Today I came across a book-length rebuttal to my 2019 book * Searching For Black Confederates: The Civil War’s Most Persistent Myth*. The author is Wayne Pease, Jr and the book is titled…wait for it…
On the one hand, I am touched that someone would put the time in to write an extended rebuttal of my book. On the other hand, I am disappointed from the little that I had a chance to read in the introduction as part of a free preview.
Pease’s book reads as if the author rushed through writing a rough draft and decided to call it a day and hand it over to his publisher. Beyond the writing, it’s hard to take someone seriously, who sets out on the assumption that my own motives for writing the book involved anything other than a sincere attempt to understand the role of enslaved labor in the Confederate war effort.
Of all the convoluted and ridiculous claims made in this preview is the following: “I will also show how Mr. Levin’s book does not line up with the American Historical Associations 2019 Statement on Standards of Professional Conduct, which states, ‘Historians should not misrepresent their sources. They should report their findings as accurately as possible and not omit evidence that runs counter to their own interpretation.’” (ix)
That said, I may still purchase a copy just to have it in my library. I certainly don’t expect to find anything that deepens my understanding of this subject, but it is a reminder of the huge space that I occupy in the imaginations of so many out there.
All I can say is that I am relieved that I will soon get to talk about a new book that has absolutely nothing to do with the Black Confederate myth.
