If you are looking for a heartbreaking piece of history, look no further than Leon's Story. This book is told in first-person by a man named Leon. Leon was born to a slave family in North Carolina. The stories he tells about how white people treated southern blacks is disgusting. From segregated public facilities, unequal education, and KKK (Ku Klux Klan) oppression--to death, submission, and finally, black equality, this book tells it all. Throughout the book, the author twists the reader's heart by detailing horrifying events that happened to him or his family members. Every part of this book is non-fiction, and that is the scary part.I truly cannot imagine what black Americans endured in the 19th and 20th centuries in America. Racism was born in the late-1800s as a means of creating unity, which seems terribly backwards. By castigating people based on their skin color, religion, or ethnic background, members of a certain population became unified as the supreme race. This certainly led to the circumstances in which African-Americans found themselves--circumstances that were absolutely despicable.
After reading this story, I am more aware of what "segregation" actually meant. It was not only a means of making white people use one drinking fountain and while blacks used another one; it was, without a doubt, a death to people of color. This story is not appropriate for young children, even though the book is relatively small. I would recommend this for eighth graders and older, simply because of some gruesome details. I will never forget old Leon, and I will never forget his courage in the face of one of America's darkest hours.
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