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Southern History


Before the war, they were happy, he said,
quoting our textbook. (This was senior-year


history class.) The slaves were clothed, fed,
and better-off under a master's care.


I watched the words blur on the page. No one
raised a hand, disagreed. Not even me.


It was late; we still had Reconstruction
to cover before the test, and-luckily-


three hours of watching Gone with the Wind.
History
, the teacher said, of the Old South-


a true account of how things were back then.
On screen a slave stood big as life: big mouth,


bucked eyes, our textbook's grinning proof-a lie
my teacher guarded. Silent, so did I.

Written by Natasha Trethewey

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