Customer Reviews

White Women, Black Men: Illicit Sex in the Nineteenth-Century South

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a scandalously good and honest book; well researched and successful in pulling back the scab on one of the many important subterranean areas of southern America's lurid but very active cross-racial sexual life. Most of America's social history remains tucked away in various nooks and crannies of our collective repressed minds.

While the evidence is everywhere (the large numbers of American mulattoes and the fact that half of all American blacks and Native Americans have some white blood and rather incredibly about 30% of all whites have some black blood: How did it get that way? -- not through the White woman-Black man route, for sure.

There is a great deal to chew on here. Among others, it puts to rest the old myth of the wild black buck rapist. Many, if not most of the blacks lynched for rape were certifiably engaged in love affairs discovered and exposed too soon, with predictable consequences: The black man usually ended up paying the ultimate price to protect the reputation of his white female lover. But in many such instances the woman refused to take the "he raped me defense" and openly declared her love for her illicit black mate, and as a result, also suffered the inevitable consequences -effective expulsion from the white race.

When the other half of this sordid story comes to the fore - the "goings-on in the dark" between white men and black women -- only then can we truly say that America is coming of age. Five stars

The book does absolutely make one think (or better--realize) that the 'Old Days' were not necessarily the 'Best Days.'
As I was reading the book, I could not help but think of color as being 'everything.'
Considering that the 'white' skin was an item of power for the woman, it is indeed fascinating as to what would motivate the white women described in the book to love a 'negro' man. Especially, if that 'negro' man was a slave. I would like to believe the white 'ladies' (yes, I use that word) knew what the 'position' the man held in society. And I would like to believe the ladies knew what 'position' she would now hold in society. Thus, some of the tragic events described in the book.

I did like the chronological flow of the book and the reference back to earlier times as was warranted when coming to the end of the nineteenth century (nearly modern times).

Of course, a subject like this would have to be absolutely rigorously researched. And, it does appear that Ms. Hodes really did her job in that respect.

I will admit to being surprised that it was not until the immediate run-up and after the Civil War that 'automatic' murder/lynching of black men occrred with impunity. I had thought that there was 'automatic' lynching of any black man that 'knew' a white woman.

It is too bad that we do not have a fuller record of the 'voiceless' men.

As I was reading the book and referring to the notes, I could not help but think just kind of courage it took to cross color 'lines.'
No matter what, it does seem that sex, lust, and love (the order is deliberate) is just something that cannot be legislated, beat, or murdered away.

Reading the book certainly had me thinking about what 'freedom' means. Depictions of idyllic times in the 'Old Days' certainly needs at the very least more consideration. We all would do well to take a 'hard' look at the 'Old Days' -- no matter who.

The book is certainly more than a worthy excursion into subject matter that is fraught with 'landmines' (political, moral, etc).

PLEASE READ THE EXCERPTS OF THIS BOOK ON AMAZON! This book does NOT say that MOST black man/white woman rape cases were about "lovers" being separated by racist white men! It does NOT suggest that black women were willingly "swinging" with white men while black men and white women were being separated!
This book TRIES to expose the many economic, racial,class, and gender issues that made southern black turn a blind eye to white female/black male sex BEFORE the Civil War, then start calling it rape AFTER!
This book clearly recognizes that systemic sexual exploitation of black women and girl by white men, but goes further to suggest that such abuse had few drawbacks for white men because- by law- all children of black slave mothers were slaves. While law said that any children born to a white mother- were free and had rights. This made black male/white female sex a potential source of non-white people who had full white status.
This book says much more than that. So, read the excerpts and then GET THE BOOK!

This is a wonderful book shedding light on something no one ever admits, namely the obsession of white women with black men. This does indeed expose the true taboo that no one ever mentions and that no one dares to speak of. But what the problem is here is that this book doesn't discuss the other side of this erotic coin. No where is it mentioned what all these white men were doing while their women were out with black men. The truth is that all these white men where cavorting with the young black women who frequently served as nannies and cooks in these households in the 19th century. In fact Strom Thurmonds own dalliance in the early 20th century with a teenage black women was simply the norm in those days. Yet no book dares to expose the other side of a coin that many know about, the illicit `jungle fever' of Caucasian men for African America women. So this book is a mixed bag, it examines one nature of inter-racial relations while ignoring another segment of 19th century society.

Seth J. Frantzman

THis Book is Very Well DOcumented&Done.Unlike THe Media at large Today or on a Bigger Scale Hollywood who still is stuck in The GUess Whose Coming To DInner Phase Of Life? Martha Hodges Brings Too Life The Fact that WHite WOmen&Black Men have Gotten Together during Slavery&After The Civil War.Books Like this are Very Important Because if You Go By TV it's Usually Watered Down or Down in Token Form.ALot OF Respect TOO Martha Hodges FOr Bringing This Book To Light.

This is the best book I have read on this subject. I highly recommend it