The plight of African Americans has been a very arduous journey. The plight of black women has been an even greater one. A large majority of African American women have faced some form of labeling, racism and backlash. During the antebellum period, you were either a free black, or former slave. In “Woman of Color, Daughter of Privilege”, written by Kent Anderson Leslie in 1995, tells a captivating true story of a woman, Amanda America Dickson, whose life shows how with persistence and willpower, one woman defined herself to become one of the wealthiest women in America at a time when it was unheard of for a black person to possess anything, let alone a black woman. Mr. Kent is an author and assistant professor of women 's studies at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Born in 1849, Amanda was the result of a forbidden encounter between a rich plantation owner named David Dickson and one of his 13-year-old slave girls. Although it was not unusual, albeit unlawful for such a situation to occur, what was unusual was the fact the Mr. Dickson took the child and raised her in the main house as if she were a white child. The book tells how he managed his white family and his …show more content…
The reader is introduced "people of color" who prevailed against all odds to create a world of privilege and understanding among white citizens. Amanda 's mother 's story was as equally interesting in some ways as Amanda 's story because there are two life stories being told; one of an innocent child who was forced to grow up in a world where she had to gain acceptance, and one who lost her innocence to a much older influential man. This book sheds light on the lengths that mixed families of the era endured to shield their beloved ones under a system of oppression in early America. It tells a different story of America. An America filled with more hope and
Born in 1849, Amanda was the result of a forbidden encounter between a rich plantation owner named David Dickson and one of his 13-year-old slave girls. Although it was not unusual, albeit unlawful for such a situation to occur, what was unusual was the fact the Mr. Dickson took the child and raised her in the main house as if she were a white child. The book tells how he managed his white family and his …show more content…
The reader is introduced "people of color" who prevailed against all odds to create a world of privilege and understanding among white citizens. Amanda 's mother 's story was as equally interesting in some ways as Amanda 's story because there are two life stories being told; one of an innocent child who was forced to grow up in a world where she had to gain acceptance, and one who lost her innocence to a much older influential man. This book sheds light on the lengths that mixed families of the era endured to shield their beloved ones under a system of oppression in early America. It tells a different story of America. An America filled with more hope and