The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and the Path to a Shared American Future by Robert P. Jones

 

"The spirit of the Doctrine of Discovery continues to haunt us today. We remain torn by two mutually incompatible visions of the country. "Are we a pluralistic democracy where all, regardless of race or religion, are equal citizens? Or are we a divinely ordained promised land for European Christians? The confounding paradoxes, constant confusions, and violent convulsions of the present are signs that we have yet to choose between these two streams of American history."

      -Robert P. Jones

This is the October selection of our Page Turners group. We rarely read nonfiction, but this one made it to the 2024 list. I can rate it a 5 but I suspect not everyone in our group will appreciate it so much. It confirmed much of US history I know and taught me a lot I didn't. It is certainly not an easy or enjoyable read but was thoroughly researched, revealing important truths about our country.

Jones addresses the roots of white supremacy with examples from the Mississippi Delta (the author is a Missippian), Duluth, Minnesota and Tulsa, Oklahoma. In each of these three parts he relates stories of the horrible treatment of Indigenous people of the area and the enslaved African Americans, as well as free blacks. In this way "Jones exposes the role of white supremacy that originated in 15th century Vatican documents called the Doctrine of Discovery justifying slavery and land theft." 

The second part of the title is presented in a final section about each of these geographic areas telling ways in which the people involved and/or their descendants are trying to face the truth of the ugly history and make some amends for it. These parts are the easiest to read and give some hope for a "shared American future."

The author calls out some states where the reality of history such as slavery is denied, including our own, Florida. Very disturbing to a former teacher who wanted to teach ALL of history not just the feel-good parts! I hope the book will be widely read and bring positive changes to our country.

Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

 "As I eat, I remember that first day I met the family, the time Mrs. Williams fed me the stew cooked over a hole in the ground. I had never seen anyone cook like that. The Williamses had always fed my soul, even when I did not know I was hungry. It occurs to me that I have received more from them than I ever could have given." 

          -Civil, from the novel

Someone gave me this paperback copy quite a while ago, maybe a couple of years. Since I read e-books about 90% of the time, I kept putting it off. I am so glad I finally pulled it off the shelf and read it! My rating is 5; I believe it is an important story to know.

The Author's Note describes how this novel is inspired by a true story of 2 young black girls profoundly mistreated by a broken system in early 1970's Alabama. Civil Townsend, newly graduated from Tuskegee Institute, is employed as a nurse at the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic. She is assigned to administer birth control injections to two young black girls---Erica and India Williams, ages 11 and 13, respectively. When Civil visits the poor family for the first time, she is appalled at their living conditions and sets out to help them get into government housing. 

When Civil finds out that the drug, Depo-Provera, that the clinic is dispensing, including to the Williams' girls, is not FDA approved and has caused cancer in lab animals, she is extremely concerned and sets out to make some changes. About this time and without Civil's knowledge, the girls are subjected to surgical sterilization. Both she and the family--father and grandmother---are horrified. Civil takes her activism even farther by finding a young lawyer willing to seek legal action. Since these procedures are financed through the U.S. government, they end up taking a federal office to court. 

The novel has two time frames, 1973, when most of the action occurs and 2016 as Civil goes back to visit Erica and India. As Civil is returning in 2016 she is relating her memories and thoughts to her daughter, Anne--an interesting literary device.

This book reminds me a great deal of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, in which a black woman's cancer cells are used in research with no permission of next-of-kin. And the author brings out the fact that many black men had been untreated for syphilis in a Tuskegee study for decades prior. The story of the two sisters certainly informs the reader of just another instance of racial injustice. And one can't help but think of the overturning of Roe v. Wade recently and consider how abortion bans affect poor women of color, as well as whites.