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.

--------------------

Our Page Turners meeting was sparsely attended but no less rewarding for the 8 of us present. In-person participants liked the book with votes of 4 and 5. Average 4.0 for all ratings. Most of us had a difficult time with the content---definitely NOT a page-turner, but we learned things we did not know and felt were important to understand. The member who suggested the book said it was "painful but helpful." We were reminded in The Hidden Roots... of Killers of the Flower Moon which we read in August, especially in the author's description of the great harm done to Indigenous peoples by Euro-Americans.