A review by christinecasey
At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance--A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power by Danielle L. McGuire

4.0

This book is not an easy read. It is filled with traumatic recountings of the extreme sexual violence that Black women had perpetrated against them by white men. But it is an important history that is left out of typical discussions surrounding the civil rights movement.

I am worried that one could read this book and say “wow. We’ve come a long way.” Even though I don’t necessarily think that is the author’s intention. However, I realize that most people reading this book are doing so because they are acutely aware of systemic inequalities that have existed in the past and still exist today. It is scary to see the parallels between white supremacy, segregationists, police brutality, and victim blaming tactics of 70 years ago and today.

Let this book be both a history lesson and also a cautionary tale of not buying into racist ideology.