Chris

Dear Mr. Aronson, I really enjoyed your book. I enjoyed how you started off most of the chapters or sections with a story from your childhood or from what you remember. This really helped me to understand your point of view and message. For example, in the first chapter you told a story about how you were growing up and waiting in line to buy a soda; how a black teenage boy was accused of stealing a tip from the tip jar. In that short story, you admitted your prejudices and stated you were indeed prejudicial. That is a hard thing to admit! Later you re-enforced this by noting that every single person in the world has at least a little prejudice. I agree completely, whether the people want to admit it or not; it is true.

I feel like you knew your subject very well. You understood where you were coming from writing the book from research, as well as past memories and experiences. The fact that you were a victim of these prejudices and hatreds made the book even more exciting because you weren’t randomly collecting information. You could really connect with your topic.

However, there are some things I didn’t like. You often seemed to be a little hard on the German people. You said they were “all sniveling little cowards.’ That was a bit harsh. I also don’t agree with you when you subjected and grouped the South. You said the Southern people were all prejudiced and hated blacks. But that neither was, nor is now, true. Consider the Underground Railroad and the people who gave their lives to help slaves escape to the North All in all, I enjoyed your book and it had an impact even if you did seem a little prejudiced towards certain groups. I found your work easy to decompose, to my enjoyment. The feeling of connection with your readers was quite strong. Thanks again for coming! Hope you have a good time here at Uni!

Sincerely, Chris Sligar