Lois answers “I have not finished the book, but wonder...”

Alyce asked this question about The Indigo Girl:

I have not finished the book, but wonder if a large segment of people would feel excluded reading a book in which slaves are property and Indians are a danger... I understand it's historical in the sense that slavery is a part of the American cultural fabric, but I feel like people of color might have little interest in this book. Which is sad. Can any people of color comment on this issue if they have read it?

Lois I am the direct descendant of Enslaved West Africans. I have not read this but it is on my to read list.
I know I won't like it.
Not because chattel sla…moreI am the direct descendant of Enslaved West Africans. I have not read this but it is on my to read list.
I know I won't like it.
Not because chattel slavery isn't a part of history or that it needs to be left out of fiction.
I get the feeling that Eliza is portrayed as a heroine and well, she's not.
She was an oppressor much like George Washington.
She absolutely unequivocally knew that Enslaved West Africans were human beings.
Still she stole from them and held them in captivity.
She stole so much from them for so long that her descendants are still wealthy today off the backs of the labor she and her descendants stole for centuries.
Her 'legacy' can never be removed from that.
White women were horribly abusive to enslaved peoples.
That's historical fact.
They were heavily involved in physical punishment-hanging kids by their thumbs. They were involved in raping children as well as adults.
They were not innocent and if she's not presented with those historical facts in mind then this is slavery apologist in nature.
No one that held human beings in bondage was a good person.
Same with colonists.
There were good Europeans that existed at that time period I'm sure but we don't know about them because they stayed in the country of their ancestors and weren't involved in the displacement and genocide of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas.
So yes this book is both offensive and not historically accurate.
This story has to include the perspective of those peoples or it's just a white supremacist myth.
Like gone with the wind.(less)

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View all 6 comments

Jessie You will DEFINITELY not like this book then, Lois. I wondered often while reading it if this was slavery apologist literature because the author certa ...more
Nov 12, 2020 09:20AM · flag

Katharine Noble Like E Stolar above, I'm curious whether you finished the book. I don't think it's apologist.... and I also think it's really a big task to write abou ...more
Oct 20, 2022 09:32PM · flag

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