Interview with Attorney and Historian, Dr. Gerald Horne

"Dr. Horne holds the Moores Professorship of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston. His research has addressed issues of racism in a variety of relations involving labor, politics, civil rights, international relations and war. He has also written extensively about the film industry. Dr. Horne received his Ph.D. in history from Columbia University and his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley and his B.A. from Princeton University". He is the author of more than thirty books and one hundred scholarly articles and reviews. (University of Houston, 2024).

In my interview with  historian,  Dr. Gerald Horne, he shared with me the story behind his book, The Deepest South: The United States, Brazil, and the African Slave Trade 

 

Nadine Muhammad: Please, would you tell our readers about yourself?

 

Gerald Horne: I am an attorney, journalist and historian with roots in St. Louis.

 

Nadine Muhammad: What is your motivation for writing your book ,The Deepest South: The United States, Brazil, and the African Slave Trade ?

 

Gerald Horne: I have long been interested in the global role of the U.S.  I have long been interested in Brazil, the nation with the largest population of African descent in this hemisphere.  This project merged the two topics.

 

Nadine Muhammad: Would you  tell us what your book is  about?

 

Gerald Horne: This book concerns the role of U.S. nationals in creating the demographic reality of a large African population in Brazil.  It also concerns attempts in the 1860s to deport “U.S. Negroes” en masse to Brazil and the flight to South America post 1865 of U.S. enslavers, often with “their” enslaved Africans in tow (slavery did not end in Brazil until 1888).

 

 

Nadine Muhammad: What are the benefits that readers will obtain from reading your book, and how will their lives be transformed?

 

Gerald Horne: It is important for otherwise parochial U.S. nationals to learn more about the world—especially since we already know that because of strained political conditions here, exile and expatriation are becoming more common.