The White Man's Burden: Historical Origins of Racism in the United States (Galaxy Books)
by Winthrop D. Jordan
Date Reviewed: October 10, 2000
Finished last month. I picked this book up at the last Friends of the Library sell for 50 cents, because I had heard it referred to but had never read it. It’s a surprisingly even-handed (maybe too much so) account of American attitudes toward Blacks and slavery during colonial and post-Revolutionary days, with some specific emphasis on Thomas Jefferson. It makes some interesting, thought-provoking points about prejudice and power. It was put out before the truth was known about Jefferson’s having had an affair with one of his slaves (the suspicions were around, just not the DNA-style proof), and it’s intriguing to see how Jefferson’s public persona would lead a very well-educated man (Jordan) to a totally wrong conclusion about his (Jefferson’s) private actions. Makes you wonder what people do when the doors are closed.
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