Stars and Shadows: The Politics of Interracial Friendship from Jefferson to Obama

A sweeping look into interracial friendship's significance in American democracy from the founding to the present.

The oppression of Blacks is America's original sin — a sin that took root in 1619 and plagues the country to this day. Yet there have been instances of interracial bonding and friendship even in the worst of times. In Stars and Shadows — a term taken from Huckleberry Finn — Saladin Ambar analyzes two centuries of noteworthy interracial friendships that served as windows into the...