Book Reports

Strange how different aspects of everyday life can converge just so, causing you to feel there might be some particularly significant meaning, if only you can divine what that could be.  That’s exactly what has happened recently.  Books read, some personally chosen, others almost at the insistence of friends, and some for book group, have seemed to address similar social issues.  Snippets of television programs caught while changing channels have underscored the topics. (Remember “All Of The Above”?  Didn’t I say I have that annoying knack regarding television?) Add my enjoyment of American history and the personal experiences of friends.  I tried to make sense of it all by writing most of it out.  As a rule I find that helpful.  Not the case this time.  

The occurrences, the timing of those occurrences, the mixture of my own preferences, decisions, and selections and those resulting from external influences, as well as my attempt to see from another’s perspective reminded me of eighth grade Algebra; lengthy word problems I was supposed to be able to organize in such a way as to come up with a solution.  (Just as an aside, who EVER thought it was a good idea to attempt to teach eighth grade girls Algebra?)    All I can say is that I feel as if  I’ve been following a curriculum of study.  And not just any curriculum; a very well developed one; designed to include various means and vehicles for learning.  I know; I know!  Sounds weird.  It does to me too, believe me!  But, that’s where I find myself. 

A number of the books I just spoke about caused me to go back and review in some detail the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution.  I want to share parts of some of those books.  They eloquently present actual truth with clarity and impact.  So much so that a sincere, even minimal, effort to compare and contrast the various situations described, with the assertions of the Declaration of Independence, not to mention the Constitution, will be revelatory, I expect. 

An Hour Before Daylight by Jimmy Carter has practically nothing to do with politics.  (I made sure before deciding to read it.)  Rather, it tells the story of President Carter’s boyhood on a Georgia farm.  He describes every aspect of his early life:  learning to fish, hunt, and run a farm; his friendship with the Blacks who worked on his father’s farm; his father and mother; his relationship and interaction with each, etc.  Along with all that I, the reader, was exposed to some of the science and complexities of farming.  It was American history and I totally enjoyed it.

Remember the Articles of Confederation?  You know, our first Constitution, replaced by our existing Constitution by delegates to the Constitutional Convention, held in Philadelphia in 1787?  At this convention there was a good deal of debate about how best to determine taxation and representation to the House of Representatives for each state.  It was eventually agreed that the number of representatives would be calculated by “adding to the whole Number of free Persons….three-fifths of all other Persons…”.   This “three-fifths compromise” allowed slaves to be counted as three-fifths of a person in order to increase the representation apportionment for sates in which said slave owners lived.  Slave owners received one more thing from their slaves; a valuable political tool to be used to promote their agenda.  But, the fourteenth amendment to our Constitution repealed that compromise.  That was in 1868.

However, that three-fifths continued to be a basis for purposes of calculation.  Give me a minute and I’ll tell you why I say that.  Miss Lillian, Jimmy Carter’s mother, was a nurse who cared for many in and around the small community in which they lived during his childhood.  She tried to keep up with any who were patients of hers;  she wanted to know about their care later on.  Some of the destitute patients had to be moved to what was called the “Poor Folks” home in Sumter County.  As a boy President Carter would, at times, go with her to these homes.  This is how he described one such place:  “a  large and somewhat run-down former plantation home with a broad front porch and a large vegetable garden on the side for white folks (emphasis mine), and two old houses nearby for blacks”.  Miss Lillian felt strongly that more should be done to care for them all.  She was pleased when finally the government increased the monthly stipend.  (State and/or federal government, I do not know as yet.)  The increased amounts?  $10 for white people and $6 for blacks.  And how many years had passed since repeal of the “three-fifths compromise”?  Remember, Jimmy Carter was not born until 1924! 

Another right was granted by the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution in February of 1870.    That amendment gave equal voting rights to various races, people of various colors, and former slaves.  Jimmy Carter himself saw from a personal experience the denial, or attempted denial, and abuses designed to disallow those equal voting rights.  He asserts that those with whom he felt the strongest bond as a boy were the black adults in his life.  He spent many hours in their homes and learned from them to fish and hunt with a dog.  Black boys were among his close friends.  Consequently he embraced the equality of rights.  But he stood alone.  And paid the price at times.  Racist groups of Sumter County boycotted his business, Carter’s Warehouse, on at least two occasions because of his “liberal” views on race.

Here’s an example of the extent of hate-inspired abuses in the early years of the civil rights movement.  Representatives from the Justice Department apparently visited black communities to inform them that the law guaranteed their right to vote.  Such a representative visited the church of Jimmy Carter’s older black friend, Willis Wright.  He was seen as a leader among his black neighbors.  He therefore was to be the first to try to register to vote in Webster County.  Upon arriving at the courthouse early in the morning he found the office closed.  It was “dinner time” before the registrar showed up to open the office.  Willis explained why he was there.  After being asked to wait a few minutes, the registrar presented him with written questions about citizenship.  Willis informed the registrar that the gentleman from the Justice Department had made it clear that blacks did NOT have to answer such questions in order to be able to vote.  At this point the registrar opened a drawer from which he withdrew a pistol and promptly placed it on the counter.  Referring to Willis with a vile epithet, he suggested Willis think it over for a few days before deciding what her really wanted to do. 

Willis went to Jimmy Carter for advice.  Although President Carter offered to go with Willis to the registrar’s office, Willis declined the offer, saying it would mean nothing if Willis did not show up alone.  He only wanted verification of his understanding and advice.  Jimmy Carter not only confirmed that the questions were not a requirement for voter registration, but that he, himself, could not answer all of the 30 questions.  Some of the questions?  Name ALL of the Supreme Court justices.  Give the legal definition of a felony.  Quote portions of the U.S. Constitution.  Explain when appropriate to depend on habeas corpus.  Willis Wright returned to the registrar’s office, making it known that he had consulted with Jimmy Carter, who had corroborated the fact that no citizenship test was required before registering to vote; and that, yes, he did want to register to vote.  He was then allowed to register. 

Cane River by Lalita Tademy, is, according to the author herself, a “work of fiction deeply rooted in years of research, historical fact, and family lore”.  She writes the story of four generations of her female ancestors, from those born in slavery to those who lived through the Civil War, and on into the early 20^th century.  Some truths I learned, either in summary form, or directly from the author’s wisdom expressed in dialogue:

A plantation owner had passed away and his property was to be auctioned off.  With respect to the plantation slaves:

“A dollar figure was suggested and declared among the assessors.  When they came to agreement they marked it down in the book.  A special notation was made for any defect, physical or mental.  On auction day it was honorable (my emphasis) to provide full disclosure among gentlemen, seller to buyer, of any damaged merchandise (again, emphasis mine).” 

A young slave, Clement, was allowed to marry (emphasis mine) Philomene, a young slave from a neighboring plantation.  The wedding ceremony went as follows:

“ ‘You, Philomene, do now, in the presence of God and these witnesses, take Clement to be your husband; Promising that so far as your present relation as a servant shall admit, you will perform your part of a wife toward him:  and in particular, You will promise that you will love him; and that as you shall have the opportunity and ability, you will take proper care of him in sickness and in health, in prosperity (Just have to ask, what prosperity??!) and adversity; and will cleave to him only, so long as God shall continue his and your abode in such places as you can conveniently come together…Do you thus Promise?’”

“’Oui…’”  (“Yes”.  French was their language.)

“’ I then, with the consent of your masters and mistresses, do declare that you have license given you to be familiar together as husband and wife, so long as God shall continue your places of abode as aforesaid; and so long as you shall behave yourselves as it becomes servants to do; For you must both of you bear in mind that you remain still, as really and truly as ever, your master’s property, and therefore it will be justly expected, both by God and man, that you behave yourselves as obedient and faithful servants toward your respective masters and mistresses for the time being.’”

(Note:  I read about a similar wedding ceremony in The Bondwoman’s Narrative, mentioned below.)

Clement, once married, asked permission of his master to work on a rocking chair for Philomene after his duties were done.  Permission was granted.  Clement was allowed to use oak wood from newly felled branches.  The chair came to be called “the moonlight chair”; it was at night that Clement could work on it.  He also had to ask Philomene’s master if she could be allowed to keep the chair. 

“He and Philomene…were allowed to own nothing (emphasis mine) by law.”

During the second year of the Civil War, plantation owners were gathered at the home of one for an afternoon “coming-together”.  Of course, conversation included the war and its effects, both economically and socially. 

‘”Just last week I had to turn two of my hands over to a Confederate impressment agent, to work on the defenses of the Red River.  There was no refusing.  I can only hope that when I get them back, they don’t have Yankee fever, spreading foolish ideas and dangerous habits they’ve picked up to the others.’”

“’Monsieur Greneaux reported two runaways last week…’”.

‘”We keep ours close to home.  No more passes…’”.

“’The longer the war goes on, the slower mine work…’”.

“’I see it on my own farms…The Negroes in the field and the house are skating along the ragged edge of disobedience.’”

One of the women at the table, someone new to the group says:

“’This is going to be a long war…Too many lives will be lost to defend the right of a few to own slaves.’”

Within days the gentleman who hosted the afternoon get together received an anonymous package of tattered petticoats and an attached note:

“’Rich Man’s War, Poor Man’s Fight’”.

That same gentleman, being under the age of 45, was to serve in the Confederacy.  For a “fee”, not payable in Confederate money, he could, because he had twenty slaves, be exempted.  He was told about the “twenty-Negro law”:

“’The Confederate Congress says one man can be exempted for every twenty Negroes on a plantation.”

And this same man’s view regarding education after the war’s end:

“(he)didn’t hold to the notion the carpetbagger government pushed, that all children should attend a public school set up in the parish, regardless of their color, race, or previous condition of servitude, mixing indiscriminately.  No good could come from that.  It was wrongheaded to expect his taxes to pay for children he didn’t know and had no responsibility for, whose own parent couldn’t pay for their education.  Everyone should take are of their own.  He had engaged tutors for all of his children, white or colored”.  (emphasis mine)

For the 1880 census, the oldest black female family member was home alone when the man came to gather information.  Her assessment shows how she had to respond to such situations in the past:

“He seemed a pleasant enough white man, unlikely to do immediate harm…”

In answering his questions about who lived in the house:

“She told him she couldn’t help him out on the spelling of the names, he had to puzzle that out for himself.  They didn’t get to reading, writing, and spelling until Emily.” (emphasis mine)

She wondered:

“Could he even understand the pride in being able to say that Emily could read and write?”

One of the younger generation lived with a white man, the father of her children.  He was eventually forced to stop living with them because of threats to their safety.  He wanted, however, to leave his children his property and money upon his death.  He explains to the mother of his children:

“’I went to the lawyer again, today.  He said I don’t have much of a chance, that I have to give it up…Trying to pass my land to the children.  He says it can’t be done inside the law.  That even if it was legal, the town wouldn’t stand for it.  He says only so much can be given because they’re illegitimate, but it’s really because of color.  He won’t help.’”

“’I should be able to do as I please with my own money.’”

Her response:

“’That’s not the world we live in.’”

Years later, when elderly, this same black woman goes to “town” to purchase a few items.  She walks 3 miles through Louisiana woods to the road to catch a bus.  It had been 5 years since she had been on the bus, but whites were, of course, in front, and blacks in back.  Seeing no one who would recognize her, and confident of her lighter coloring, she takes a seat in front.  At the store there is a young man who does not know her.  He politely asks if can help her and tells her he is glad to see her in the store.  While waiting on her, another woman enters and tells the young man what she requires.  He explains he will help her once he is done with Mrs. Fredieu.

“’Excuse me?  You’ll help me now.  Miss Emily will be glad to wait.’”

The young clerk understands what he did not previously, switches to Emily’s first name rather than last, and tells her to step aside.  As he finished completing that white woman’s order, another enters.  He asks how he may help her.  She reminds him that Emily was there first. 

“’She knows her place.  I can help you next.’”

The woman does not object, immediately grasping the situation.

Emily leaves the store without waiting for her “turn”.  While waiting for the bus she is hungry and thirsty.  A black man passes her and goes to the back door of a nearby café.  He reemerges with a brown bag.  Emily declares to herself:

“’I’ll never be hungry enough to go to anyone’s back door.’”

When the bus arrived and Emily got on, she was the only passenger at that point in time.  She lifts her chin, pays her fare, and walks “deliberately to the front seat”.  (I must say, for me, the book could not have concluded better.  I was mentally cheering Emily on, and I was proud of her.)

The Bondwoman’s Narrative by Hannah Crafts, and edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is considered to be the first book written by a female slave, perhaps the first book written by any black woman.  It has been authenticated in various ways through the study of the paper, the ink, the vocabulary, etc.  When Hannah was still small enough to be allowed a little play time, she was instead secretly taught to read and write by some kind neighbors.  Since this was illegal, those neighbors were arrested.  Hannah kept teaching herself in any way she found possible, even if listening when others were being taught and she was there to serve.  She eventually was able to “pass” (escape) and become free.  Following are some passages I found particularly powerful.  (Note: The editor was adamant that any misspellings and/or grammatical errors should be printed just as written by Hannah.  I have done likewise.  So, for example,’ it’s’ as opposed to ‘its’ is what was in the original text.  Another example is the spelling of judgment.  You will notice an “e”.  I point this out to remind you that Hannah was, in good part, self- educated.)

Hannah and another woman, her (former) mistress were, for a time, incarcerated.  Hannah’s comment: 

“At finding ourselves, and without having committed any crime, thus introduced into one of the legal fortresses of a country celebrated throughout the world for the freedom, equality, magnanimity of its laws, I could not help reflecting on the strange ideas of right and justice that seemed to have usurped as place in public opinion, since the mere accident of birth, and what persons were the least capable of changing or modifying was made a reason for punishing and imprisoning them.”

In that prison they met a Mrs. Wright, who had attempted to smuggle a neighbor’s young slave, Ellen, out of the country.  Ellen’s master had sold her to a slave-trader to take to the New Orleans prostitution market.  Mrs. Wright’s thoughts:

“I used to hate slavery…born in a slave state, educated in a slave state, with slavery all the time before my eyes I could see no beauties in the system.  Yet they said it was beautiful, and many thought me a fool for not seeing it so, but somehow I couldn’t; no I couldn’t.

“…I have learned what all who live in a land of slavery must learn sooner or later; that is to profess approbation where you cannot feel it; to be hard when most inclined to melt; and to say that all is right, and good; and true when you know that nothing could be more wrong and unjust.”

Mr. Trappe, a slave trader, explained his point of view:

“My conscience never troubles me…The circumstances in which I find people are not of my making.  Neither are the laws that give me an advantage over them.  If a beautiful woman is to be sold it is rather the fault of the law that permits it than of me who profits by it.  If she sells cheap my right to purchase is clear; and if I choose to keep her awhile, give her advantages, or otherwise increase her attractions and then dispose of her again my right is equally unquestionable.  Whatever the law permits, and public opinion encourages, I do, when that says stop I go no further.”

He went on to offer advice to Hannah:

“I shall tell you…Good sense must long ago have taught you that obedience was the chief essential to one in your condition…that you must never dream of sitting up an independent will – must have no mind, no desire, no purpose of your own…but never for a moment forget that submission and obedience must be the Alpha and Omega of all your actions.”

On a night in Washington, DC, Hannah made this observation:

“Congress men jostling each other at street crossings, or perhaps losing their foothold, where a negro slave was seen slipping and sliding but a moment before.  Alas; that mud and wet weather should have so little respect for aristocracy.”

A young female slave, who had given birth to a child fathered by her master, killed both her baby and herself because she was being banished, sent away with nothing and no way to sustain herself.  About that situation Hannah wrote:

“Dead, your Excellency, the President of the Republic.  Dead, grave senators who grow eloquent over pensions and army wrongs.  Dead, ministers of religion, who prate because poor men without a moment’s leisure on other days presume to read the newspapers on Sunday, yet who wink at, or approve of laws that occasion such scenes as this.”

Other observations of Hannah:

“…those that view slavery only as it relates to physical sufferings or the wants of nature, can have no conception of its greatest evils”                                                                                                                                                               

“The greatest curse of slavery is it’s hereditary character.  The father leaves to his son an inheritance of toil and misery, and his place on the fetid straw in the miserable corner, with no hope of possibility of anything better.  And the son in his turn transmits the same to his offspring and thus forever.”

“What do you think of it Doctors of Divinity?  Isn’t it a strange state to be like them….It must  be a strange state to be prized just according to the firmness of your joints, the strength or your sinews, and your capability of endurance.  To be made to feel that you have no business here, there, or anywhere except just to work –work –And yet to know that you are here somehow, with once in a great while like a straggling ray in a dark place a faint aspiration for something better, with a glimpse, a mere glimpse of something beyond.  It must be a strange state to feel that in the judgement of those above you you are scarcely human, and to fear that their opinion is more than half right, that you really are assimilated to the brutes…that even your shape is questionable as belonging to that order of superior beings whose delicacy you offend.”

“It must be strange to live in a world of civilization and, elegance, and refinement, and yet know nothing about either, yet that is the way with multitudes and with none more than the slaves.  The Constitution that asserts the right of freedom and equality to all mankind is a sealed book to them, and so is the Bible, that tells how Christ died for all; the bond as well as the free.”