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lguz's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery
just_one_more_paige's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
"Southern white women's roles in upholding and sustaining slavery form part of the much larger history of white supremacy and oppression. And through it all, they were not passive bystanders. They were co-conspirators."
I'm not sure who exactly it was, but I originally saw this in a #bookstagram post. It's been, quite possibly, years since then, so I can't give credit where it's due because my memory is just not that good. But shoutout to them, because I appreciate it coming across my radar, and my finally getting around to reading it myself.
This piece of nonfiction, chock full of incredible historical research, was a perspective on slavery that not only is never really considered or given air time, but actively downplayed in an attempt to protect a certain group: white women. The prevailing understanding is that, due to the patriarchy, white women were mostly passive players in the history and reality of slavery, who had to (and chose to) cede all control of their money and decisions to the men in their life. In this text, Jones-Rogers tears down that understanding. From the role women had in financial and legal decisions about enslaved people they/their family owned, to their roles in directing the work of the enslaved people that were their "property" (including decisions on when/how punishment should be meted out, and meting it themselves), to the active role in slave markets, to their fight to retain ownership and/or receive financial compensation when the outcome of the Civil War hit, this book completely reframes the facade of powerlessness that has protected the reputation of white women in connection to slavery across time.
Jones-Rogers shatters the illusions of the innocence of white (mostly Southern) women, who (whether out of genuine want/gain or due to a lack of interest - or capacity - in changing societal status quo) engaged directly in violence against enslaved people, as well as profited directly (gaining their own power and financial benefit, separate from their fathers/husbands) from the owning of enslaved people and the work they were forced to do. She erases the easy excuse of patriarchy for white women’s lack of action on solidarity with enslaved peoples (and the carryover into today's lack of intersectional feminist solidarity). Working to better yourself within a society that has constraints on you does not absolve you from the shame and judgement that should come from treating others, those that our broken society puts below you, badly in order to make their progress. The lesson that crushing others to get ahead just because that’s the only path that seems available to you is not an excuse/absolution is strong in these pages. (For even further lessons on this same theme - that life is not a zero sum game - but in a more modern context, check out The Sum of Us.)
I do want to note that the writing is very academic. It's a bit like reading a textbook or dissertation (so, a bit dry)... I mean, it's definitely more narratively inclined than that, but not by too much. That being said, I was very glad to also have the audiobook to help me through it.
To close, the overall picture Jones-Rogers presents within isn't new, but this new perspective she delves into was deeply researched, well presented, educational and eye-opening (in a reframing-what-you-thought-you-knew sort of way).The blurb about this book ends with "By examining the economically entangled lives of enslaved people and slave-owning women, Jones-Rogers presents a narrative that forces us to rethink the economics and social conventions of slaveholding America." and I really couldn't give a better summary, nor a better reason to recommend reading it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
Minor: War
glumpanda's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, and Trafficking
Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, and Pregnancy
Minor: Child death, Murder, and War
shaedenae's review against another edition
5.0
Every white woman and person needs to read this. Many white women hide behind the patriarchy as though because we experience one form of oppression then we ourselves cannot be oppressors. These women owned slaves, they had separate property from their husbands (including human property) they made decisions to sell enslaved people, rip families apart, and torture enslaved people.
mollymccreedy's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
5.0
HOLY SHIT! THIS BOOK CHANGED MY LIFE
leasummer's review against another edition
5.0
**Please seek out own voices reviews**
This is such an interesting book. It talks about the horrors of chattel slavery and the white women’s roll in perpetuating it. It breaks apart the myth of the southern women being too dumb, dainty and pure to have played a roll in slavery. To the victor goes the story and they sold a story after chattel slavery was “over” to portray themselves as the motherly carer of their Black property that simply wasn’t true.
The research in this book is substantial. I appreciated the critique of others work on why certain stories were left out of historical narratives based in the same references.
White women are just as cruel and protective of their self interests as white men. This book proves that again and again. The equality to which white men and women are capable of horror and self interest are laid bare. Further illustrating the equality of white women to protect her property and self interest over the men who we’re taught to believe had total control over her. There was no tone of judgement or ridicule by the author toward the white women presented in the book.
This is such an interesting book. It talks about the horrors of chattel slavery and the white women’s roll in perpetuating it. It breaks apart the myth of the southern women being too dumb, dainty and pure to have played a roll in slavery. To the victor goes the story and they sold a story after chattel slavery was “over” to portray themselves as the motherly carer of their Black property that simply wasn’t true.
The research in this book is substantial. I appreciated the critique of others work on why certain stories were left out of historical narratives based in the same references.
White women are just as cruel and protective of their self interests as white men. This book proves that again and again. The equality to which white men and women are capable of horror and self interest are laid bare. Further illustrating the equality of white women to protect her property and self interest over the men who we’re taught to believe had total control over her. There was no tone of judgement or ridicule by the author toward the white women presented in the book.
marcird's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
4.0
This should be mandatory reading. The depth and detail of the author’s scholarship is astounding. And the detailed accounts and direct quotations of enslaved people and slave owners/traders were utterly gut wrenching.
Not only was this book a deep dive into the essential role white women played in the antebellum south but it was an unbelievably thorough analysis of the economic, legal, and business dynamics that propelled slavery as the central life force in the south.
It. Was. A. Horror. Many parts of this book were very difficult to read and nearly impossible to comprehend.
The only reason I am giving this a 4 and not a 5 is that the writing is fairly dry/academic. I wish the author had laid out the overall shape and direction of the book as several of the chapters didn’t feel particularly distinct and as a reader I didn’t always have a clear sense of where we were headed.
But truly, this should be required reading for all Americans.
Not only was this book a deep dive into the essential role white women played in the antebellum south but it was an unbelievably thorough analysis of the economic, legal, and business dynamics that propelled slavery as the central life force in the south.
It. Was. A. Horror. Many parts of this book were very difficult to read and nearly impossible to comprehend.
The only reason I am giving this a 4 and not a 5 is that the writing is fairly dry/academic. I wish the author had laid out the overall shape and direction of the book as several of the chapters didn’t feel particularly distinct and as a reader I didn’t always have a clear sense of where we were headed.
But truly, this should be required reading for all Americans.