Carol Anderson (2) (1959–)

The most damaging mythology found in American History books is the myth that the darkest periods of our country have an end date, that somehow the entire nation somehow changed for the better without atonement. Those of us who grew up in communities with a reflexive attempt to rewrite history to either minimize or undo progress - knew parts of this story. But Dr. Anderson tells the story of just how pervasive the sickness of racism, so much that people would choose poison over family and over opportunity - and provides an abundance of footnotes. This is a hearbreaking but necessary book and it's a good beginning for separating truth from mythology.… (mehr)

This was a really great, there's a lot of history that Anderson dives into and explains how racism has pervaded the American system ever since the end of slavery to deny blacks their rights. I think this should be taught in every single school. It's so important to our history. That being said, the only reason I'm giving this 4.5 instead of 5 stars really comes down to preference. I listened to this on audiobook and at times it felt like listening to a lecture in a history class or listening to a textbook. History was never one of my favorite subjects in school, so it brought back some feelings of being in history class, but overall it did do a pretty good job at keeping me engaged.… (mehr)