Review by Choice Review
The US is a nation of immigrants, descendants of enslaved forced migrants, and indigenous peoples. Yet in describing the history of the US, one is always challenged to address such questions as, Whose America? Who is included in the terms "America" and "American"? Ortiz (history, Univ. of Florida) challenges cherished mythologies and traditions of American exceptionalism and innocence to reenvision a history in which working-class people organized themselves to fight oppression and racial capitalism. Instead of offering a history of white elites and Manifest Destiny, Ortiz seeks to construct a new "origin narrative" that engages the impact on the US of the Haitian Revolution; the contributions of anticolonial and anti-imperialist struggles in Latin America; the influence of social democracy in the Mexican Revolution as an inspiration for American movements; the struggles of braceros and migrant farm workers; and the struggle of the working class to achieve power and control over its own destiny. Here is a far more inclusive, alternative history--one developed from the bottom up--that does not worship the cult of Europe. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers. --Wayne C. Glasker, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Camden
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Award-winning author and historian Ortiz, associate professor of history and director of the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at the University of Florida, has written a welcome antidote to the poison of current reactionary attitudes toward people of color, their cultures, and place in the U.S. In this concise narrative history, painstakingly documented through archival and oral research, Ortiz lays out in clear prose the harsh truth that, for most of its history, the U.S. was not a great place to live for many of its citizens of color far from it. However, as Ortiz demonstrates, in their overlapping histories, black and brown people have always inspired each other in their parallel struggles toward emancipation. Opening the book with a careful analysis of the Founding Fathers' motivations as slaveholders, Ortiz continues his scrutiny of U.S. history up to El Gran Paro Americano/The Great American Strike and the Black Lives Matter movement, steadfastly illuminating the viewpoints of both African American and Latinx activism.--Martinez, Sara Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In the latest entry of the Revisioning American History series, Ortiz (Emancipa- tion Betrayed), associate professor of history at the University of Florida, celebrates the lives and achievements of men and women of African and Latin-American heritage within the broader narrative of U.S. history. Ortiz emphasizes these groups' contributions to struggles against slavery, imperialism, and classism throughout the Americas, chronologically organizing instances in which they played a central role in liberation movements, both within the U.S. and across the Western Hemisphere. Beginning with the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804), which gave rise to an "emancipatory internationalism" and inspired uprisings against slavery and colonialism throughout the Americas, Ortiz goes on to analyze the confrontation between Mexican advocates of independence and American politicians-such as presidents Madison, Monroe, and John Quincy Adams-who feared the hemisphere-wide spread of liberation ideology. Later chapters examine the international ramifications of the Civil War, African-American involvement in the abolition of slavery in Cuba, and the ways that racism undermined U.S. working-class solidarity. While each chapter is insightful, lucidly written, and extensively researched, the book reads more like a series of articles than a cohesive monograph. Ortiz's work has much to offer, but does not fulfill the promise of its title. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
The story of American exceptionalism and America as a beacon of liberty is one well understood and oft repeated. According to Ortiz (history, Univ. of Florida; Emancipation Betrayed), however, this is a myth that does not hold up when U.S. history is viewed through the lens of African American, Latinx, and indigenous perspectives. For these populations and other marginalized groups, the American experience has not been one of liberty and democracy but of oppression and white dominance. By combing through hundreds of publications created by Native, African, and Latin Americans as well oral histories, Ortiz is able to paint a picture of this country's history that differs greatly from the traditional narrative. He presents the past not as an "exceptional" story of democracy but part of the larger Global South (Latin America, Caribbean, and Africa) fight against imperialism. This slim volume barely scratches the surface of a topic that Ortiz admits is new territory for scholars, but it does provide a challenging and necessary approach to understanding our history. VERDICT A must-read for those who want a deeper perspective than is offered in the traditional history textbook-Michael C. Miller, Austin P.L. & Austin History Ctr., TX © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A concise, alternate history of the United States "about how people across the hemisphere wove together antislavery, anticolonial, pro-freedom, and pro-working-class movements against tremendous obstacles."In the latest in the publisher's ReVisioning American History series, Ortiz (History/Univ. of Florida; Emancipation Betrayed: The Hidden History of Black Organizing and White Violence in Florida from Reconstruction to the Bloody Election of 1920, 2005, etc.) examines U.S. history through the lens of African-American and Latinx activists. Much of the American history taught in schools is limited to white America, leaving out the impact of non-European immigrants and indigenous peoples. The author corrects that error in a thorough look at the debt of gratitude we owe to the Haitian Revolution, the Mexican War of Independence, and the Cuban War of Independence, all struggles that helped lead to social democracy. Ortiz shows the history of the workers for what it really was: a fatal intertwining of slavery, racial capitalism, and imperialism. He states that the American Revolution began as a war of independence and became a war to preserve slavery. Thus, slavery is the foundation of American prosperity. With the end of slavery, imperialist America exported segregation laws and labor discrimination abroad. As we moved into Cuba, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico, we stole their land for American corporations and used the Army to enforce draconian labor laws. This continued in the South and in California. The rise of agriculture could not have succeeded without cheap labor. Mexican workers were often preferred because, if they demanded rights, they could just be deported. Convict labor worked even better. The author points out the only way success has been gained is by organizing; a great example was the "Day without Immigrants" in 2006. Of course, as Ortiz rightly notes, much more work is necessary, especially since Jim Crow and Juan Crow are resurging as each political gain is met with "legal" countermeasures.A sleek, vital history that effectively shows how, "from the outset, inequality was enforced with the whip, the gun, and the United States Constitution." Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
