How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

The Germans have a word "Vergangenheitsbewältigung" which means "coming to terms with the past," specifically, coming to terms with the Nazi past from 80 years ago. This book is about America's need to come to terms with its own slave-holding past, starting 400 years ago. The Germans have done a pretty good job of confronting the past. But the Americans, alas, haven't done so well.The book makes for absorbing (if sometimes uncomfortable) reading because of the way it's organized, as a travelogue of sorts. Instead of a general survey or historical narrative, the author goes places and tells us about some locations which are sites for tourism or pilgrimage, and how these places tell the story about the country's relationship to chattel slavery. The country often tells the story in a distorted way, but there are signs of hope in some places.The travel starts at the Monticello Plantation, a title which is itself just a little unnerving, since we don't usually think of Monticello as a plantation, but of course that's exactly what it was. The book is about a lot of the things that we don't hear about in school, even in the North. I found the account of these locations fascinating, with a new insight on almost every page. What's under the feet of the Statue of Liberty? And why isn't it visible from the ground? Hmm...

Clint Smith's first work of non-fiction is a page turner, taking the reader back in time to slavery landmarks that highlight unspeakable cruelty inflicted by slaveowners.The New Orleans native highlights the Monticello Plantation, Angola Prison, the Whitney Plantation, Blandford Confederate Cemetary and more. The chapter on the Monticello Plantation has excellent insights and observations about Thomas Jefferson that the reader may not have been aware of.The chapter on Blandford Cemetary is the longest and perhaps the best in the book. The oldest Confederate grave dates from 1702. The history behind the Virginia cemetery is outstanding.Smith also notes the average prison sentence for Angola Prison inmates is a jaw dropping 87 years.A bit tough to read in spots, but history buffs will thoroughly soak up the book and every American should read it.The title comes from a descendant of Jefferson.

Dark tourism has become an interesting field of study in the past few decades, and Clint Smith's tour of sites connected to slavery has to be an example. Although he is known more for his poetry than his journalism, he scouts the sites and interviews, observes, and analyzes, so that the result is a thoughtful and revealing look at American history behind the mythology. The opening chapter on Thomas Jefferson's Monticello finds that the tours today focus as much on Jefferson's flaws and hypocrisy as his high minded ideas. Smith visits a plantation, the Angola Prison in Louisiana, Galveston Island, and even the House of Slaves in Senegal. He ends with a tour with his grandparents through the National Museum of African American Culture and History which sparks a discussion about their experiences growing up in Mississippi in the 1930s and 1940s. Smith, a Black man in his thirties, learns a lot, and so do we.

This book is an account of the author's travels to various historical sites to see how slavery is recounted through our various landmarks and memorials. It is part history, part memorial, and eminently readable. It is so well written that it just carries you along.I was especially taken by the author's account of his trip to Monticello, which I visited at the age of 17 as a freshman at Georgetown University in 1979. His experience was so much different than mine. I walked away in awe of Jefferson and his accomplishments along with an armful of memorabilia. I do not recall slavery ever having been mentioned while on my tour. I recall the bedroom, the creative glass doors, the grave, and of course the gift shop. But I do not recall any mention of slavery or seeing slave quarters. Nothing like that. If I had, it might have impacted my respect for and opinion of TJ. But I did not. Times have changed. Good. My experience and the author's experience of Monticello differ so dramatically that it showcases the need for our historical sites to properly address this issue.

This book is like a magnet that draws you into each page and chapter in search of revelation about the history of slavery you never knew existed and the painful reality that the stories live own and in some cases, celebrated and memorialized. Some of renowned plantations and prisons with extraordinary history of suffering at the hands of an economic engine called slavery. I applaud the diligence research of the author and his ability to capture with amazing details facts as he understood them. The only dislike is with the absent of historical pictures and landmarks that too tell an amazing story of his journey. The book reads like a thesis for a doctorate program that has been successful composed in to a book.

I am not a professional reviewer so I’m going to keep this brief. I believe this is a very important book. The premise is excellent, to say the least. I also like the personal nature of it. I found the writing a bit stiff at times but I didn’t care because it is not a novel. It was not written to be a masterpiece of writing. It is a masterpiece of telling important stories of slavery and it’s legacy. It should be mandatory reading. There should be more writing on this subject and it should be read in high school classrooms across America. Of course, plenty of people will loathe this book. White fragility is very real and the desire to whitewash history and mythologize the past into something noble is strong in this country. I’m afraid the only people who will read this will already have open minds and a consciousness on this subject. I expect there will be negative reviews of this book here written by people who haven’t even read this book because the desire to both keep white supremacy alive and well and the desire to pretend it doesn’t still exist is too strong. Do yourself and people you know a favor and read this book. Acknowledge the legacy of the past.