Tag Archives: race

The Plain People of the Confederacy

Posted on November 28, 2025 by smellincoffee

The Plain People of the Confederacy takes a look at three often overlooked demographics of the South: poor whites, whom everyone forgets exist; women; and blacks. As it happens, Wiley has written volumes on each of these categories (poor whites … Continue reading →

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The Fighting Little Judge

Posted on July 25, 2025 by smellincoffee

Back in 2016, I played with the idea of reading biographies of various populists, for obvious reasons. William Jennings Bryant, Huey Long, and George C. Wallace were the three figures who leapt most to mind. Although George C. Wallace is … Continue reading →

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The American Nazi

Posted on July 24, 2025 by smellincoffee

How does a man who fought Hitler come to deify him? George Lincoln Rockwell began life as the child of a popular entertainer, and by adulthood was well-poised for a successful life. He’d gone to a good university, though his … Continue reading →

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My Selma

Posted on January 5, 2024 by smellincoffee

Willie Mae Brown was a child during the Civil Rights movement, which reached its high point in 1965, with the Selma to Montgomery march that resulted in the Civil Rights bill of 1965, with great assistance from the local sheriff and … Continue reading →

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Racism, medieval feasting, and housing

Posted on November 21, 2023 by smellincoffee

Between work and school projects my list of read-but-unreviewed titles is growing, so…alas, it’s short rounds time. First up, The Color of Law, on how housing segregation was purposely pursued, not merely tolerated, by the federal government — primarily through … Continue reading →

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Monroeville and TKAM

Posted on February 27, 2023 by smellincoffee

Monroeville and the Stage Production of “To Kill a Mockingbird” © 2023 John M. Williams160 pages The first time I ever visited Monroeville, I had the dumb luck to arrive on a day when the courthouse-turned-museum was hosting a theatrical … Continue reading →

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Go Tell it on the Mountain

Posted on February 13, 2023 by smellincoffee

Go Tell it on the Mountain© 1953 James Baldwin272 pages A young man faces an enormous choice at a presumed-to-be-uneventful prayer meeting, and at this crossroads of his life,  the reader  experiences the choices of his kin whose lives brought … Continue reading →

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American Contempt for Liberty

Posted on September 23, 2021 by smellincoffee

American Contempt for Liberty© 2015 Walter Williams432 pages American Contempt for Liberty caught my eye immediately, for its title alone, for I’ve had a growing suspicion that the failure of the American republic lies not only in the ever-expanding state, … Continue reading →

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Drug Use for Grown Ups

Posted on May 24, 2021 by smellincoffee

Drug Use for Grown Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear© 2021 Carl Hart304 pages My occasional forays into anarchist literature aside, I’m one of the squarest people you are ever likely to meet, a fellow whose idea of … Continue reading →

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A Gathering of Old Men

Posted on May 7, 2021 by smellincoffee

A Gathering of Old Men© 1983 Ernest Gaines213 pages There’s a white man dead in the quarter, and by sundown there may be another body swinging from the trees. Most of the people in the quarter don’t know why Beau … Continue reading →

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