Overturning the Culture of Violence - Softcover

Penny Hess

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1891624024 ISBN 13: 9781891624025

Publisher: Burning Spear Uhuru Publications, 2000

Synopsis

Examination of the effects of the transatlantic slave trade on the world economy and the development of black consciousness and resistance in the U.S. Analyzes white people's relationship to this history and deals with the question of reparations to African people.

About this title

From the Publisher

An earlier version of this book was published in 1991 as Culture of Violence. Much has taken place in the world since the publication of that original book, which was less than 200 pages long. During the past decade, the voice of the oppressed has grown stronger; the movements of African and indigenous peoples have continued to expose "the lies my teacher told us."

No longer can the rape and crimes of slave masters like Thomas Jefferson and George Washington be hidden. No longer can Christopher Columbus be held up as anything other than an agent of genocide. Many new and excellent books have appeared during the 1990s, detailing much more of the true history as experienced by those who make up capitalism's pedestal.

When we decided to reissue Culture of Violence in 1999, we felt that it needed some revision. In the process of revision, the book ended up being more than 600 pages long-and even then we had to cut out enormous amounts of material. The result was a completely different entity which we named Overturning the Culture of Violence. The scope of this book encompasses ancient history up through the current situation today. With this enormous time frame, we can only present an overview and do not pretend to make a thorough and exacting study of history. There are many, many more past and present-day events which could have been included had we the time and the space.

We consciously used easily accessible books for source materials for Overturning the Culture of Violence, rather than scholarly and esoteric material. Thus, the information put forward here is available to most people in books found at libraries and bookstores. We have used many direct quotes because we felt that it was important that certain points be made in the authors' own words. We recommend that all of the books listed in the bibliography be studied for their contributions to a more thorough understanding of the culture of violence.

From the Author

Overturning the Culture of Violence unearths the bitter truth about the part played by white people from all strata of our society in the enslavement and genocide of colonized peoples. The book delineates our historic role as passive or active enforcers of the culture of violence, a role that has had very lucrative consequences for the American social system, as well as for us, the beneficiaries of white power.

The information on these pages may at times be painful, wrenching, even overwhelming-as it certainly was to research and write. As much as possible we soften no blows and cover over none of the reality. As white people we feel that it is our responsibility to go deeply into the crimes and complicity of white society, as part of the process of making reparations and a self-criticism to African people and the majority of humanity.

We hope that by looking honestly at the truth, we can begin to take responsibility for our brutal history and move towards an equitable future for all who share this planet. Though challenging, this book is at the same time hopeful and optimistic, offering a vision presented by African people of a world in which justice and peace prevail. There is a place for us in this new world, a place that opens up as we take on the task of righting the historical wrong.

About this edition

• Publisher: Burning Spear Uhuru Publications
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1891624024
• ISBN 13: 9781891624025
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 608