Make Good the Promises: Reclaiming Reconstruction and Its Legacies

EAN: 9780063160644
Author(s): Conwill, Kinshasha Holman (Author) , Gardullo, Paul (Author)
Publisher: Amistad Press
Publication Date: 09/14/2021
Page Count:224
List Price: $29.99
Binding: Hardcover

An incisive and illuminating analysis of the enduring legacy of the post-Civil War period known as Reconstruction?a comprehensive story of Black Americans? struggle for human rights and dignity and the failure of the nation to fulfill its promises of freedom& citizenship& and justice.In the aftermath of the Civil War& millions of free and newly freed African Americans were determined to define themselves as equal citizens in a country without slavery?to own land& build secure families& and educate themselves and their children. Seeking to secure safety and justice& they successfully campaigned for civil and political rights& including the right to vote. Across an expanding America& Black politicians were elected to all levels of government& from city halls to state capitals to Washington& DC.But those gains were short-lived. By the mid-1870s& the federal government stopped enforcing civil rights laws& allowing white supremacists to use suppression and violence to regain power in the Southern states. Black men& women& and children suffered racial terror& segregation& and discrimination that confined them to second-class citizenship& a system known as Jim Crow that endured for decades.More than a century has passed since the revolutionary political& social& and economic movement known as Reconstruction& yet its profound consequences reverberate in our lives today. Make Good the Promises explores five distinct yet intertwined legacies of Reconstruction?Liberation& Violence& Repair& Place& and Belief?to reveal their lasting impact on modern society. It is the story of Frederick Douglass& Frances Ellen Watkins Harper& Hiram Revels& Ida B. Wells& and scores of other Black men and women who reshaped a nation?and of the persistence of white supremacy and the perpetuation of the injustices of slavery continued by other means and codified in state and federal laws.With contributions by leading scholars& and illustrated with 80 images from the exhibition& Make Good the Promises shows how Black Lives Matter& #SayHerName& antiracism& and other current movements for repair find inspiration from the lessons of Reconstruction. It touches on questions critical then and now: What is the meaning of freedom and equality? What does it mean to be an American? Powerful and eye-opening& it is a reminder that history is far from past; it lives within each of us and shapes our world and who we are.