The Accident of Color

A Story of Race in Reconstruction

By: Daniel Brook

Narrated by: David Sadzin

Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

In The Accident of Color, Daniel Brook journeys to 19th-century New Orleans and Charleston and introduces us to cosmopolitan residents who elude the racial categories the rest of America takes for granted. Before the Civil War, these free, openly mixed-race urbanites enjoyed some rights of citizenship and the privileges of wealth and social status. But after Emancipation, as former slaves move to assert their rights, the black-white binary that rules the rest of the nation begins to intrude. During Reconstruction, a movement arises as mixed-race elites make common cause with the formerly enslaved and allies at the fringes of whiteness in a bid to achieve political and social equality for all.

In some areas, this coalition proved remarkably successful. Activists peacefully integrated the streetcars of Charleston and New Orleans for decades and, for a time, even the New Orleans public schools and the University of South Carolina were educating students of all backgrounds side by side. Tragically, the achievements of this movement were ultimately swept away by a violent political backlash and expunged from the history books, culminating in the Jim Crow laws that would legalize segregation for a half-century and usher in the binary racial regime that rules us to this day.

©2019 Daniel Brook (P)2019 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Eye-opening

This is a fascinating history of free men of color in Charlston, SC and New Orleans from before the Civil War through Reconstruction and into Jim Crow. My only criticism is that it jumps back and forth between Charlston and New Orleans, which can be confusing

Enjoyed the book....

Will listen again a few more times. Eye opener when you see how the past actions made our present situation the way it is in terms of interaction between humans of different colors/hues/complexions.

Amazing History That Should Be Taught

As a history person, I love hearing about stories like the ones in this book, but often end up thinking "Why isn't this taught in schools?" I thought this again after listening to this book.

The black-white binary is such a big part of American history, especially in the post-Civil War era, that knowing people did dare to cross the barriers and challenge peoples' notions of race was impowering. Of course, it's also saddening to know that even when people were able to fight against racial segregation, it overcame life in the South until the Civil Rights movement of the mid-20th century. But we should also acknowledge that African Americans and the mixed race communities of Charleston and New Orleans were striving for equality long before we typically are taught they did and people of mixed race were a huge part of challenging ideas of race. And while New Orleans is known for its Creole community and the significance they played in the city's history, the mixed-race communities of Charleston are less discussed. This book did a fantastic job of doing so and showing how people of color lived and resisted being made second-place.

If you're interested in stories of resistance and lesser-known history of African American and mixed race communities, this is the book for you. But I also just recommend this book in general, since this is another example of what we should be teaching in schools: how the Black and White divide was not the same everywhere even in the South and for a time in these cities, people of color were able to thrive.

hands down the bref Ive heard in a while.

A must read! I really enjoyed it and it kept my attention all the way through.