Review: Loved the novel, hate the short story at the end
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 2, 2013
I read this novel in a few hours yesterday, just because I couldn't stand to put it down. The compelling story of ex-slave Jimmie Barnes, who at 132 years old had been trying his whole life to get back his father's "forty acres and a mule," bestowed upon him after the Civil War in exchange for service to the Union. When Jimmie was still a little boy, klansmen murdered his parents and stole his father's land. I loved Jimmie, admired his tenacity and honesty, and was glad he could see right through all of the politicians and Civil Rights leader who wanted him to further their own careers. I saw the end coming, but loved it anyway.The thing that almost ruined this book for me was the short story at the end. A rich white woman from modern day hates blacks and had effectively driven them from her club pool. She gets a huge side of her own medicine when she mysteriously turns into a black woman. She is refused admission to her own club, accused of stealing "a white woman's identity," and is treated as badly and worse as she ever treated a black person. I "get" the moral of the story, but I hate the idea that all white conservatives are racist. There are members from every race who have to keep racism going for their own ends. I'm white, I'm conservative, and I'm not a racist. I don't care what color anyone is. You can swim in the same pool as me, you can live next door, you can have dinner with me, you can swim in MY pool, and I will not have it drained and power cleaned with bleach afterward. I am so tired of hearing that if I don't like a black politician, the only possible explanation is that I must be a racist. I could go on and on, but I'll just say that the inclusion of this stupid story is the reason I gave it four stars instead of five.