This is probably one of the more difficult posts in this blog, and I did play with the idea of not writing about this book at all. But, the use of this blog is primarily for putting down my personal thoughts and feelings about the books I read - and while I always express my own view on issues, I try to play the devil's advocate as well and try to see the other side of the matter.
With this in mind, I also would like to say how far I am from the state of things described in this book: I'm caucasian, European, middle-class, pretty well educated, never having been excluded from anything because of any restriction, never having witnessed slavery, segregation, racism (although one might argue that nowadays we witness a new kind of racism all over the planet...). In any case, I know why the caged bird sings had been on my list for quite some time and I looked forward to reading it: