WhatdoesitmeantobeanAmerican?ThestoryoftheAfricanAmericanpastdemonstratesthedifficultyofansweringthisseeminglysimplequestion.WhatdoesitmeantobeanAmerican?ThestoryoftheAfricanAmericanpastdemonstratesthedifficultyofansweringthisseeminglysimplequestion.Ifbeing“American“meanslivinginalandoffreedomandopportunity,whatarewetomakeofthoseAmericanswhowereenslavedandwhohavesufferedfromthelimitationsofsecond-classcitizenshipthroughouttheirlives?AfricanAmericanhistoryilluminatestheUnitedStates’coreparadoxes,invitingprofoundquestionsaboutwhatitmeanstobeanAmerican,acitizen,andahumanbeing.Thisbookconsidershow,forcenturies,AfricanAmericanshavefoughtforwhattheblackfeministintellectualAnnaJuliaCoopercalled“thecauseoffreedom.“ItbeginsinJamestownin1619,whenthefirstshipmentofenslavedAfricansarrivedinthatsettlement.Itnarratesthecreationofasystemofracializedchattelslavery,theeventualdismantlingofthatsysteminthenationalbloodlettingoftheCivilWar,andthewaysthatcivilrightsdisputeshavecontinuedtoeruptinthemorethan150yearssinceEmancipation.TheCauseofFreedomcarriesforwardtotheBlackLivesMattermovement,agrass-rootsactivistconvulsionthatdeclaredthatAfricanAmericans’presentandpasthavevalueandmeaning.Atamomentwhenpoliticaldebatesgrapplewiththenation’sobligationtoacknowledgeandperhapsevenrepairitsoriginalsinofracializedslavery,TheCauseofFreedomtellsastoryaboutourcapacityandwillingnesstorealizetheidealarticulatedinthecountry’sfoundingdocument,namely,thatallpeoplewerecreatedequal.
