ferguson recognized the legitimacy of segregation, sharecropping peonage, agriculture labor and believed people of color were inferior. consequently white southerners felt comfortable writing about the past in ways that served their interest, especially the rightness of their cause, superiority of their culture, and preservation of a racial hierarchy that placed whites on top. southern history emerged as the distinct field within the academic discipline and the dean of southern history, u.b. phillips, made remove an intrinsic part of the southern saga. phillips is better known for his american negro slavery and life and labor in the old south, both of which placed race and white racial superiority at the center of american history. but his first published mono graph, removal. their intentions to sovereignty, he recognized removal was about race. georgia emerged victorious not only in the state's acquisition of indian land but also in trenchment of white power. georgia also bent the federal government to its will, a victory that provided inspiration for subsequent troubles. in the 1960s,

so and as it was, they were put back into something that was practically as bad as slavery, sharecropping. this is not the time to talk about economics, we have a lot of things to spend money. >> we have a big deficit. and we do have these other big projects we must do. but that's notwithstanding this issue needs to be really at the center of the nation's agenda and public discourse and i hope that forums like this and other events around the country will be a means of keeping it before the american public because it basically to go back to my earlier statement, america as a nation can't go forward until we figure out how to deal with the phenomen phenomena of slavery. and i thank you for coming out today. books are available. and we'll be out to sign. >>> next week on "history bookshelf" allan carlson discusses his book "the american way." mr. carlson claims the traditional family unit was a pillar of america's national identity and move away from that component diminishes american culture. history bookshelf airs every saturday at noon eastern. >>> recently, american history tv and c-spa