Thank you Atria Book and Netgalley for letting me read and review this book. Black and White is a non-fiction story that is an updated edition from the 19th century. It talks about economic inequality that fuels systematic racism. This is an important and powerful read. However, there are some passages that contain anti-Semitic references. Other than that the book is informative and should be a required read.

“Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and an early agitator for civil rights, T. Thomas Fortune astutely and compellingly analyzes the relationship between capitalism and racism in the United States. He reveals that the country’s racial hierarchy has been part of our national fabric since the first European set foot here and is rooted in a much larger system of economic exploitation. He argues that in order for the United States to realize its founding ideals and end racial discrimination, this system must be dismantled, reparations made, and labor fairly remunerated."

The writing style is powerful and intriguing. I couldn't put the book down. I learned a lot in this book and wish we had this as assigned reading in school.

This is a reprint/revised edition of a book written over 100 years ago. It felt like it was mainly for those that are apart of the academia levels when it comes to race and race relations. There were some parts that I was able to relate to and understand.

I received a copy of the book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leavning an honest review of my own thougts and opinions

T. Thomas Fortune was an influential Black journalist in the 1880s and 1890s and he was a notable mentor to both W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells. And while his name is not as widely known in the 21st Century, his writings were ahead of their times in many ways. Sadly, this book, originally published in 1884 poses many critiques of racism and capitalism in the United States that are still relevant today in 2022. Historian Robin D. G. Kelley sums up Fortune's arguments in his foreword to this republished edition:

"He argued that the South's problems can be traced to the federal government allowing the slaveholding rebels to return to power, hold the monopoly of land, and strip Black people of their short-lived citizenship rights, and the government's refusal to compensate freed people for generations of unpaid labor."

The introduction to this book also contains helpful historical context for Fortune's writings. While I was not able to understand all the references Fortune made to politics of that time, I found the writing surprisingly easy to read. I began highlighting some of the words that are not as commonly used today like: cupidity, peculation, bellicose, supercilious, pusillanimous and others that I might start peppering into everyday conversation.

I should note that not everything holds up to today's standards. For example, there are some unfortunate passages that contain anti-Semitic references. This is something that if taught in a classroom, would need to be addressed. But there is so much to gain from reading this book, that I would hope more educators in the United States include it in their curriculum, or at the very least mention the influence that T. Thomas Fortune has had and continues to have.