Review of
Instaread Summary of Glory Over Everything: Beyond the Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
Four out of five stars
When it still
existed before the American Civil War, southerners referred to slavery as “our
peculiar institution.” This phrase had several meanings, but whatever was
meant, it was an understatement. Being black was clear in most instances, but
there were many instances of black female slaves being impregnated by their
masters, either by coercion or straight rape. This led to many people of mixed
race, with a complete spectrum of skin pigmentations and fractional black
components. For these people, their racial classification was uncertain, but
subject to a negative interpretation at any time.
The main
character is James Burton, a mixed-race man that is one-quarter black, but
light enough to pass as white. He was raised as white by his adoptive parents
and the story involves his interactions with his world as he tries to avoid
being classified as black and sold into slavery. Considered a white child for
so long, James was sheltered and largely chose to ignore the plight of black
people. When he learns that he can be considered one, his environment is
dramatically altered.
This summary moves
quickly in the explanation of the plot, but while the author does a good job in
explaining the main themes of the book, the subject matter is far too complex
to be developed in a short piece. Slavery in the United States was a very
complex practice, even though it was based on a very simple social distinction,
one race could be considered property. When the fundamental plot device is
based on the people of mixed race, of which there were many, it rapidly gets
horribly complicated.
The inability
of the nation to resolve the issue of slavery led to an internal war where
hundreds of thousands were killed and large areas of the land devastated. Much
of that inability was due to the complexity of how slavery was practiced. The
book is important in that it demonstrates to modern readers how racial
classification is inexact, leading to ambiguity and danger to people that could
fall on either side of the racial divide. This summary is dense and moves so
fast that it is confusing, yet the main ideas are clear.
This book was made available for free for review
purposes.
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