Current Series Catalogue

The Peculiar Institution
and Race Relations

Racial segregation, discrimination, and degradation are no accidents in this nation’s history. They stem logically from the legacy the Founding Fathers bestowed upon contemporary America with regard to the treatment of African-Americans. This tragedy has left the country with a weak foundation. Didn’t they realize the effect their actions would have on the growing nation? One can only speculate that, no, they didn’t realize, and we as Americans, through all of our 200+ years, still have a hard time with the concept of Equality for All.

These titles explore slavery and its legacy, from freedom to enslavement, abolition to aspirations of the “American Dream”.

T. H. Breen and Stephen Innes, Myne Owne Ground: Race and Freedom on Virginia’s Eastern Shore 1640-1676
This history focuses on the changing social forces in Virginia that allowed black families to escape bondage but pushed their descendants into slavery.

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin
The classic abolitionist novel written prior to the Civil War.

Jeffery Lent, The Marrow of Tradition
Based upon the Wilmington, NC, race riot of 1898 and written in 1901, this historical novel makes a plea for racial justice.

Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
A lasting masterpiece of American literature. It chronicles the existential journey of an unnamed black man attempting to discover his identity and role in a hostile and confusing world that refuses to acknowledge his existence.

Lorraine Hansberry, Raisin in the Sun
The "movin’ on up" morality play of the 1960s, Raisin accurately reflected the aspirations of a newly nascent black middle class.

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