Freedom by Degrees: Emancipation in Pennsylvania and Its Aftermath Book

I remember John Brown from high school history class as some weird crazy, quasi-terrorist man who killed people to free the slaves. Yet it wasn't until I read the conclusion to this book that I put it all into perspective:

"Had Brown been an escaped slave or a free northern black man who acted and spoke exactly as the historical John Brown did, professional historians of the last fifty years would not have labeled him mad. Radical, militant, enraged, desperate, impatient, self-aggrandizing, perhaps--but not crazy... A man who lived, went to war, and died to help win black people's rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness must have been black. A white man who did these things must have been deranged or fanatical."

And the author is right. John Brown is not exactly a white knight, but history must label him a crazy weirdo because why would anyone be willing to die for the rights of a different group of people?

I think humanity is becoming more empathetic as the generations progress. John Brown, a white man, fought and died for the rights of black people to become free. After men supporting the second and third waves of feminism, whites marching on Selma in the 1960s, and heterosexuals supporting gay marriage initiatives in record numbers these days, it's becoming abundantly clear that one doesn't need to belong to a specific class to fight for the rights of that class. Because as Solomon Burke said, if one of us is chained, none of us are free.

This book does a great job putting John Brown into full perspective and should be required reading for high school history/sociology classes.