Freedom's Child: The Life of a Confederate General's Black Daughter

by Carrie Allen McCray

Book Overview

When Carrie Allen McCray was a child, she was afraid to ask about the framed photograph of a white man on her mother's dresser. Years later she learned that he was her grandfather, a Confederate... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1565121864
• ISBN13: 9781565121867
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Algonquin Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

America's mixed racial history from a personal point of view

Freedom's Child is an excellent read but I would not call it an academic read in any sense of the word. This is one woman's personal history, she is the grand-daughter of White Confederate General who openly acknowledged his mixed-race offspring but who also lived quite happily in the violent segreated world of the deep South of the time and who was not willing to stand up for his own children's rights much less anyone elses. Carrie Allen McCray endeavours to look at her maternal grandfather in a neutral light, she is after all of mixed heritage herself but in the end she is forced to admit that he was as much a secret to her as he was to the rest of their family, even her own mother didn't talk much about him, other than he was her father and he was white. I enjoyed Freedom's Child but it is not as good as say The Sweeter the Juice, Finding Grace and Life on the Color Line, Dear Senator mainly because I think that the author tries to hard to explain why her Grandfather was possibly the way he was whilst trying to stay true to her own mixed race background. All the same it is a good read and I am happy to give it five out of five because it adds to the subject of passing, mixed heritage, the aftermath of slavery and the legacy that has been passed down to many families throughout the USA.

A MAGNIFICENT LOOK AT AMERICA'S HISTORY!!!

This is an amazing true story of one woman's searh for her past. Not only does she find it, but her pot of gold at the end of the rainbow was, at first, a mixed blessing. Carrie Allen McCray was forced to face her own prejudices when she discovered that her grandfather was not only a white man but he was a Confederate General in the Civil War. But he also played a major role in the life of his Black daughter. That daughter became a powerful civil rights leader and she was Carrie's mother. FREEDOM'S CHILD is wonderfully written and absorbing from the first page. I HIGHLY recommend it. It is not just the story of a Black family's history, it really is a story of America's history and how we are all truly linked.. like it or not. IT WOULD MAKE A WONDERFUL MOVIE!!!!

A New View of the History of American Race Relations

It seems to me that this book, along with Edward Ball's Slaves in the Family, offers a new and important look at the history of race relations in America. Both of them deal with situations that were not unique, but carefully swept under the rug. I applaud both authors for their work, and since Mrs. McCray has said she's writing another book, there is at least one reader, here in the nation's oldest city, who is anxiously awaiting it.

Carrie McCray is an American treasure, a must read!!!

Ms McCray's ability to put us back in time is timeless, a true depiction of how life was and is for so many African Americans...Her ability to convey the innocence of childhood and reality through the eyes of her mother and through her own experience is something extrodinary. A warm and compassionate story of love, triumph, and struggle through one of the darkest times in American history. Written very tenderly so you can smell the warm pies and cakes baked in the Allen home, the flowers that she nurtured. Her legacy? Her children who were reared with self respect and taught to be proud of who they are as a people. Freedoms Child is a must read for all, black or white, it will grip you leaving you laughing, crying and ulitmately wishing we could have been there. A story of a mother and the love she gave her children. A story of a woman in the "Red Hat" who would not lie down. A story of coming of age. A story that every American should read. When you finish this book you will just sit back and smile! I know because Carrie Allen McCray is my Grandmother!! Lane McCray

This is such a wonderful book.

What a remarkable story! It is a must for every person interested in American History, Civil Rights, and human interest. It is filled with historical information, and vividly written with humor, compassion, and stirring dialogue.