The Shadow that Lingers: What Slavery Teaches Us about Freedom

Allan D. Cooper's book "The Shadow that Lingers" explores how slavery mutated into racial identification and how race is used to traumatize human beings. It highlights how racial hybridity among mixed-race communities poses challenges for racial purists and how the pursuit of freedom requires the reification of a non-racial identity.

Format: Hardback
Length: 400 pages
Publication date: 15 June 2023
Publisher: Lexington Books

Allan D. Cooper's work highlights the role of resistance to slavery in revealing the nature of freedom that paved the way for the abolitionist movement and anti-colonial struggles. The corpus of human rights law has evolved to encompass the negation of slavery, and this book examines how slavery transformed into racial identification, which governments use to enforce discipline and control over their populations. The Shadow that Lingers explores how race is used to traumatize individuals, even among those who claim privilege under racialized regimes. As an ideology of power, race is contextualized to fit local cultures, leading to contradictory understandings of race across different cultures. The book highlights the challenges faced by racial purists in mixed-race communities and their efforts to construct distinct racial identities that differentiate themselves from being black. Finally, the book concludes by analyzing how the pursuit of freedom necessitates the reification of a non-racial identity.

Weight: 717g
Dimension: 239 x 160 x 28 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781666929249