“The
Sum of his Worth” by Ron Argo
In today’s day and age, we don’t think
about the prejudices of races. Yes, there are some who do not get along with
others, but we don’t worry about segregation and the beatings and killings
associated with breaking the rules.
“The Sum of his Worth” takes the reader
on a journey when blacks and whites wouldn’t think about mixing in the south.
Even though laws were trying to be changed to overcome these prejudices, there
are those in the Deep South that refused to consider blacks anything but
dispensable. Lynching was part of life for the white man in Alabama and
Georgia.
Sonny Poe—a sixteen-year-old—meets Dr.
Joe, and they are two white guys in the heart of the south. Sonny already has
friends from the neighboring town Ash, who are black. He doesn’t see a problem
with it, but does understand how being seen with blacks could affect him and
his friends. But Sonny is rebellious and refuses to treat blacks any
differently than the whites and Dr. Joe is trying to change the way people
think. And some people in the Alabama town consider that to be traitorous and
go after both Sonny and Dr. Joe with killing on their minds. They group
together the KKK and try to murder Sonny, Dr. Joe, and any black person who
thinks to try to rise above their unfortunate status. Will Sonny and Dr. Joe
both die trying to do what’s right?
Argo has woven a story that
unfortunately, was a little too close to the truth to think of as fiction. This
well-written novel will have you gasping and flinching at the corruption and
vileness. A very poignant novel, written in the voice of those of the 60s. Well
done, Argo.
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