Between 1880 and 1930; close to 200 women were murdered by lynch mobs in the American South. Many more were tarred and feathered; burned; whipped; or raped. In this brutal world of white supremacist politics and patriarchy; a world violently divided by race; gender; and class; black and white women defended themselves and challenged the male power brokers. Crystal Feimster breaks new ground in her story of the racial politics of the postbellum South by focusing on the volatile issue of sexual violence.Pairing the lives of two Southern women―Ida B. Wells; who fearlessly branded lynching a white tool of political terror against southern blacks; and Rebecca Latimer Felton; who urged white men to prove their manhood by lynching black men accused of raping white women―Feimster makes visible the ways in which black and white women sought protection and political power in the New South. While Wells was black and Felton was white; both were journalists; temperance women; suffragists; and anti-rape activists. By placing their concerns at the center of southern politics; Feimster illuminates a critical and novel aspect of southern racial and sexual dynamics. Despite being on opposite sides of the lynching question; both Wells and Felton sought protection from sexual violence and political empowerment for women.Southern Horrors provides a startling view into the Jim Crow South where the precarious and subordinate position of women linked black and white anti-rape activists together in fragile political alliances. It is a story that reveals how the complex drama of political power; race; and sex played out in the lives of Southern women.
#118671 in Books Hinderaker Eric 2017-03-05Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.30 x 1.30 x 5.80l; #File Name: 0674048334384 pagesBoston s Massacre
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Excellent; covering some usually overlooked aspects of the storyBy Student of the RevolutionExcellent; covering some usually overlooked aspects of the story. A good supplement to Zobel's Boston Massacre; still the best and most complete telling; particularly for the trial. Hinderaker doesn't attempt to duplicate Zobel in that aspect. Read them both.1 of 2 people found the following review helpful. only four men killed; but even five men massacred?By Hung-Tak LeeHinderaker's book serves as an indication to what could and easily have happened in our dealings with historic events; easily falsifiable narratives; and with memory lapses and selective perceptions that interfere with our understanding of even a minor incident. No one would deny the 1770 horrid massacre in Boston sparked a flame of resistance; but when it gets compared with the Kent State incident and even gets spilled over to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest; the "Boston Massacre" loses much of its historical importance.3 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Interesting read; but a trifle ramblingBy Dave BridgeI haven't finished reading this exploration of a famous event in American history; but my initial reaction - after about 100 pages - is 1) the typeface is too small to make reading a comfortable experience; even for someone with 20/20 vision; 2) it seems to range very far afield in setting the stage for this seminal event in pre-Revolutionary War America. I guess that was probably necessary to write an entire book devoted to this one event; but after awhile you begin to forget what the title subject actually was. For history buffs like myself; that may not be much of a problem; but for others I think it will have trouble maintaining the reader's interest. Perhaps that doesn't really matter since history buffs are obviously the most likely readers of such a book; but the way things are in America today; a better and more widespread understanding of the nation's history seems vital if we are to salvage the republic the Founders created; long under siege by Progressivism. As Ben Franklin trenchantly observed; that may be a task beyond our capabilities ("A republic; if you can keep it"); but then; as Alexander Pope observed; "Hope springs eternal in the human breast".
