Audio file mp3 format, 15 min.
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.
Course 2 Political Manipulation of Collective Memory
Part 1 Strategic Messaging and Its Role in Shaping Public Acceptance of Racial Discrimination
Part Two The Role of Mass Participation in Reinforcing Authoritarian Narratives
Part Three How Political Elites Manipulate Collective Memory Through Public Displays of Trauma
Part Four Staged Public Displays: Lynchings, Show Trials, Commemorative Monuments
