includes some of what he talked about, most importantly his motivations for writing about race as a white man. While I continue to prefer supporting black authors on racial history, there's enough work to be done for all of us, and it's unfair to shy away from these topics because we're white. As this author's friend asked him, "Why do I, as a black woman, write about blackness...but you, as a black man, never write about whiteness?" It's a challenge for all of us, but one I take seriously as a journalist.
Unlike other books about historical racism, this one focuses on a single county in Georgia. That microscopic level of detail is something I haven't come across in my own reading lists, and it is powerful. (The exception is Let The People See, about Emmett Till's lynching murder. But I find this book significant because it focuses on events much less part of public awareness.) Yet the author also includes necessary context from the rest of the country, including several events I'd never heard of before.
Throughout, the author is descriptive and engaging in a way that never, ever had me questioning the authenticity of what he writes. I've read "nonfiction" that is so jazzed up that I can't take it seriously. This book takes stale information like census data and makes them remarkably human.
I highly recommend this book. What a good way to start off 2020.
Unlike other books about historical racism, this one focuses on a single county in Georgia. That microscopic level of detail is something I haven't come across in my own reading lists, and it is powerful. (The exception is Let The People See, about Emmett Till's lynching murder. But I find this book significant because it focuses on events much less part of public awareness.) Yet the author also includes necessary context from the rest of the country, including several events I'd never heard of before.
Throughout, the author is descriptive and engaging in a way that never, ever had me questioning the authenticity of what he writes. I've read "nonfiction" that is so jazzed up that I can't take it seriously. This book takes stale information like census data and makes them remarkably human.
I highly recommend this book. What a good way to start off 2020.
xayide7's review against another edition
4.0
Even in the 90s, Forsyth County had a reputation as an unsafe place for black people. This book was eye opening for me. Phillips presents a thoroughly researched and detailed account of the history of Forsyth while making it clear that the racial hatred found there was not limited to one county or to the South. Phillips manages to add context without excuses. This was a challenging and at times very painful but ultimately worthwhile read.
merethebookgal's review against another edition
5.0
This book is a hard read; it's heartbreaking and infuriating, but it's also an incredibly important read, and we need to learn from our mistakes and the dark points in our past lest we allow history to repeat itself. For being such a tough subject it is written very well and was a quick read; I'd definitely recommend.
lepetitnomade's review against another edition
5.0
Tamla Horsford's tragic story made me pick this book up, and I have always struggled with choosing to read more about U.S. history for that very reason. Peel back enough layers, and there is always a cruel history that informs what is happening today. I never knew that it was common knowledge (for Black people in Georgia, at least) to avoid living, stopping, or even just lingering in Forsyth.
I thought Phillips did an excellent job setting the scene for what life was like for freed Black Americans in Forsyth and just *how* the formation of sundown towns, white-only towns, and the complete dehumanization continued long after Black people were allowed to start making a way for themselves. It's heartbreaking, but necessary reading-and at no point in time does he make this kind of racism and targeted killing seem like it was only occurring in the south, or even just in Georgia. I appreciate the diligence that comes with researching and taking the time to write with care about just what was, and in new ways, continues to happen in our country's history.
I thought Phillips did an excellent job setting the scene for what life was like for freed Black Americans in Forsyth and just *how* the formation of sundown towns, white-only towns, and the complete dehumanization continued long after Black people were allowed to start making a way for themselves. It's heartbreaking, but necessary reading-and at no point in time does he make this kind of racism and targeted killing seem like it was only occurring in the south, or even just in Georgia. I appreciate the diligence that comes with researching and taking the time to write with care about just what was, and in new ways, continues to happen in our country's history.
cdbaker's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent. I think that anyone interested in U.S. history should read this.