history class.) The slaves were clothed, fed,
and better-off under a master's care.
I watched the words blur on the page. No one
raised a hand, disagreed. Not even me.
It was late; we still had Reconstruction
to cover before the test, and-luckily-
three hours of watching Gone with the Wind.
History, the teacher said, of the Old South-
a true account of how things were back then.
On screen a slave stood big as life: big mouth,
bucked eyes, our textbook's grinning proof-a lie
my teacher guarded. Silent, so did I.
Written by Natasha Trethewey
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