Books For Your Mind: A Renegade History of the United States by Thaddeus Russell

Wednesday, December 19, 2018

A Renegade History of the United States by Thaddeus Russell

In A Renegade History of the United States, Thaddeus Russel looks at US history by examining the impact of the people at the bottom of society. It's a gritty history, filled with criminals, prostitutes and people who refuse to buy into the American work ethic of sacrificing freedom to earn money. They desire the freedom to choose live for today and work only when they want.

When the US government interviewed African American slaves many years after the civil war, the interviewers were surprised that a significant number of former slaves looked back fondly on the plantation as their physical needs were taken care of and they did not have to work as hard. Another group of former slaves bought into the American dream of hard work and education learning the benefits of delayed gratification. Many leaders in the community worked hard to convert the former slaves to this mindset with mixed results. This occurred again as Martin Luther King Junior admonished he flock to give up idleness and be productive during time leading up to the Civil Rights Movement.

The author examines three ethnic groups who graduated from the out group to the in group. Irish, Jewish and Italian immigrants arrived in the U. S. later than other Europeans. In the northern cities, each of these ethnic groups ended up in the same housing areas as the African Americans. This proximity facilitated cultural exchanges between these groups. This also explains why many of the black-faced minstrel shows were comprised of members from these three ethnic groups. They observed and borrowed dances and singing from the African American Culture.

Jewish composers Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein composed lyrics and songs such as "Old Man River" that captured the African American experience. They were able to do this because they grew up living in the same neighborhoods and absorbing that culture.

During World War II the military units were segregated and the military had to make a decision about which ethnic group fell into the "white group". The Jewish, Irish and Italians were folded into the white group with some distinction being made between the northern and southern Italians. The darker skinned southern Italians were initially discriminated against and compared unfavorably to African Americans. The same thing occurred when the both the Irish and Jewish immigrants arrived. I was surprised to find out that the people who made these distinctions worked at places like Harvard or Stanford.

The roll of Jazz and Rock-n-Roll in the downfall of East Germany was also explained in detail. The government suppression to these forms of music created more demand for freedom.

This is a disturbing work that reveals the unconventional truth behind history including an extended exploration of the similar policies of government control of society supported by FDR, Mussolini, and Hitler.