The Unseen Truth

In The Unseen Truth, award-winning art historian Sarah Lewis delves into a critical period in U.S. history when Americans learned to overlook the deceptive foundations of their racial regime. Through meticulous historical investigation, she reveals how the Caucasian War in the nineteenth century challenged the established narratives of race and racial hierarchy, captivating a society that included figures like P. T. Barnum and Frederick Douglass. By exploring the visual tactics used to maintain this hierarchy, Lewis highlights the importance of recognizing and confronting these hidden truths to dismantle enduring racial injustices. This groundbreaking work aims to shed light on the unseen influences that have shaped racial perceptions in America.