We are all the same. Or, at least that’s what you’ve been
told and you know that’s right, despite that racism is alive
and (un)well in America.
It comes, say Anderson and Bolden, from “white rage” driven
by “black advancement” that “wreaks havoc subtly, almost
imperceptibly.” It’s often silent, in other words, and it’s
been around awhile: our third president approved the
idea of shipping black people away and out of the U.S., but
Anderson and Bolden start with the Civil War.
At the very beginning of the War, Lincoln held a meeting
with several influential black citizens and tried to get
them to lead “their people” to South America. He seemed to
believe that if they did, there would no longer be a war.
That, of course, didn’t happen and there was a war.
At the end of it, the Thirteenth Amendment was introduced to
seemingly abolish slavery.
Or not quite: Plantation overseers and landowners in
Southern states discovered ways to keep newly-freed blacks
enslaved with the sharecropper system and jails to ensure
that newly-gained rights were lost, sometimes for good. Many
Southern states passed laws that further held black people
from getting ahead, economically, politically, emotionally,
and educationally, even though legal and constitutional
efforts were made to squash those states’ efforts. Every
time there was progress, it was thwarted in some way.
And so it continues.
Though the Constitution guarantees equality, say the
authors, white rage still affects the day-to-day existence
of most African Americans today, in that “black achievement”
continues to be seen as threatening.
“We know the consequences” of it, say Anderson and Bolden.
So are we bold enough to choose a “different future”
instead?
As an “adaptation” of an adult book entitled White Rage,
We Are Not Yet Equal is supposed to be a book for
young adults. That’s close – but not quite.
There’s still a lot to absorb inside this book that
alterations didn’t change. Author Carol Anderson (with Tonya
Bolden) didn’t pander to a younger audience in adapting this
book to fit them; instead, they fit heavy-duty history into
a narrative that still seems more like something an adult
might easier grasp. Younger “young adults” – those who are
twelve to perhaps fourteen – still may not be able to fully
grasp the concepts of what’s inside; older teens may not
have any trouble, but if they can handle this book, why not
give them the original?
To the good, We Are Not Yet Equal is filled with a
history that’s disturbing and real, hidden and little-known,
and it’s absolutely compelling – for an adult. Give
it to a teen who’s not ready for it yet, though, and it
might make them see red.
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