It seems funny that free slaves would organize troops to fight against the North, but I also understand that they were defending the only way of life they had ever known, and that life was in the South, not the North. The Civil War was a horrible conflict, and I know that thousands, even millions of men - black and white - died, and reading about the strength of the fighting men and how they fought so hard and so long is really difficult to read. I think that it is important that the book includes so many illustrations because they help make the people and the situations more real and more interesting, too. I think that the film "A Dry White Season" really shows the difficulties of the blacks in South Africa, who really received civil rights so much later than American blacks that it is just stunning. The murder of the young black man is so brutal and so unnecessary, but what was so striking about the film is that is was not uncommon...

That is so hard to watch and to understand. I guess that it is normal for people to want to feel "better" than others to make them feel better about themselves, but it is so hard to understand the roots of prejudice and hatred, and where they really come from. Why do they hate minorities so much, and why do they think that skin color is so very important? These are questions that do not really have any answers. However, they do seem apparent after viewing this film and reading these chapters. Where does hatred and prejudice start, and how can it truly, (if ever) be eradicated?