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Jun 27, 2017Joeybiomaster rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
This book was a disservice to the black men, women, and children who died during the Civil Rights Movement. I won't go into detail on this thought because it would lead to many spoilers, but there is not one black character who is a main character, a good guy, or lives to the end of the book. A strong black supporting character would have done a lot to help show the race relations in this book. The book was basically white people shocked about the brutality of white people and how white people try to solve these murders. The author failed to address the systemic racism that currently exists in the state and the country. In the book, racism is only shown as something that exists among the villains. By doing this, the author creates a false narrative that only the KKK was guilty of the killing of black people. All white people in the book who lived in the 1960s were guilty because they never took any actions to seeks justice. In the book, the white characters feel sad about the murders, but they say "why didn't they move North to avoid persecution?" But a better question would be "why did the people of Natchez create an environment to fuel racism?" The writing was amazing, but the story could have been 200 pages shorter. The last part is basically a typically thriller, but the beginning and middle make the reader think the problems can be solved through law or diplomacy. This contrast led to a weird dissonance. Though it's highly possible the author did this because he knows the law does not favor African Americans.