RaveCourier JournalIn her carefully researched and beautifully written new book, historian Emily Bingham examines American slavery and its after-effects in the context of Stephen Foster’s \'My Old Kentucky Home\' ... She intertwines it with deeply personal insights about her own evolution on racial issues as a historian by training and education, as a descendant of enslavers on both sides of her family ... Riveting ... It forces one to think carefully about Kentucky’s official state anthem and at a deeper level, it forces one to confront personal and societal racism ... Bingham deftly analyzes the making of at least four interrelated myths that have arisen from slavery through the lens of the ballad ... Because her personal and family experiences in so many ways parallel the song, this book can be characterized as a love letter — but one with tears in the eyes — to the commonwealth of Kentucky. The book also has a serious and important national reach.
