What do you think?
Rate this book
August reckoning: Jack Turner and racism in post-Civil War Alabama
Former slave Jack Turner's struggle for dignity in Reconstruction Alabama.
195 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1973
15 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 27, 2023
This is an amazing story of bravery and tragedy. “August Reckoning” tells the story of Jack Turner, a formerly enslaved African who became a leader of the Black community in Choctaw County, Alabama in the 1870s, during the period of Reconstruction. The Reconstruction era in which this story is set consisted of a loose, unequal alliance between white Republicans and Black “radical” Republicans. The two parties had diverging political agendas, as the whites wanted to consolidate their political and economic power in opposition to the white Democrats and Whigs, while the Blacks wanted to secure some degree of political and economic independence during Reconstruction. Nevertheless, the groups worked together in order to keep Choctaw County from falling into total Democratic, Klan-based domination. Jack Turner was the leader of the Black radical Republicans in Choctaw County, and he paid the price for his status and advocacy.
This book is especially inspirational for me, as it also briefly features my ancestor (great-great-great-great Grandfather) Edmond Turner, who while apparently not related to Jack by family, was a political comrade and community leader in his own right. The “two Turners”—as the books calls them—were some of the first Black delegates to the Alabama Republican Party, and were credited as inspiring Black political agitation in the region, much to the dismay of the white population.
Jack Turner’s story is tragic in that it demonstrates the depths the white power structure was prepared to go in order to permanently silence a Black political agitator. Turner withstood a decade of harassment by the law, only to later be lynched on trumped-up accusations that he was planning a “general insurrection.” The obvious real cause of the lynching was Turner’s successful political advocacy, which threatened the balance of power and established racial order in Choctaw County. This is a nice read for anyone who wants to get a feel for Alabama’s racial and social politics in the post Civil War era.
This book is especially inspirational for me, as it also briefly features my ancestor (great-great-great-great Grandfather) Edmond Turner, who while apparently not related to Jack by family, was a political comrade and community leader in his own right. The “two Turners”—as the books calls them—were some of the first Black delegates to the Alabama Republican Party, and were credited as inspiring Black political agitation in the region, much to the dismay of the white population.
Jack Turner’s story is tragic in that it demonstrates the depths the white power structure was prepared to go in order to permanently silence a Black political agitator. Turner withstood a decade of harassment by the law, only to later be lynched on trumped-up accusations that he was planning a “general insurrection.” The obvious real cause of the lynching was Turner’s successful political advocacy, which threatened the balance of power and established racial order in Choctaw County. This is a nice read for anyone who wants to get a feel for Alabama’s racial and social politics in the post Civil War era.
Displaying 1 of 1 review