Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory by Claudio SauntMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I found this book to be a critical read, one that educated me far beyond what I learned in 8th grade Georgia history many years ago. As I told my husband, "yeah, we learned about the Trail of Tears, but that was a single episode in a saga of dispossession." The book is written in an academic, not narrative, style, but it is clearly written and ties together various historical events. It also contains significant details that are often omitted from school instruction. Saunt, a professor at UGA, clearly makes the connection between the dispossession and extermination of Native American people with white supremacy and a commitment to slavery. As a Georgia resident, I learned just how many of the cities and counties of my home state are named in honor of avowed white supremacists, slave owners, and key contributors to the effort to expel the native Creek and Cherokee residents of this state - it's both shocking and not... I also found the parallels between Jackson's administration and the Trump administration to be both vast and fascinating. This book will be of interest to those interested in expanding their historical knowledge generally as well as to those looking to deepen their understanding of the racist underpinnings of our culture and political and economic systems.
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