On My Bookshelf
By Pamela Mason, M.A.T.'70, Ed.D.'75
Lecturer Pamela Mason, M.A.T.’70, Ed.D.’75, director of the Language
and Literacy Program and of the Jeanne Chall Reading Lab, discovered
Red River, a book by Lalita Tademy, through the Black Women’s
Literacy Society of Boston, a book group she joined 25 years ago that
focuses primarily on the work of African American female authors.
Recently emancipated, the community of Colfax, La., has voted in the first Republican candidates for county office. These former slaves have embraced the American dream, voting for government officials who will represent their interests and protect their rights. Traditions die hard, and the white members of the community refuse to concede defeat from the Civil War and from the local election. In order to be installed to the offices of judge and sheriff, the Republican candidates must get to the county courthouse. The small community of black families is determined to see the officials for whom they voted make it to the courthouse, so they take it over with hunting rifles and farm tools as their weapons. The ruling white Democratic office holders are determined not to let carpetbaggers assume their elected positions. What ensues is a riot or a massacre, depending on one’s point of view or race.
Lalita Tademy’s family comes from rural Louisiana, and she has done extensive genealogical research starting from her family’s oral history to scouring through official documents. Red River is her second historical novel recounting her family’s roots. She is a vivid storyteller, describing the feelings of hope, dread, and commitment to the dream of having the vote and the sacrifices that men and women were willing to make to take a stand.
Red River continues as a chronicle of several families who create a community where they interact with whites in order to make a living, but where they establish their own institutions, including a school. The tension between the races during Reconstruction is portrayed by Tademy as a process in which all are coming to terms with the dramatic social and economic change that this era brought. Few of her characters, black or white, are all good or bad, and sometimes bad things accidentally happen to good people. However, these families hold fast and confront the challenges presented by nature and men with a steadfast commitment to their full citizenship and their rights to property and education.
These themes are highlighted in the issues that we are addressing now, the opportunity to elect either an African American or a woman to the presidency and the challenges of equity in education for all children. As an African American woman committed to literacy education as a civil right, I found Tademy’s historical fiction inspiring as well as entertaining. Finding time for leisure reading can be a challenge, but I belong to a 28-year-old book group that meets five times a year. This community of readers has been a source of great readings and rich conversations.
About the Article
A version of this article originally appeared in the Summer 2008 issue of Ed., the magazine of the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Respond to this story with an e-mail to the editor.
photo by Martha Stewart
