From Bondage to Liberation

Until the late 1960s, the traditional American literary canon was segregated. Moreover, writings of widely anthologized authors rarely touched on race. Not until the 1980s did studies begin to reflect the multicultural diversity of the US. Ironically, as mainstream anthologies became more inclusive and integrated, Afro-American literature collections concentrated on black authors excluded from the traditional Anglo-American canon. This book builds a literary and cultural bridge across the racial divide. It represents important views through the lens of Faith Berry's narratives, of such well-known figures as Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mark Twain, Frederick Douglass, and many others. Cumulatively, it is an unflinching, multifaceted examination of the literary history of race relations in the US.