Family of Freedom: Presidents and African Americans in the White House - Historical Insights for Educators & American History Enthusiasts

For anyone who fully realizes what the United States has accomplished by electing our first African American Chief Executive, Kenneth T. Walsh's new book, "Family of Freedom" will only deepen their appreciation. Beginning with President-elect Barack Obama's memorable speech in Chicago, Walsh then details the history of so many African-Americans who have influenced every President since George Washington - a man who's own attitude towards slavery reversed so dramatically during his lifetime. Who cannot recognize the deep irony of a country revering itself as the bastion of freedom and democracy with an Executive Mansion built by an enslaved people who, for generations, endured lifelong conditions of the most extreme hardship, toil and degradation?Concluding with a telling and in-depth interview of the President himself, Walsh covers every aspect of this country's controversial and troubling relationship with deep racial bias and bigotry in a direct, heartful and personal writing style. This book should be required reading for younger generations of Americans, who now may have a chance to experience what it means to be the citizen of a country where people are able to live up to an ideal that even the founding fathers, themselves, could never fully grasp, let alone experience. I found Mr. Walsh's "Family of Freedom" to be a superlative resource on the racial history of the White House.