Patrick Phillips

Introduction: Law of the land -- The scream -- Riot, rout, tumult -- The missing girl -- And the mob came on -- A straw in the whirlwind -- The devil's own horses -- The majesty of the law -- Fastening the noose -- We condemn this conduct -- Crush the thing in its infancy -- The scaffold -- When they were slaves -- Driven to the cook stoves -- Exile, 1913/1920 -- Erasure, 1920/1970 -- The attempted murder of Miguel Marcelli -- The brotherhood march, 1987 -- Silence is consent -- Epilogue: A pack of wild dogs

A Racial Cleansing in America

Blood at the Root

Lisa Miller

An incredible account of how Forsyth County in North Georgia became white-only in 1912 and remained white-only until the late 1990's. What starts as an historical account, of racial hatred 100 + years ago, is still (surprisingly to me) ongoing. This is NOT the past. It's still very current, and the author does at times make connections to other widely reported events such as the protests at Ferguson. Throughout the book I kept thinking of The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson and so recommend this as further reading.

Andrew Marti

Patrick Phillips' books is powerful in recreating the tragedy of 1912 Forsyth County. Two crimes against white women led to lynchings, execution, and the expulsion of every black citizen in the county. This book tells the story in personal terms, from those like Joseph Kellogg, a former slave who worked hard to accumulate 200 acres of land, only to lose it all in the expulsion. Or the story of a weak kneed mayors who caves to a mob mentality. Or a sheriff who feeds the mob mentality in an effort to gain votes. Or the story of Hosea Williams, who 70 years later, comes to Forsyth County to force change. Phillips tells the stories of this ongoing tragedy beautifully. One of my favorite books of the year. And one of the most important.

Blood at the Root A Racial Cleansing in America

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