A review for The Economist complained about a new book on American capitalism that focuses on slavery. The reviewer called out the writer on portraying slavery owners as villains... no, seriously. After countless complaints on Twitter and social media, the magazine withdrew the review and apologized.
The review was about The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism, a new book by historian Edward Baptist. It was published on Thursday and the writer, whose name was not listed, complained about Baptist’s portrayal of slaveowners, suggesting that Baptist was not objective by portraying slave owners as villains and instead focusing on how hard life is.
“Mr Baptist has not written an objective history of slavery,” the review reads in part. “Almost all the blacks in his book are victims, almost all the whites villains. This is not history; it is advocacy.”
The Economist also believed a picture of Lupita Nyong’o in 12 Years A Slave was necessary. So, it was featured alongside the review, notes Mediate. Of course, Nyong’o’s character is nearly beaten to death by her owner, who raped her earlier in the film.
After a day of complaints from readers and anyone with common sense, the Economist apologized for the review, but included the full text for context.
“There has been widespread criticism of this, and rightly so,” the apology reads. “Slavery was an evil system, in which the great majority of victims were blacks, and the great majority of whites involved in slavery were willing participants and beneficiaries of that evil. We regret having published this and apologise for having done so.”
Meanwhile, Twitter is still making fun of The Economist, with the hashtag #economistbookreviews still trending.