All God's Children: The Bosket Family and the American Tradition of ViolenceA timely reissue of Fox Butterfield’s masterpiece, All God’s Children, a searing examination of the caustic cumulative effect of racism and violence over 5 generations of black Americans. Willie Bosket is a brilliant, violent man who began his criminal career at age five; his slaying of two subway riders at fifteen led to the passage of the first law in the nation allowing teenagers to be tried as adults. Butterfield traces the Bosket family back to their days as South Carolina slaves and documents how Willie is the culmination of generations of neglect, cruelty, discrimination and brutality directed at black Americans. From the terrifying scourge of the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction to the brutal streets of 1970s New York, this is an unforgettable examination of the painful roots of violence and racism in America. |
Contents
BLOODY EDGEFIELD | 3 |
MASTERS AND SLAVES | 19 |
AARON After Freedom | 35 |
PUD Dont Step on My Reputation | 46 |
JAMES AND BUTCH Coming Up in the Terry | 71 |
BUTCH The Promised Land | 88 |
BUTCH The Pawnshop | 110 |
WILLIE Bad Little Booby | 131 |
BUTCH The Prisoner and the Scholar | 231 |
BUTCH AND WILLIE The Warriors | 251 |
WILLIE Counsel for the Defense | 263 |
PART V | 281 |
BUTCH Free at Last | 283 |
WILLIE A Monster Created by the System | 302 |
EPILOGUE | 325 |
A NOTE ON SOURCES | 332 |
Other editions - View all
All God's Children: The Bosket Family and the American Tradition of Violence Fox Butterfield No preview available - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
Aaron African-Americans arrested asked assault Augusta Bauskett began behavior Bellevue Ben Tillman boys Brookwood Brown Butch called cell Center Charles Cheryl child convicted crime criminal Cruise Davin Division for Youth Donna Edgefield County Family Court father feel felt fight Francis Pickens going guards Harlem Harvey Rosen Hassibi Herman homicide honor hospital inmates Interview jail James Joel Brown jury justice juvenile kids killed knew later Laura lawyer Leavenworth lived looked Manhattan Marie Michael Schoenfield Milwaukee mother murder negro never officer parole Peter Edelman Pickens police Pottenburgh Preston Brooks psychiatrist Pud's Roane robbery Rockland Russ Saluda County sent sentence sharecropper slavery slaves social worker South Carolina Southern Street subway things thought Tillman told took transcript trial violence walked wanted Williams Willie Bosket Willie's Willie's DFY file Wiltwyck Wisconsin wrote York young