[Vision2020] Fantasy vs, Reality Second Installment

News of Christ Cult news.of.christ.cult at gmail.com
Mon Feb 19 17:20:38 PST 2007


*Fantasy:**


SOUTHERN SLAVERY, AS IT WAS*
Douglas J. Wilson

Here are some excerpts from the booklet:

* "To say the least, it is strange that the thing the Bible condemns
(slave-trading) brings very little opprobrium upon the North, yet that which
the Bible allows (slave-ownership) has brought down all manner of
condemnation upon the South." (page 22)

* "As we have already mentioned, the 'peculiar institution' of slavery was
not perfect or sinless, but the reality was a far cry from the horrific
descriptions given to us in modern histories." (page 22)

* "Slavery as it existed in the South was not an adversarial relationship
with pervasive racial animosity. Because of its dominantly patriarchal
character, it was a relationship based upon mutual affection and
confidence." (page 24)

* "There has never been a multi-racial society which has existed with such
mutual intimacy and harmony in the history of the world." (page 24)

* "Slave life was to them a life of plenty, of simple pleasures, of food,
clothes, and good medical care." (page 25)

* "But many Southern blacks supported the South because of long established
bonds of affection and trust that had been forged over generations with
their white masters and friends." (page 27)

* "Nearly every slave in the South enjoyed a higher standard of living than
the poor whites of the South -- and had a much easier existence." (page 30)




Reality:

Bullwhip Days: The Slaves Remember: An Oral History
Creator:  James
Mellon<http://thezeroboss.com/store/shop.php?c=3&n=15812121&k=James+Mellon&t=Creator&s=sr&p=1>
Publisher:  Grove
Press<http://thezeroboss.com/store/shop.php?c=3&n=15812121&k=Grove+Press&t=Publisher&s=sr&p=1>
*
Synopsis:  *In an unflinching oral history, former slaves eloquently
describe their experiences in captivity and portray the harsh conditions
they faced in everyday life as slaves.

URL<http://thezeroboss.com/store/shop.php?c=3&n=15812121&i=0802138683&x=Bullwhip_Days_The_Slaves_Remember_An_Oral_History>

Customer Reviews:

[image: 5 out of 5 stars] The Bad, The Sad, And The Extremely Ugly   June
12, 2006
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

This is the real deal. Ex-slaves telling their own experiences; a few
not-so-bad, many extremely heartbreaking. This is one of the best insights
into what slavery was really like during the 19th Century. This is the
story, in there own words, of how a people were totally dehumanized during
America's most shameful period. A country claiming "liberty and justice for
all" while denying that freedom to millions of fellow human beings. And many
still ask the question, "why do African-Americans still lag behind in so
many areas, while other ethnic groups had to struggle as immigrants also?"
This book is a reminder that blacks were forcibly brought here, and
denied-for-years even the simplest education. Maybe the reading of this
book, will help some realize the continual uphill struggle, blacks have
tried to achieve in a few short decades since the Civil Rights Movement.
Trying to makeup for Centuries of bondage, and inequality. Just as we can
never forget the evils of the Holocaust, so it should be equaly true with
the era of slavery.


[image: 5 out of 5 stars] The Slaves Own Words   January 31, 2006
  1 out of 1 found this review helpful


I have used this book as part of my Black history classes for 5 years now.
It would be impossible to make up the stories that actually happened to a
people held against their will and it is riveting to read about the memories
and nightmares. This book gives a name to slaves, personalizes it and makes
the suffering immortal. These recollections, though they belonged to
individuals, makes the suffering universal. The experience of one is the
experience of all. But yet, these people on occasion find some humor in
various memories and you can share there collective joy over 150 years
later. I highly recommend this book to anyone, not just students and
historians.


[image: 5 out of 5 stars] "The Real Deal"    October 19, 2005
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I first read this book back in 1991. Even today, I will occasionally reread
it. It is very informative and very much real. I can truly say that I love
this book and this is a must have. You will truly enjoy it. My people have
come a long way.


[image: 5 out of 5 stars] Powerful & Moving   February 7, 2005
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Wow...That's all I can say. This is a wonderful book and a must read for
everyone. I read this as part of a book club discussion for Black History
Month. What a way to open my eyes to a part of American history. Very
moving.


[image: 5 out of 5 stars] Telling it like it was    December 26, 2002
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Forget Tara, forget Falconhurst... this was the real deal. Based on the
results of a U.S. Government project in the 1930's to capture the memories
of living former slaves on tape, this awesome book is the history of slavery
in the United States by those most qualified to tell it -- the blacks who
actually lived it. And by telling their stories, we live through it with
them; we feel what it must have been like to have your family members sold
away from you, to be forced into cohabitation with a fellow slave you
despised for the sole purpose of breeding new slaves, to be treated like a
beast of burden, and the crushing indignity of being a piece of property to
be treated however your master's whim takes him. The former slaves
remembered it all, and their reminiscences aren't pretty: "For miles around
you could hear those dreadful whuppins. They were a turrible part of
livin'." We hear their voices through the dark years of Reconstruction,
which for many former slaves was escaping out of one hell and landing into
the next, and we hear the stark statement of one old man who sums up the
results of all his labor, paid and unpaid, over the decades: "Ain't got
nothin, ain't got nothin, ain't got nothin." And finally, we can only wonder
at the strength and resilience of so many who claimed their humanity after
so many years of being treated as something less than human, and who managed
to not only survive, but to keep on keepin' on.



[image: 5 out of 5 stars] WHAT A BOOK    April 26, 2002
 5 out of 6 found this review helpful

FOR SO LONG, I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT SLAVERY WAS LIKE. I'VE READ ABOUT IT IN
BOOKS BUT THERE REALLY WAS NO DETAILED INFORMATION ON THE ACTUAL SLAVES.
THIS BOOK REALLY HELPED ME TO FEEL THE DEVASTATION AND HUMILIATION OF THE
AFRICAN SLAVE. IT HAS ALSO GIVEN ME A DIFFERENT OUTLOOK ON WHO I AM AND
WHERE MY PEOPLE HAVE COME FROM. LONG BEFORE THIS BOOK I HAD DOUBTS ABOUT
BEING AFRICAN. I DON'T MEAN AFRICAN AMERICAN. AFRICAN! FROM THE TRAUMATIC
STRUGGLE MY PEOPLE HAVE ENDURED HAS MADE ME REALIZE THAT I WOULD BE SO
IGNORANT TO CHANGE WHAT THEY HAVE GIVEN ME. I WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE AUTHOR
OF THIS BOOK FOR NOT CHANGING EVEN THE DIALECT OF THE EX-SLAVES. IT REMINDS
ME HOW FAR WE HAVE COME AND HOW FAR WE HAVEN'T. THERE IS SO MUCH HEALING
THAT HAS TO COME TO THE SO CALLED AFRICAN AMERICANS. READING THIS BOOK, I
REALIZE THAT I HAVE FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS WHO ARE STILL IN THE SAME
STATE OF MIND. -MENTALLY ENSLAVED-


[image: 5 out of 5 stars] A MUST READ for EVERYBODY!!!   February 27, 2002
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This is a fat book which you don't have to read cover to cover. You can skip
around and read what real slaves said about raising children, their white
masters, their work, what they ate, how they celebrated, how they worshiped,
etc. This really tells what life was really like on plantations. If you like
this book I recommend I WAS BORN A SLAVE which is similar. Two novels I
recommend are THE DIARY OF A SLAVE GIRL, RUBY JO which tells about pirates
and how runaways sometimes joined pirate ships where they were treated
equally. Also, THE JOURNAL OF LEROY JONES, A FUGITIVE SLAVE.


[image: 4 out of 5 stars] As a teaching aid   May 10, 2000
  4 out of 4 found this review helpful

This book would make a wonderful teaching aid. Its first hand accounts and
lessons in perspective will draw in the reader while reminding them that
these are memories that should not soon be forgotten. I have returned to
this book several times and have recommended it ( with limited sucess ) to
educators around the south and midwest. This book should be in every high
school library.


[image: 5 out of 5 stars] From a White Woman's Perspective    April 8, 2000
 4 out of 6 found this review helpful

As a wife of a black man (married 14 years), I am constantly learning of the
plight of african-americans and their culture in order to better understand
and share it with our four children. This book has taught me more and moved
me more than ANY OTHER book I have ever read on the subject. The accounts
are moving, the pictures are unforgettable, and the book flows easily from
one interview to the next. Every household in America with an interest in
the "slave days" of the U.S. should read this book and keep it to pass on to
their children.


[image: 5 out of 5 stars] Wonderful book    October 1, 1999
Great book with a couple of really interesting pictures that make you do a
lot of thinking about that time in our nation's history.

[image: 5 out of 5 stars] I agree with the reviews below    September 17,
1999
 6 out of 7 found this review helpful

I was astounded by this book. The interviews draw a clear, persuasive
picture that no dry history book ever could, no matter how learned the
author. I now feel as though I have an accurate view of what the lives of
slaves were like.

I am pleased to see that not every slave owner was a monster and that not
every slave lived a life of continuous misery. The institution was terrible,
of course, and its continued existence so late in this country was a
disgrace. Many slave owners were brutes. However, this book illustrates the
terrific capacity of human beings to rise above their circumstances,
especially of the oppressed, but also of the oppressors.

I agree with every statement in all of the previous reviews, and I recommend
the book wholeheartedly.



[image: 5 out of 5 stars] Excellent, People come alive again through their
experiences   August 12, 1999
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

This book is really superb. It puts a human face with each story on an ugly
period of American history. The good and the bad, the funny and the quirky
experiences are explained sincerely and realistically. The best way to learn
about history is through the voices of those who lived through it so I
consider this book a valuable document and a tribute to the human spirit


[image: 5 out of 5 stars] The Most Neglected Period in U.S. History Comes
Alive    September 21, 1998
 4 out of 5 found this review helpful

You wouldn't believe my excitement upon discovering this book at the local
library. These are the voices of real slaves, their histories recorded in
the 1930's through a government project to collect this data. What a true
American gem. All the voices are transcribed in the "native" language -
Black English as spoken by ex-slaves, many of them at the time of their
stories being recorded nearly a hundred years old. The accounts are
fascinating, and non-biased. Some slaves speak frankly of wishing once again
for slavery, and they recount the generosity and attention of the "Old
Marse". Others tell horrific and moving stories of truly brutal and savage
masters and wouldn't want to return to "slave times" under any circumstance.
Most of the stories include first-hand accounts of their experiences through
the Civil War and Reconstruction, although the primary goal was to record
their experiences while slaves. Reconstruction of this country had enormous
impact, and what the slaves did to build the nation during it's early years
has been such a neglected historical topic. This is by far one of the most
important books in my collection. As a white 31-year old middle-class woman,
this is a must-read for anyone who might call themselves an American,
regardless of race.


[image: 5 out of 5 stars] Experiences described here will stay with you a
long time.    September 14, 1998
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This book will expand your mind by exposing you to a set of emotions that
are (presumably) no longer experienced: how it feels to be owned. Your own
emotions will run the gamut from anger to sadness and back again, but it is
worth it to hear about slavery from people who experienced it. You will
never again think about it in abstract terms .


****************************************************************
http://www.amazon.com/Unchained-Memories-Readings-Slave-Narratives/dp/0821228420

*Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives (Hardcover) *
by Spencer Crew<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/102-9379998-3930564?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Spencer%20Crew>(Author),
Cynthia
Goodman<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/102-9379998-3930564?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Cynthia%20Goodman>(Author),
Henry
Louis Gates<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/102-9379998-3930564?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Henry%20Louis%20Gates>(Author)
"Nothing
symbolizes the fragility and inequities of slave life better than the slave
auction..."

*Customer Reviews* *Average Customer Review:*
*<http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/write-a-review.html/102-9379998-3930564?ie=UTF8&asin=0821228420&store=books>
*    *Search Customer Reviews* ( What's
this?<http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/102-9379998-3930564?ie=UTF8&nodeId=49579011>)

    *Slavery As Experienced By Slaves*, January 9, 2007
Reviewer:N. J. Weaver "lnw567"
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A1WZ9BKCXFZ2SS/ref=cm_cr_auth/102-9379998-3930564>(Wichita,
Kansas United States) - See
all my reviews<http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A1WZ9BKCXFZ2SS/ref=cm_cr_auth/102-9379998-3930564?ie=UTF8&sort%5Fby=MostRecentReview>
 [image: (REAL NAME)]<http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=cm_rn_bdg_help/102-9379998-3930564?ie=UTF8&nodeId=14279681&pop-up=1#RN>
  Amazing
book. I've never read one like it. Quite interesting. Honest experiences. An
eye-opener. Anyone interested in history will enjoy this. I am.

  ( Report this<http://www.amazon.com/gp/vote/ref=cm_r8n_inapp_confirm/102-9379998-3930564?ie=UTF8&2115%7CR168OGGQV1VI4R.contentAssoc.1.type=AmazonCustomer&2115%7CR168OGGQV1VI4R.contentAssoc.2.id=1977787&type=pipeline&2115%7CR168OGGQV1VI4R.contentAssoc.1.id=A1WZ9BKCXFZ2SS&uri=%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F0821228420&template=inappropriate&response=report&2115%7CR168OGGQV1VI4R.contentAssoc.2=1&qv=1&voteValue=1&contentId=2115%7CR168OGGQV1VI4R&2115%7CR168OGGQV1VI4R.contentAssoc.2.type=ProductSet&label=Inappropriate&qk=%2AVersion%2A&2115%7CR168OGGQV1VI4R.contentAssoc.1=1&context=Reviews>)


*A wonderful historical collection*, July 1, 2003
Reviewer:The RAWSISTAZ
Reviewers<http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A2VKWLCNZF4ZVB/ref=cm_cr_auth/102-9379998-3930564>(
RAWSISTAZ.com ) - See all my
reviews<http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A2VKWLCNZF4ZVB/ref=cm_cr_auth/102-9379998-3930564?ie=UTF8&sort%5Fby=MostRecentReview>In
this beautiful, historical collection of slave narratives and photographs,
we are given a look inside the lives of actual slaves being interviewed as
part of a project conducted by the Works Progress Administration. With more
than forty interviews, UNCHAINED MEMORIES is a work of art that provides a
well-rounded look at the lives of slaves. It includes insight into their
living conditions, thoughts about slavery, their families and even the
details of actual slave auctions. It is a sometimes sad collection, but much
needed to help us understand the progress our ancestors have made in the
world.

Through their accounts, we are able to see the pain and suffering as well as
the spirit and pride of those born into slavery, learn from it, and pass it
along to our children. This is a wonderful resource for not only African
American families, but for anyone interested in history and the period of
slavery and its impact upon the African American race. It is compiled with
the grace and dignity deserving of a people who have been through so much!

Reviewed by Tee C. Royal
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/vote/ref=cm_r8n_inapp_confirm/102-9379998-3930564?ie=UTF8&2115%7CR26QM4VPVWPR95.contentAssoc.1.id=A2VKWLCNZF4ZVB&type=pipeline&uri=%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F0821228420&template=inappropriate&response=report&2115%7CR26QM4VPVWPR95.contentAssoc.1.type=AmazonCustomer&qv=1&voteValue=1&contentId=2115%7CR26QM4VPVWPR95&label=Inappropriate&2115%7CR26QM4VPVWPR95.contentAssoc.1=1&2115%7CR26QM4VPVWPR95.contentAssoc.2=1&qk=%2AVersion%2A&2115%7CR26QM4VPVWPR95.contentAssoc.2.id=1977787&2115%7CR26QM4VPVWPR95.contentAssoc.2.type=ProductSet&context=Reviews
">Report this)


*Sickening true stories of depravity*, June 29, 2003
Reviewer:LF "Keep your feedback to yourself, these are my opinions, not
yours"
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A1U6B2LDK3BUVU/ref=cm_cr_auth/102-9379998-3930564>(USA)
- See
all my reviews<http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A1U6B2LDK3BUVU/ref=cm_cr_auth/102-9379998-3930564?ie=UTF8&sort%5Fby=MostRecentReview>This
book is hard to read. It is hard to wade through the cruelty.

There are stories here of families being split apart by an uncaring master
class. Children were callously sold and permanently separated from their
parents. Husbands and wives were similarly split up.

Frankly, it makes you sick.

Then there are the stories of brutality. Again it makes you sick. How could
the slave owners have sunk so low?

If you are looking for well written stories that bring the institution of
slavery to life for you, this is not the book. What you get here are very
short and very simple reports by individuals. There's nothing here that you
didn't know already. This is not a great work of literature.

This is just a punch right in the nose to make you wonder how slave owners
could have been so cruel.
( Report this<http://www.amazon.com/gp/vote/ref=cm_r8n_inapp_confirm/102-9379998-3930564?ie=UTF8&2115%7CR8UY9PLUR6AJN.contentAssoc.1.type=AmazonCustomer&2115%7CR8UY9PLUR6AJN.contentAssoc.2=1&type=pipeline&uri=%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F0821228420&2115%7CR8UY9PLUR6AJN.contentAssoc.2.type=ProductSet&template=inappropriate&2115%7CR8UY9PLUR6AJN.contentAssoc.1=1&response=report&2115%7CR8UY9PLUR6AJN.contentAssoc.2.id=1977787&qv=1&voteValue=1&contentId=2115%7CR8UY9PLUR6AJN&label=Inappropriate&qk=%2AVersion%2A&2115%7CR8UY9PLUR6AJN.contentAssoc.1.id=A1U6B2LDK3BUVU&context=Reviews>)



*A Beautiful Book*, February 26, 2003
Reviewer:S. Hudson "Avid Reader"
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/AF6EOCHEKMZZC/ref=cm_cr_auth/102-9379998-3930564>(Tucker,
GA USA) - See
all my reviews<http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/AF6EOCHEKMZZC/ref=cm_cr_auth/102-9379998-3930564?ie=UTF8&sort%5Fby=MostRecentReview>
 [image: (REAL NAME)]<http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=cm_rn_bdg_help/102-9379998-3930564?ie=UTF8&nodeId=14279681&pop-up=1#RN>
  "...Oh
freedom, Oh freedom, Oh freedom over me. And before I'll be a slave, I'll be
buried in my grave and go home to my Lord and be free"
__Old Negro Spiritual

The words of the spiritual above must not have been uttered to these
beautiful human beings who have graciously allowed interviewers from the
1930's Governments Works Progress Administration to chronicle their life
stories. For if the words above had been uttered, the slave experience, from
an intimate and painful point of view, would never have received the
credence they due. Tales of slavery are still passed down from generation to
generation, and traditions still are followed but to see a book like
Unchained Memories is special. Quite simply, this is a beautiful book. I'm
so thrilled to have been given the opportunity to read it and experience it
and learn from it. I can treat the book as a textbook, a factual accounting
of the lives of former slaves who have wonderful stories that they don't
mind sharing with the world. For that reason alone, this book has earned a
permanent place on my coffee table, for all who enter into my house to
experience. Something about the actual words of former slaves bound in book
form validates an agonizing time in American History.

Unchained Memories is well researched and magnificently laid out. At the
beginning of every chapter is an introductory text that accounts for the
tenure of the time, followed by a poignant quote and then brief narratives
begin. My one regret is that the narratives are so short, when biographers
obviously spent a great deal of time with these people. I am grateful that
there is an extensive bibliography at the back so that I can, at some point,
go and read the entire account by the former slave. Oh where will I find the
time? If you read this book, I would highly suggest that you get a copy of
the HBO documentary of the same name and watch it as well. There is nothing
like "hearing" the words spoken by African American actors of today in the
vernacular of the time.

I'm glad that Unchained Memories was published, and quite fittingly made its
debut during Black History Month. These former slaves are the reason why
Black History Month is perpetuated now and a fitting tribute for remembering
from whence we as a nation have come.

( Report this<http://www.amazon.com/gp/vote/ref=cm_r8n_inapp_confirm/102-9379998-3930564?ie=UTF8&2115%7CR1C3VC399635XW.contentAssoc.1=1&type=pipeline&uri=%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F0821228420&template=inappropriate&2115%7CR1C3VC399635XW.contentAssoc.1.id=AF6EOCHEKMZZC&response=report&qv=1&voteValue=1&contentId=2115%7CR1C3VC399635XW&label=Inappropriate&2115%7CR1C3VC399635XW.contentAssoc.2.id=1977787&2115%7CR1C3VC399635XW.contentAssoc.2.type=ProductSet&qk=%2AVersion%2A&2115%7CR1C3VC399635XW.contentAssoc.1.type=AmazonCustomer&2115%7CR1C3VC399635XW.contentAssoc.2=1&context=Reviews>)





 *Exceptional bridging of history and experience*, February 16, 2003
Reviewer:Ann<http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A1ME759823RW2H/ref=cm_cr_auth/102-9379998-3930564>(Dix
Hills, New York USA) - See
all my reviews<http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A1ME759823RW2H/ref=cm_cr_auth/102-9379998-3930564?ie=UTF8&sort%5Fby=MostRecentReview>An
exquisite pictorial and narrative exploration of the institution of American
slavery, this book provides readers with the opportunity to experience from
personal recollections what it was like to live under conditions of slavery.
The text format, an artistic balance of photographs and primary sources, is
composed of interviews with former slaves conducted in the 1930s by the
Federal Writers' Project. Each chapter focuses on a particular aspect of
slave life - auctions, work, family, special occasions, providing a deeply
etched portrait of hardships and abuses as well as examples of strength of
character and quiet dignity. A worthy addition to one's library!


by Spencer Crew<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/102-9379998-3930564?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Spencer%20Crew>(Author),
Cynthia
Goodman<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/102-9379998-3930564?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Cynthia%20Goodman>(Author),
Henry
Louis Gates<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/102-9379998-3930564?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Henry%20Louis%20Gates>(Author)
"Nothing
symbolizes the fragility and inequities of slave life better than the slave
auction..."
-- 


Juanita Flores
Advocate for the Truth from Jesus
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