Cora was born into slavery on a plantation in Georgia. Life is difficult, but things aren't any easier when Cora's mother Mabel escapes the yoke of slavery and leaves her young daughter behind. Cora must endure backbreaking work in the field and the cruelty of the overseer. She must listen to the overseer touting Bible verses suggesting that slavery is biblical because it is in the Good Book. She must try to escape the notice of men, but once she comes of age, that becomes an impossibility. The plantation owner has noticed her, and grabs her breast while the slaves are lined up for inspection. She is already marked as a slave, but now she is marked as a woman who will be visited nightly by the owner of the plantation. She knows she has no choice in the matter unless she tries to escape.
Caesar, who is another slave on the plantation, had approached Cora with the idea of escape a few weeks before. Her own mother had been successful, and the slave catchers had never found her, so maybe the same luck would be with Cora. Cora knew the risks of capture - a long, slow tortuous death. Cora also knows that death is better than being raped repeated by the cruel owner, Randall.
Caesar and Cora make their bid to freedom via the Underground Railroad. The Railroad was not known to be as far south as Georgia, but there were those individuals who risked their lives to fight for those who were enslaved. Thus begins the story of Cora and those she meets along her journey to freedom.
This book was difficult for me to read. I saw so many parallels between that time period and today.
One of the things that has most saddened me after the events of the last year is the deep-seeded racism that pervades our society. I had no idea that so many people had so much hatred in their hearts toward other human beings. “The whites came to this land for a fresh start and to escape the tyranny of their masters, just as the freemen had fled theirs. But the ideals they held up for themselves, they denied others"(Whitehead).
Until recently, history books never told the entire story. I never knew about the Japanese internment until I met someone whose family was interned in Washington state WHILE he was working as an interpreter to fight against our enemy at the time. Did our history books tell us how we gained land in the west? Or how we built most of the railroads, the nation's Capitol building, and even the White House? The United States has a tarnished history in its greatness.
“And America, too, is a delusion, the grandest one of all. The white race believes--believes with all its heart--that it is their right to take the land. To kill Indians. Make war. Enslave their brothers. This nation shouldn't exist, if there is any justice in the world, for its foundations are murder, theft, and cruelty. Yet here we are" (Whitehead).
And here we are indeed. How can we as a nation move toward unity, civility, and a love for each other? We won't get there by continuing to harbor racism in our hearts. We won't get there if we believe that we must hate those who are different. We certainly will not get there if we continue to excuse behaviors that are clearly racist in nature. It is our responsibility to start our own underground railroad and help those who feel enslaved by a toxic cultural attitude.
This book will force you to see what most history books didn't tell you. Many people gave their lives so that others would have freedom. There are still those who fight for equal rights and racial equality. Those people represent the essence of our Constitution. Our country is known as "the land of the free." We all have the responsibility to make sure it remains so.
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