Rhetorical Analysis of the War of Nostalgia

In his article, which is part of his book, Clint Smith tries to analyze why neighborhoods have monuments, schools, cemeteries and institutions that are named after people who were the cause of slavery. He tries to raise the question what were the implications of the statues on the black people who had to pass through them when going to school, shopping and church. Some of their schools are even named after the people who owned hundreds of enslaved people (Smith, 2020). The pain it caused them was immeasurable seeing people who caused their ancestors suffering being praised. He also focuses on how history has been interpreted by everyone to suit their needs. Throughout the article, Smith shows how different people in historical sites had crafted history that tried to justify slavery. Some of them are guides on the sites, meaning they are giving out the wrong information to very many people.

Smith also focuses on the civil war and its relation to slavery. He questions how only the white soldiers who died in the war are commemorated while the black soldiers are crowded in a more miniature graveyard. He attends a memorial held to honor white soldiers where a speaker calls the black people fighting for bringing down of monuments of great enslavers the “American ISIS” (Smith, 2020). He is greatly shocked by this because he knows that the attempts were by some of his friends and their aim was to stop the praises of people who enslaved their ancestors. He recalls a tour guide telling him that some white people who visited the ancient chapel felt like some enslavers who gave their enslavers food and treated them well were good people. However, the informed guide argues that the act of having a person working for you by force, whether with kindness or animosity, is equally wrong. 

In conclusion, Smith’s article focuses on the continued racism years after the civil war. He also focuses on the history that is unfair to black veterans and how some white federalists try to fabricate history not to depict their ancestors as monsters. He insists on the need for history to be retold with utmost honesty without using it for defending themselves.

Reference

Smith, C. (2020). Counting descent. SCB Distributors.

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