Review of Black Texans: A History of African Americans in Texas, 1528-1995, 2nd ed. By Alwyn Barr. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996. x + 294 pages. 16 illustrations, Bibliographic Essay, Index. Paper bound. ISBN 0-8061-2878-X.

I found Black Texans an extremely interesting and compelling book to read, but I didn’t enjoy it. I saw nothing to enjoy in a nearly 500 year history of racist terrorism that seems to constitute the history of African-Americans in Texas.

As its title says, this book attempts to provide a history of African-Americans in Texas. It seems to me to do a very good job of that. I, at least, learned a great deal from it. Though I had known for a long time of the existence of Estevan, the first black slave in the territory that would become the United States, I did not know that he was also the first in Texas. I had associated him with Arizona and New Mexico. I was also aware that “freedom” came rather late to slaves in Texas, and I was aware of the extent of racist attitudes among white Texans after Emancipation, but I was not aware of how long it has lasted, nor of how deep it went.

So, I found this book very interesting for the adjustments it made in my knowledge of American history and the role of Texas in it. On that basis alone, I would recommend it to everyone whose knowledge of Texas history has been, like my own, shaped more by Hollywood that fact.

On the other hand, I found much in this book horrifying. For instance, the author tells us that between “1865 and 1868, 468 freedmen met violent deaths -- 90 per cent at the hands of white men.” (p. 43) I find that astonishing and infuriating. As I read account after account of white Texans’ efforts to keep African-Americans dominated, I thought of James Byrd and of Texas’ abhorrent record on executions. It all simply leaves me aghast, speechless. How can human beings do that kind of stuff to each other? I feel like perhaps I better understand modern Texas than I did before I read it.

I also came away with great admiration for the way Black Texans have reacted to adversity. For instance, the Texas constitution, in the 1860s, set up separate and unequal financing for Black schools, but Blacks persevered and educated their children the best they could. Even though they had few and not very valuable resources, they taxed themselves heavily and, by June of 1866 -- only one year after their own Emancipation -- had established 100 schools. (p. 61) As has been the case throughout the United States, Black Texans seem to have been even more willing to fund education than have whites, as is well-documented by educational historians such as Joel Spring (The American School: 1642-1996, 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997)

All in all, this is a book well worth reading. It is a second edition and I have not read the first, so I can’t speak to the changes. It also is not a book that offers much to folklorists, either. However, to lay readers like myself with an interest in social justice and a clearer understanding of American society, I think it is a must read.

Jim Vandergriff

Knox College