Part history, part memoir, Outliving the White Lie: A Southerner’s Historical, Genealogical, and Personal Journey charts conflicting narratives of American and southern identity through a blend of public, family, and deeply personal history. Author James Wiggins, who was raised in rural Mississippi, pairs thorough historical research with his own lived experiences. Outliving the White Lie looks squarely at the many untruths regarding the history and legacy of race that have proliferated among white Americans, from the misrepresentations of Black Confederates to the myth of a “postracial” America. Though the US was ostensibly established to achieve freedom and shrug off an oppressive English monarchy, this mythology of the United States’ founding belies a glaring paradox—that this is a country whose foundation depends entirely on coercion and enslavement. How, then, could generations of decent people, people who valued individual liberty and personal autonomy, coexist within and alongside such a paradox? Historians suggest an answer: that these apparently dissonant points of view were reconciled in antebellum America by white citizens learning “to live with slavery by learning to live a lie.” The operative lie throughout American history and the lie underpinning the institution of slavery, they argue, has always been the fallacy of race—deliberately propagated tenets asserting skin color as the preeminent marker of identity and value. Wiggins takes accepted delusions to task in this moving reconciliation of southern living.

"Part history, part memoir, Outliving the White Lie: A Southerner's Historical, Genealogical, and Personal Journey charts conflicting narratives of American and southern identity through a blend of public, family, and deeply personal history. Author James Wiggins, who was raised in rural Mississippi, pairs thorough historical research with his own lived experiences. Outliving the White Lie looks squarely at the many untruths regarding the history and legacy of race that have proliferated among white Americans, from the misrepresentations of Black Confederates to the myth of a "postracial" America. Though the US was ostensibly established to achieve freedom and shrug off an oppressive English monarchy, this mythology of the United States' founding belies a glaring paradox-that this is a country whose foundation depends entirely on coercion and enslavement. How, then, could generations of decent people, people who valued individual liberty and personal autonomy, coexist within and alongside such a paradox? Historians suggest an answer: that these apparently dissonant points of view were reconciled in antebellum America by white citizens learning "to live with slavery by learning to live a lie." The operative lie throughout American history and the lie underpinning the institution of slavery, they argue, has always been the fallacy of race-deliberately propagated tenets asserting skin color as the preeminent marker of identity and value. Wiggins takes accepted delusions to task in this moving reconciliation of southern living"--

Sydney was being coerced into marrying a man she didn't love. Then Caleb crashed into her life and one little white lie turned her universe upside down. Sydney Bennett has a bit of a problem. Blackmailed into marrying a man she doesn't love in order to save her father from extradition? Check. Falling head over heels in love with Caleb Jones, lead guitarist of her favorite band, Divine Intervention? Check. Spilling a little white lie—that quickly evolves into a gigantic white lie—by not telling Caleb she is engaged, just so she can spend more time with him and escape the terrible reality of her future? Check, damn it. Check. To top it all off, every time she breaks up with him, Caleb sees through her feeble excuses and refuses to let her go. He loves her and she loves him, but when the ugly truth comes to light, will he ever be able to see her situation for what it is and forgive her? Or will she lose him forever?

An in-depth look at the lies that holds the masses everywhere in place and an even closer look at the liars who benefits most from the subjugation & enabling of which the world lives under

A biography of the superstar crooner, his rise, fall, and struggle for a second act

Explains how every person creates a belief system, starting at birth, based upon the influence of others. This book focuses on the physical and psychological impediments to happiness, success, peace, love, and spiritual growth; challenges the reader to examine their present belief structure; and guides readers through the self-discovery process.