Hi. Some spoilers included. I’m about halfway through ‘A Nation Interrupted’. In case you aren’t familiar with it, it’s about the south winning the Civil War (coincidentally it involves letter 191 just as in the Turtledove series). Anyway, the south and the north both fight the Nazis together. They are on good terms. The south in this series actually abolished slavery a few years before the north in the 1880s. My problem with this book is that it mentions slavery being abolished in a quick sentence or two but so far hasn’t mentioned it again. There isn’t so much as a single black character referenced in the background. In my opinion, it seems racist to completely ignore the issue of race relations here and to make the south and north be on good terms instead of rivals at the least. (Sorry for this post being so long. Wasn’t sure how to simplify.)
A Nation Interrupted
- Thread starter Dspoh001
- Start date
Without knowing any more than what you've shared, my guess would be that slavery wasn't involved in the story the author wanted to tell (the US and CS fighting the Nazis as allies) so it was just explained away as over and done.
Without know the author it is probably unfair to say it's "racist" but the optics are... bad. Race relations so fervently informs American history that it's going to be there no matter what.
Without know the author it is probably unfair to say it's "racist" but the optics are... bad. Race relations so fervently informs American history that it's going to be there no matter what.