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Rating: 
Summary: The North Wasn't Much Better
Review: The female child of a white female outcast and a black freeman, the author gives a detailed account of what it was like being raised by a white family in the pre-Civil War North of the United States (a household where she was abandoned by her mother at 3). This biography gives a general idea of what a Negro's life in the North was like -- and it was not much different from that life of a slave in the South. The mistress of the house was brutal beyond measure, but many of the other family members were reasonably kind (though not kind of enough to put a stop to the abuse), and it makes one shudder to think of what could have happened in a family who had nothing but Negro-haters in it. Still, she recounts how she got a small measure of schooling, and how she eventually became a Christian (something which the lady of the house -- a Christian herself -- opposed) and her eventual marriage. An upsetting story, it is nevertheless of much more value than "Uncle Tom's Cabin" as it was told from the point of view of the victim and not a sympathetic white.
Rating:
Summary: The North Wasn't Much Better
Review: The female child of a white female outcast and a black freeman, the author gives a detailed account of what it was like being raised by a white family in the pre-Civil War North of the United States (a household where she was abandoned by her mother at 3). This biography gives a general idea of what a Negro's life in the North was like -- and it was not much different from that life of a slave in the South. The mistress of the house was brutal beyond measure, but many of the other family members were reasonably kind (though not kind of enough to put a stop to the abuse), and it makes one shudder to think of what could have happened in a family who had nothing but Negro-haters in it. Still, she recounts how she got a small measure of schooling, and how she eventually became a Christian (something which the lady of the house -- a Christian herself -- opposed) and her eventual marriage. An upsetting story, it is nevertheless of much more value than "Uncle Tom's Cabin" as it was told from the point of view of the victim and not a sympathetic white.
Rating: 
Summary: Once upon a time in America...
Review: Writing is a cathartic process and Our Nig is the author's attempt to come to terms with her life as a second, no, fourth-class citizen in America. The author is a racially-mixed Black woman. The title reveals a lot. The main character is not called by her name, Frado, she was called "our nig," short for "our nigger." The book gives the reader an idea of the author's relationship to society at that time. The book shows that racism and cruelty was not a Southern experience. And that freedom from slavery did not mean that one was not treated as a slave. The main character suffers abandonment, rejection, and cruel treatment by the many people who have power over her life. Or do they? She manages to survive many indignities inflicted upon her and leaves a written legacy for us today so that we can understand what life was really like back in the days of extreme ignorance. This story has much value in the same way that the poetry by Phyllis Wheatly and the essays by Frederick Douglas have value. It's a first-hand expression of how those who were oppressed truly felt at that time. While Our Nig is not technically an autobiography, it reveals much of the author's thoughts about herself and those who surrounded her. This is a book to contrast with Uncle Tom's Cabin, a book about slavery, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe who is white. The difference in perspective and the way characters are developed is monumental. I'm so glad that Henry Louis Gates discovered this writing that was ignored for so many years. The story needed to be told and heard. Reading it, one will have a different version of "Once upon a time in America..."
Rating:
Summary: Once upon a time in America...
Review: Writing is a cathartic process and Our Nig is the author's attempt to come to terms with her life as a second, no, fourth-class citizen in America. The author is a racially-mixed Black woman. The title reveals a lot. The main character is not called by her name, Frado, she was called "our nig," short for "our nigger." The book gives the reader an idea of the author's relationship to society at that time. The book shows that racism and cruelty was not a Southern experience. And that freedom from slavery did not mean that one was not treated as a slave. The main character suffers abandonment, rejection, and cruel treatment by the many people who have power over her life. Or do they? She manages to survive many indignities inflicted upon her and leaves a written legacy for us today so that we can understand what life was really like back in the days of extreme ignorance. This story has much value in the same way that the poetry by Phyllis Wheatly and the essays by Frederick Douglas have value. It's a first-hand expression of how those who were oppressed truly felt at that time. While Our Nig is not technically an autobiography, it reveals much of the author's thoughts about herself and those who surrounded her. This is a book to contrast with Uncle Tom's Cabin, a book about slavery, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe who is white. The difference in perspective and the way characters are developed is monumental. I'm so glad that Henry Louis Gates discovered this writing that was ignored for so many years. The story needed to be told and heard. Reading it, one will have a different version of "Once upon a time in America..."
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