Paternalism, Marxism, and White People Oh My!

I will admit, the first hundred pages or so of Roll Jordan Roll surprised me in their efforts to understand the psychology of slave holding society.  I felt the author gave a nuanced and non-polemical treatment to antebellum slave-holding society.  In the preface, you can tell that the author was concerned that this balanced treatment might be interpreted by some as being too soft on the institution of slavery.  I do not believe it is.  I believe that author was attempting to show the contradictions and the humanity of both groups of actors in this tragic saga - both masters  and slaves.

Especially in the first division of Roll Jordan Roll, with its emphasis on the mentality/actions of white slave-holders, it was at times difficult to keep track of what seems to be a major theme in Roll Jordan Roll - how slaves themselves were just as important in the creation southern society.  It wasn't just the whip holding white people.  But enough of this theme shines through, especially in the discussion on paternalism, that it is still discernible.  

Also, the sudden and sometimes disconnected injections of Marxist ideology/interpretation in the narratives can be off-putting.  They are off-putting because I feel they aren't necessary to the arguments of the author, i.e. agency of slaves in creating southern society.