(I struggled and struggled with that sentence to make it non-combatant and non-sanctimonious sounding, and I am not sure I succeeded. I'm not trying to confront people here or dazzle them with my righteousness)
But it also means that a lot of you have a great reading experience awaiting you. It's a fantastic book on many levels, besides addressing the very issue that we're talking about here. Quick setup: a modern middle-class black woman, married to a very nice white man, is suddenly pulled back in time to the person of her slave ancestor. She gets back, and it happens several more times. Each time she has horrible adventures, and uncovers more of the hostory of her family. She accomplishes some things, at a terrible cost. Her husband gets involved. It's a fast and gripping read.
I can't recommend Octavia Butler more, in general.
]]>It's a great book, and it does address the very questions of women's experience and agency. The modern woman is a black intellectual with a good, respectable life, and getting thrown back in time to plantation days really highlights the limits of what she could do for herself and the people around her. When her white husband is caught up in the process, his experience is very different.
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