Scan barcode
Reviews
How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith
lesserjoke's review
4.0
A deeply-moving account of author Clint Smith's visits to sites across the country (and one abroad, in Senegal) that have links to slavery, from former plantations like Angola Prison and Jefferson's Monticello estate to a Confederate cemetery and Wall Street. There's a lot of information on the 'peculiar institution' in this book -- often rendered in visceral, unflinching detail that centers the human cost of its ongoing atrocities -- but the writer is a sociologist rather than a historian, and so his primary focus is less on the facts and more on how contemporary people grapple with them. To that end, he interviews tour guides and his fellow guests, seeking to draw out their understandings of the subject, and how that fits with their sense of American history more broadly.
Understandably, he encounters a lot of ignorance among the white folks that he talks to, and although he pushes back against that in-person and is even clearer in his text where they're wrong, it's disquieting to see the extent of the stubborn conviction behind such long-disproven claims (like the idea that the Civil War was fought over the noble ideal of states' rights in the abstract or that the majority of enslaved persons were not treated cruelly by the class who bought, sold, whipped, raped, and orphaned them). Smith is remarkably empathetic with his interlocutors and notes for us how centuries of propaganda have shaped and cemented these narratives, but in reading over their insistent misconceptions, it is hard to imagine how we will ever get to a point of universal education and acknowledgement of such matters, let alone begin to seriously redress them.
If I have one complaint regarding this project, it's that it feels designed to say big, important things about our society, and yet the author seems to place a great deal of emphasis on what a few particular presenters have had to say on the occasion of his appearance before them, reifying and enshrining their attitudes into more than perhaps they ought to be taken as. In my opinion, that sort of individualized and diary-like approach can sensationalize either a good or a bad experience when a more holistic representation might have proved more neutral. Still, this is altogether a strong and recommended read on race and racism in America.
[Content warning for racial slurs, lynching, and gore.]
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6288479-joe-kessler
--Or click here to browse through all my previous// reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
Understandably, he encounters a lot of ignorance among the white folks that he talks to, and although he pushes back against that in-person and is even clearer in his text where they're wrong, it's disquieting to see the extent of the stubborn conviction behind such long-disproven claims (like the idea that the Civil War was fought over the noble ideal of states' rights in the abstract or that the majority of enslaved persons were not treated cruelly by the class who bought, sold, whipped, raped, and orphaned them). Smith is remarkably empathetic with his interlocutors and notes for us how centuries of propaganda have shaped and cemented these narratives, but in reading over their insistent misconceptions, it is hard to imagine how we will ever get to a point of universal education and acknowledgement of such matters, let alone begin to seriously redress them.
If I have one complaint regarding this project, it's that it feels designed to say big, important things about our society, and yet the author seems to place a great deal of emphasis on what a few particular presenters have had to say on the occasion of his appearance before them, reifying and enshrining their attitudes into more than perhaps they ought to be taken as. In my opinion, that sort of individualized and diary-like approach can sensationalize either a good or a bad experience when a more holistic representation might have proved more neutral. Still, this is altogether a strong and recommended read on race and racism in America.
[Content warning for racial slurs, lynching, and gore.]
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6288479-joe-kessler
--Or click here to browse through all my previous// reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
3littlewordz's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
I've expressed before that great poets seem to make the best writers of, well, everything! This book was no exception. Clint Smith did not waste one word in this text. The descriptions of the physical locations visited, his emotions while visiting, and the conversations that took place on (or near) these properties were both lyrical and incredibly informative. I'm thankful that he included discussions with his grandparents to add the personal component. Excellently crafted - I could have highlighted the whole book!
doughnutrunner's review
5.0
All I can really say is wow. This shattered my preconceived notions about a lot of history and has made me realize that I need a broader education. I cannot appreciate more what this book has done and will continue to do. It should be a must read for students everywhere.
jessicabadolato's review
5.0
This is an extraordinary and well-written nonfiction piece. Smith uncovers more truths of slavery and its impact on our lives by visiting landmarks and monuments such as Monticello Plantation, Whitney Plantation, Angola Prison, Blandford Cemetery, Galveston Island, NYC, and Gorée Island. He interviews and interrogates tour guides and other visitors and examines historical documents to add where some of our traditional learnings have fallen short. He reminds us slavery in America was not that long ago and our need to keep it in our memories as we make sense of our country.
Smith’s words are poetic and only add to the content. It is one of the best books I’ve read recently and I highly recommend adding it to your list.
Smith’s words are poetic and only add to the content. It is one of the best books I’ve read recently and I highly recommend adding it to your list.
csimonsensays's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0