Edward Ball, Slaves in the family
Taschenbuch
Ein ungeheuer interessantes Buch. Der Autor, weißer Journalist, stellt zu seiner Überraschung fest, dass er schwarze Vorfahren hat. Er recherchiert die Geschichte seiner Familie zurück bis ins 17. Jahrhundert und schreibt damit eine große Saga über eine Dynastie. Sklavenhaltung in der Geschichte, Diskriminierung, bis hin zu der Situation seiner schwarzen Verwandten (er spürt rein schwarze Verwandte auf und besucht viele von ihnen) in der Gegenwart das ist ein tolles Buch. Mit vielen Fotos, seriös recherchiert, interessant erzählt und absolut authentisch.
Oder aber, wie amazon.com schreibt:
Amazon.com
Writer Edward Ball opens Slaves in the Family with an anecdote: "My father had a little joke that made light of our legacy as a family that had once owned slaves. 'There are five things we don't talk about in the Ball family,' he would say. 'Religion, sex, death, money and the Negroes.'" Ball himself seemed happy enough to avoid these touchy issues until an invitation to a family reunion in South Carolina piqued his interest in his family's extensive plantation and slave-holding past. He realized that he had a very clear idea of who his white ancestors were--their names, who their children and children's children were, even portraits and photographs--but he had only a murky vision of the black people who supported their livelihood and were such an intimate part of their daily lives; he knew neither their names nor what happened to them and their descendents after they were freed following the Civil War. So he embarked on a journey to uncover the history of the Balls and the black families with whom their lives were inextricably intertwined, as well as the less tangible resonance of slavery in both sets of families. From plantation records, interviews with descendents of both the Balls and their slaves, and travels to Africa and the American South, Ball has constructed a story of the riches and squalor, violence and insurrection--the pride and shame--that make up the history and legacy of slavery in America
Ich denke, mit diesem Buch kannst Du allerhand anfangen.
