To Poison a Nation: The Murder of Robert Charles and the Rise of Jim Crow Policing in America

by Andrew Baker

An explosive, long-forgotten story of police violence that exposes the historical roots of today's criminal justice crisis "A deeply researched and propulsively written story of corrupt governance, police brutality, Black resistance, and violent white reaction in turn-of-the-century New Orleans that holds up a dark mirror to our own times."―Walter Johnson, author of River of Dark Dreams On a steamy Monday evening in 1900, New Orleans police officers confronted a black man named Robert Charles as he sat on a doorstep in a working-class neighborhood where racial tensions were running high. What happened next would trigger the largest manhunt in the city's history, while white mobs took to the streets, attacking and murdering innocent black residents during three days of bloody rioting. Finally cornered, Charles exchanged gunfire with the police in a spectacular gun battle witnessed by thousands. Building outwards from these dramatic events, To Poison a Nation connects one city's troubled past to the modern crisis of white supremacy and police brutality. Historian Andrew Baker immerses readers in a boisterous world of disgruntled laborers, crooked machine bosses, scheming businessmen, and the black radical who tossed a flaming torch into the powder keg. Baker recreates a city that was home to the nation's largest African American community, a place where racial antagonism was hardly a foregone conclusion―but which ultimately became the crucible of a novel form of racialized modern policing. A major new work of history, To Poison a Nation reveals disturbing connections between the Jim Crow past and police violence in our own times.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, History, Race, American History, Politics, Historical

Hardcover

Published June 15, 2021

Reviews

[Kimba Tichenor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A meticulous excavation of a forgotten chapter in American history, that is, how white businesses and political leaders crushed the nascent interracial alliance forming between white and black laborers in New Orleans. Andrew Baker, a Bates College professor, documents the mobilization of the New Orleans police force to enforce white supremacy in the name of established white business interests. Utilizing the manhunt for Robert Charles, who shot a white police officer, as point of entry, Baker recreates the volatile race and class relations that characterized the Jim Crow era and gave birth to modern repressive police techniques. It is a fascinating story that needs to be told; however, the daily lives of African Americans fade into the background as does Robert Charles' murder. In fact, readers who assume that this murder is the primary focus of the book based on the book's subtitle and the description provided by the publisher may feel cheated. That said, this is a powerful story that sheds much light on contemporary issues with policing and systemic racism.

I would like to thank the publisher, author, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

[Roxanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a topic I have never read about or knew much about which is why I read. This book goes all the way back to the 1900,s in New Orleans which did have and I think still does have large groups of Black citizens. It started with the police looking for Robert Charles, then there was a huge manhunt, and then in this working class neighborhood white mobs were on the street attacking Black residents and they had days of bloody rioting. So the book starts with this and then catches up through the years of white supremacy and police brutality that still exists today. I had no idea that New Orleans was the home of the nations largest African American community. Towards the end of the book it talks about the 1970's and the 1980's and the 1990,s. During these years drug use was increasing, social welfare was decreasing, and New Orleans became the most dangerous city in America. The police in New Orleans had more complaints about police brutality than any other police force in the country. When Obama was President U.S Dept of Justice looked over the police and still found the police were still using racist pratices and brutality. This much use of excessive force is against the Constitution. Even with years of new leadership things were not changing very much. I am not sure this problem will ever be fully solved. What I felt very bad about is when New Orleans had that bad hurricane the government abandoned the people, some of which were very poor and elderly. If that had very rich people living there they would have received help ASAP. I do not live in New Orleans but there is a pattern of not wanting the best for its citizens which still exists and their problems have gone on for genearations. This is a very informative book.

[BookTrib.com]

The three-day manhunt in New Orleans in July of 1900 is one of the hundreds of mass assaults on Black Americans. Author Andrew Baker, who spares no detail, lays bare its legacy in this stunning new book.

Read our full review here:
https://booktrib.com/2021/06/15/new-o...

[Rochelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very informative and does a great job of helping to bring understanding to current social experiences...the only complaint is that in attempting to build that understanding a lot of rabbit trails ensued and it was hard to follow the point of the book at times. The epilogue was, however, extremely well written and if the author had used a similar format for the first 256 pages, the book would have a more solid impact on the reader.

[J Earl · Rating 4 out of 5]

To Poison a Nation by Andrew Baker is a detailed account of a rarely mentioned event and the subsequent effects on policing in the United States on the whole.

The oft repeated sequence of events when a movement threatens to unite Black and white workers is highlighted here in, if not the, then one of the first instances of what can be called Jim Crow policing. Though in honesty it can simply be called policing in the United States. Police harassment and violence toward Blacks, particularly during times when progress might be on the horizon, is nothing new and this incident, the murder and the rioting, created the playbook for the white supremacist paramilitary units we know today as police departments. If it looks like people are coming together to try to make this country live up to it's lofty founding documents, the police make sure that violence ensues and any potential improvements to society are stopped.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the beginnings of our paramilitary white supremacist police departments, as well as those who might simply want to read a dark chapter in New Orleans/Louisiana/southern/United States history.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

To change the future, we must learn from the past. This book is an excellent resource to learn from when one wants to gain more knowledge into the criminal justice system in the United States. Readers will be exposed to a long forgotten story and how the events in 1900 are rooted into events in 2021.

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

[Andrew Fasciano · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating examination of a few specific flashpoints born of the intersections of race and class in New Orleans at the turn of the 20th century. Provides both compelling historical analysis and relevant lessons for today. My thesis advisor is a better writer than me confirmed.