Audio, 20 min. mp3
The institution of slavery in North America was not merely a system of labor exploitation; it was also a sophisticated exercise in public relations. The concept of slavery as public relations refers to the manipulation of public perception and discourse surrounding the institution of slavery to justify its existence, minimize opposition, and maintain social control. This tactic was often employed by slaveholders and proponents of slavery to present a sanitized or
distorted image of slavery that obscured its brutal realities and justified its continuation. The manipulation of information, imagery, and narrative was central to both the perpetuation of slavery and the subsequent regimes of racial violence that followed emancipation, including lynching and segregation.
Part One Evolution of Public Relations Strategies to Justify Segregation and Racial Violence
Part Two Proslavery Propaganda
Part Three Abolitionist Propaganda
Part Four: Lynching as a method of social control
