Structure

Reynolds adheres to a clearly defined chronological structure throughout his “not history history” book, which results in an easy-to-track timeline of racist ideas in America (3). While his sections are not separated evenly in terms of how many years are covered by each section, he is successful at finding natural breaks in the timeline to allow for an easy transition from section to section. Part of these natural breaks are defined by the lifetimes of important historical figures like Thomas Jefferson, William Lloyd Garrison, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Angela Davis. In sections two through five, Reynolds semi-focuses on one of the aforementioned people from the start to the end of the section. None of them are the only focus within the section, but their presence is far more consistent than any other characters. For example, Section Two begins with a brief conversation about how Thomas Jefferson...