Rhetoric, Race, Religion, and the Charleston Shootings

Melody Lehn is assistant professor of rhetoric and women’s and gender studies at Sewanee: The University of the South. Sean Patrick O'Rourke is professor of rhetoric and American studies at Sewanee: The University of the South.

• Introduction: Was Blind but Now I See: Rhetoric, Race, and Religion in the Charleston ShootingsSean Patrick O’RourkeMelody LehnPart I: The Killer’s Manifesto: Rhetorics of the Lost Cause and Race Warfare1“The South Shall Rise Again”: Setting the Lost Cause Myth in Future Tense in Dylann Roof’s Manifesto Margaret Franz2Charleston and the Postracial Logics of “Race War”Daniel A. GranoPart II: Gun Control: The Debates That Did Not Happen and the Language of Lynching3The Racial Politics of Gun Violence: A Brief Rhetorical HistoryCraig Rood4The Charleston Church Shooting and the Public Practice of Forgetting Lynching Samuel P. PerryPart III: Civic Eulogies and Exhortations: The Responses of Barack and Michelle Obama 5The Act of Forgiveness in Barack Obama’s Eulogy for the Honorable Reverend Clementa Pinckney, Charleston, South Carolina, June 26, 2015David A. Frank6Challenging the Myth of Postracialism: Exhortation, Strategic Ambiguity, and Michelle Obama’s Response to the Charleston KillingsMelody LehnPart IV: Rebels and Flags: The Rhetorics of Heritage, Hate, Continuity, and Change7In the Aftermath: The Rhetoric of Heritage and the Limits of the Mythical PastLuke D. Christie8The Rebel Flag and the Rhetoric of Protest: A Case Study in Public Will BuildingSean Patrick O’RourkePart V: Neo-Confederate Monuments: Rhetorics of Contested Public Memory9“Remove Not the Ancient Landmark”: Making the Confederate Distortions of Religion ApparentCamille K. Lewis10In the Aftermath: Memorials of the Neo-Confederacy, Symbols of Oppression, and the Rhetoric of RemovalPatricia G. DavisConclusion: Zenith and NadirDonna Hunter