Slavery by Another Name

The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II

By: Douglas A. Blackmon

Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris

Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Pulitzer Prize, General Nonfiction, 2009

In this groundbreaking historical expose, Douglas A. Blackmon brings to light one of the most shameful chapters in American history: an Age of Neoslavery that thrived from the aftermath of the Civil War through the dawn of World War II.

Using a vast record of original documents and personal narratives, Douglas A. Blackmon unearths the lost stories of slaves and their descendants who journeyed into freedom after the Emancipation Proclamation and then back into the shadow of involuntary servitude shortly thereafter.

By turns moving, sobering, and shocking, this unprecedented account reveals the stories of those who fought unsuccessfully against the re-emergence of human labor trafficking, the companies that profited most from neoslavery, and the insidious legacy of racism that reverberates today.

©2009 Douglas A. Blackmon (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Shocking....Eviscerates one of our schoolchildren's most basic assumptions: that slavery in America ended with the Civil War.” ( The New York Times)

“The genius of Blackmon's book is that it illuminates both the real human tragedy and the profoundly corrupting nature of the Old South slavery as it transformed to establish a New South social order.” ( The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

A Precursor to “The New Jim Crow”

In the annals of history, this is a hidden story about the continuation of slavery and the dehumanization of the African-American. State sanctioned re-enslavement. The author does a great job telling the story of the systematic re-enslavement, the review by the Federal Government that ultimately opens the door for state sanctioned slavery and the continued boost to the economy on the backs of African-Americans.

Other points highlighted are the strengthening of White supremacy as well as the further subjugation of the African-American citizens. Free, only in name, the population effectively were right back in slavery.

Pay attention to sub-plots involving Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. DuBois, Presidents: Teddy Roosevelt, & Woodrow Wilson. The introduction of the FBI & J. Edgar Hoover and the dichotomy of how the 2nd Amendment was interpreted for White Americans vs African-Americans.

Should be in your library.

Enlightening. Revealing. Sobering.

This work reveals more inconvenient truth that helps all Americans understand just how deep our divisions run and how fragile our racial environment is. Its no wonder why our nation has once again succumbed to distrust and fallen into disharmony . We must learn from our past to avoid repeating it.

A must read/listen to book.

The only way a country can be truly great is to acknowledge its past no matter how ugly, cruel, or evil it was. Denying history is not equal to attempt to erase history.

Life Changing

Incredible live story. I have never been so sensitive and emotionally involved with any book like I have this one. Bravo Mr. Blackmon

Why has this been left out of history lessons?

I had to put this down several times because I was sick to learn that this cruelty had happened in our country and that it had been left out of any history that I have been exposed to. I’m more determined than ever to do something about reparations.

Steel Yourself

The story of how the US let itself and its African-American people down after Reconstruction and Emancipation is more nasty and bitter than the Civil War itself. All the Civil War ended up doing was preventing the spread of slavery to the new territories and states. Once the US Army left, the racist White Supremacist southerners found clever new ways of re-instituting their hateful practice of getting cheap labor, and their sadistic jollies at the same time.

I am conservative as they come, but if anybody tells you that Affirmative Action or Reparations are wrong, I will hereafter reply that they are a blunt instrument, but not half so blunt as those which beat upon the backs of the Grandfathers, and Great-Grandfathers of my African-American fellows.

Powerful book!

This was an eye opening experience for me. While I have always thought that the South treated blacks differently than other parts of the United States, I never dreamed it was worse than ever for them until after World War II. I am not saying it was only in the Southern United States as people are racist all over and a lot of other states made it impossible for blacks to feel safe in those areas. What this book does is document the so called convict workers and how the majority of convicts were blacks and treated much differently than whites for similar crimes. For example a white man found riding the rails was sentenced to 10 days labor while a black man would be sentenced to 2 years or more for the same offence.

This was a money making venture for sheriffs and judges in the South. They would arrest black men for not having any money in their pockets thus being "vagrants" and fine them 20 dollars. Then they would tell these men that their only hope would be to let this white man pay their fine and then they could work it off. The white man (usually the sheriff or judge themselves) would sell their contracts for these men to a mine or farm or factory and the black men would be indentured to these men until they were no longer useful or died. In a lot of ways it was worse than slavery as the whites who worked these blacks had no care for their welfare as there were always more convicts to get.

Corporations like US Steel and banks like Wachovia were owners of some of these endeavors. The United States Federal courts looked away for the most part as it was "out of their jurisdiction". Teddy Roosevelt tried to change things with very little luck. Woodrow Wilson made things worse by creating segregation in the Washington DC area during his term in office. J. Edgar Hoover couldn't be bothered to help the negro. FDR realized that if America didn't do something positive for the Blacks, Germany and Japan would use that as propaganda against America and finally instructed the Justice department to prosecute at the highest level of the law any person or corporation using this feudal servitude method in the United States.

This book should be required reading for anyone who enjoys history. I mentioned just a few ways this keeping the black man back was done. There are many more documented in this book.

The narration by Dennis Boutsikaris was wonderfully done.

Enlightening

What made the experience of listening to Slavery by Another Name the most enjoyable?

New twist on US slave history. Mostly focused on AL and GA post Civil War slavery.
Well crafted.

Chilling tale of slavery in our time.

It's so hard to believe that America was such a terrible place and the way they treated African Americans was simply disgusting. It's pain me as a black woman to know my history was so violent. It's really sad. The book was a good read. Long, but good.

The Rest of American History

This book!!! When I began listening to this book I had no idea what I was getting into. I am stunned. The contents shocked and horrified me. Once again, I feel shame caused by our white forefathers; Indians, African Americans,Jewish and Irish have be killed by white mans corruption, greed, brutality ..... downright sadism. By learning of the brutalization of the African-Americans, I feel angry and cheated by the shameful secrets kept from American students. As a child, I loved history. Now thanks to Douglas Blackmons incredible research, I realize we school children of the 40's and 50's, and our parents before us, were told a dismissive, shallow and incorrect version of the era of slavery. How I wish we could have learned the truth Blackmon has unearthed.
I am a psychotherapist. I believe in intergenerational trauma. The knowledge of the generations of trauma African American of today carry, helps me to understand where some of the bitterness and hatred acted out on people of light skin comes from...... why Caucasian police are held in such contempt. It's not an excuse but it is a partial explanation.
My life has been forever changed by this book. The words, the passionate words, have left a mark of not only wisdom but compassion, mercy and grace. Thank you Douglas Blackmon. You have given our culture a priceless gift.