The Rhetoric of Truth Essay Example

Life after the Civil war for Black people was far from free. The post-reconstruction era only highlighted the racial biases of the dominant culture. The prevailing white culture had been seen to disseminate lies through major media outsources and through the general public. This rhetoric created an extremely dangerous environment for Black people and fueled the horrific justification for the many lynching’s post-reconstruction. The justification of the lynchers excused their actions, resulting in most not facing consequences. This however did not go fully unnoticed. While the dominant culture seems to control most of media presence, many Black activist rose to attention. One for example, was Ida B. Wells; whom articles will appear in this essay. While the rhetoric for the dominant white culture was to create justifications for lynching’s, the opposition took a different turn. To combat this damaging narrative the minority population and the antilynching movement developed a rhetoric of truth-telling. This rhetoric is broken down into three different characteristics that each have a vital role in the dissemination of truth: exposing the lies, spreading the stories of the victims, and identifying the breeding grounds. 

Spreading lies was a way for the dominant culture to justify the murderous actions of White people. In order for the antilynching movement to progress through this, they needed to first expose these lies. Being that they are spread throughout mass media, the general population of White people only received these one-sided stories. Without the uncovering of them, the antilynching movement can not progress. Hence, activists and Black writers started to expose the lies. One notable example of the dominant culture disseminating lies to the general population, is about the killing of Robert Charles. Mob Rule in New Orleans: Robert Charles and His Fight to the Death, a piece by Ida B. Wells, describes the situation of which occurred. Wells uses abstracts from two different white media outlets of New Orleans, the Picayune and the Times-Democrat, to describe how they excuse the actions of the policemen. Wells provides both abstracts, being that they are completely different stories she adds afterwards:

The New Orleans Picayune of the same date described the occurrence, and from its account one would think it was an entirely different affair. Both of the two accounts cannot be true, and the unquestioned fact is that neither of them sets out the facts as they occurred. Both accounts attempt to fix the beginning of hostilities upon the colored men, but both were compelled to admit that the colored men were sitting on the doorsteps quietly conversing with one another when the three policemen went up and accosted them. 

This actively shows Wells’ awareness of the situation the White media is proposing. She realizes that the white media, rather than finding the truth of the story, proposes an article to excuse the officer’s actions despite being outrageously false. This justification is incredibly dangerous, which was apparent by the outbreak of violent mobs in New Orleans that followed, killing many Black people. Fortunately, Wells recognized this and exposed it. The importance of unraveling these lies is to catch the dominant culture in its own failures. It establishes a sense of credibility towards Wells as the reader progresses through her writing. This credibility that develops is vital towards their rhetoric of truth telling. Without exposing the lies of the media, a reader may take the truth of an activist with a grain of salt. 

In the rhetoric of truth, the antilynching movement emphasized the importance of spreading the stories of the victims. Ida B. Wells and Walter White had many changing opinions and arguments, but one aspect of both of their writings that remained consistent was their narration of the lynched. This included stating the name of the lynched (if known), the crime the perpetrators alleged, and the full story before, during, and after the lynching. Both writers were exceptionally well at writing the context and stories of the victims, for example in Chapter two of Walter White’s book Rope and Faggot. In this chapter he writes exceptionally detailed accounts of the lynched in particular states. One story that stands out to me in White’s writing was Henry Lowry of Arkansas. White writes about the incidents that unfolded in the murder of Henry Lowry. He was a Black man held in virtual slavery by a white landowner. When he demanded payment of his wages that were due, White describes, he was cursed, beat, and shot by the landlord and his son. In reaction, Lowry drew his own gun and killed the landlord and his daughter. He was arrested, but a mob soon “overpowered” the police force. As White writes, “More than 500 persons stood by and looked on while the Negro was slowly burned to a crisp.” White’s continuation of spreading the victims story plays a large part in the rhetoric of truth. Without spreading the truth of the events, it gives the dominant culture an opportunity to create more lies to further their racist justification agenda. It is also extremely important for the remembrance of the victims, as Spanish philosopher George Santayana once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” The antilynching movement activity disseminates the truths and horrors of the victims’ stories, in order for the reader to grasp the severity of the situation. This was extremely effective in gaining support for the movement. The truth behind the stories, pulled out emotions from the reader that make them feel disgusted of these actions their fellow peers committed. Emotions derived from truth can have a very impactful affect on the reader, especially in the case of a brutal lynching like the one described above. Rather than the reader looking at the truth as a statistic, they would look at it  

Identifying the breeding ground is particularly important in the rhetoric of truth. What I mean by breeding grounds is where something lives and where it can grow and flourish. In the case of the post-reconstruction era, there developed a perfect breeding ground for lynching’s and murders of Black people. This breeding ground was rooted from Christianity. As Walter White describes in chapter three of his book Rope and Faggot, “It is exceedingly doubtful if lynching could possibly exist under any other religion than Christianity… tacit approval and acquiescence has the Christian Church indirectly given its approval to lynch-law and other forms of race prejudice…” White furthers his theory that Christianity is a perfect breeding ground for lynch law. He explains that Christian nations allowed for slavery to exist in the 18th and 19th centuries, and prejudice to thrive after slavery was disbanded. The dominant culture’s Christianity has swayed far from the humanity that Jesus once preached into something crueler and more oppressive. White furthers his explanation of how Christianity has turned to a justification for these crimes. By doing this, he exposes the root problems of lynch law and how it is still able to flourish. This isn’t just a societal problem, it is rather a deep, historically cultural problem. Christianity was intensely rooted in America’s history, especially within the dominant white culture. This historical context brings forth the long traditions of ‘white superiority’. Hence, bringing the violence against many minority communities, sparked, and accepted through White’s theory about Christianity. This theory plays directly in part to the rhetoric of truth. Historical truth is incredibly important to uncover in a contextual sense. Without knowing the history behind an event or movement, one does not know the full truth. White’s theory and definition of lynch laws breeding grounds, allows the reader to understand the truth and context at which these horrific acts were allowed to take place. It is a way for the antilynching movement to disseminate the full truth, of not only the present but the past. 

The rhetoric of truth demonstrates how the antilynching movement effectively impacts the audience to understand the horrific acts of the dominant culture. By exposing the lies and the revealing the truth, it gives way to a successful protest by undervaluing the opposite rhetoric. There comes a point in time when the lies are too outlandish and unconceivable that they must be exposed to the fullest. Post-reconstruction brought forth many empowering Black activist that used this exact rhetoric of truth. It brought to light the lies, the stories of the victims, and the habitat of lynch law. These actively spark the foundation of Black protest and how the rhetoric influenced many people during this time.