THIS SIDE OF SLAVERY

African Heritage City
July 30, 2013

Woman of Color, Daughter of Privilege

This fascinating story of Amanda America Dickson, born the privileged daughter of a white planter and an unconsenting slave in antebellum Georgia, shows how strong-willed individuals defied racial strictures for the sake of family. Kent Anderson Leslie uses the events of Dickson's life to explore the forces driving southern race and gender relations from the days of King Cotton through the Civil War, Reconstruction, and New South eras.

Although legally a slave herself well into her adolescence, Dickson was much favored by her father and lived comfortably in his house, receiving a genteel upbringing and education. After her father died in 1885 Dickson inherited most of his half-million dollar estate, sparking off two years of legal battles with white relatives. When the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the will, Dickson became the largest landowner in Hancock County, Georgia, and the wealthiest black woman in the post-Civil War South.

Kent Anderson Leslie's portrayal of Dickson is enhanced by a wealth of details about plantation life; the elaborate codes of behavior for men and women, blacks and whites in the South; and the equally complicated circumstances under which racial transgressions were sometimes ignored, tolerated, or even accepted. - author unknown




Martin Jarrett:
"I can't use the word decent to describe any slave owner." -

Tonia Lloyd:
"Although there were a very small fraction of slave owners that treated 'their property' humanely... they still had the right/might of the law on their side if and when they decided that they didn't want to anymore!!!"

Gregory E. Woods:
"You have to put yourself into the times to fathom the description. People instinctively seek the best in others, and in the darkest of times and circumstance the impulse does not recede into the darkness.

The Indian nations that held slaves were despised by Southern whites because they lacked their prerequisite cruelty. The Cherokee, Seminoles, the Creeks, for example, allowed 'slaves' to marry and become citizens of the tribe. In the lofty place of the 21st century's privilege and the advantage of distance from slavery a person can easily not feel the time period and judge it unrealistically."


"That was the least he could do after raping her Mama white folks kill me wanting good points for some shit they should do anyway... - Denise Branch

Robert Hickman:
"There is nothing good about slavery!"

Gregory E. Woods:
"Depends on which side of the institution you are standing and paying attention to. If it was not beneficial and good for somebody why is the framework of the institution of slavery still relevant, still in good working order? I tell people from other countries, and young people in my charge if they want or need to understand the United States they need to understand slavery. It is the gnat that does not go away."