writersmonthly.com- The Humblest May Stand Forth, a book review of Jacqueline Bacon's The Humblest May Stand Forth, Rhetoric, Empowerment and Racism, American history book, black history book, Black History month, Frederick Douglas slave history, Underground Railroad, rhetoric of liberation enslavement, African slavery in America

When I sat down to begin reading The Humblest May Stand Forth, I was intrigued by the subject of the book. Jacqueline Bacon analyzes the rhetoric of three U.S. subcultures during the early to mid 1800s. She argues that African American men, white women, and African American women employed various rhetorical strategies to deal with the restrictions placed on them in an oppressive society. My excitement lasted as far as the first few pages where Bacon outlines her thesis, which she then spends the rest of the book proving:

"Marginalized rhetors may be advised to adopt particular styles of communication to fit societal expectations or to persuade only in contexts controlled by others. Thus even when they are not literally silent, those who are oppressed in society may encounter restrictions that threaten to render them, in effect, voiceless….Through rhetoric, then, those who are oppressed can fight the unjust conditions under which they must live."

She contends that history is written by those who are the powerful group, while others must rely on their own rhetorical discourse for their own story to be told. In order for them to do so, however, they must present their rhetoric within the confines of what is acceptable to mainstream society at the time.

And as a reader, I believe her.

Which then begs the question — why should I continue reading since I already know what the book will entail and how it will end? What compelling attributes will make me want to continue reading the book? Not having read much academese lately and being a product of a fast-paced culture, it took a while for me to be able to focus and begin to appreciate the level of detail that Bacon uses to articulate her points. The power of this book is found in the details. Bacon effectively dissects the words and interactions of three distinct groups: African American men, white women, and African American women. She then places these three subgroups within society’s prevailing group — white men — analyzing how these subgroups used rhetoric to their advantage within the context of the abolition movement and antebellum society.

As a researcher, Bacon is extraordinary in her detail. She draws from speeches, articles, letters and notes to analyze the rhetoric of Frederick Douglass, Angelina Grimke, Maria Steward, Sarah Douglass and others. She frequently uses muted group theory, "an approach to language developed to understand the communication of those whose discourse is often silenced," as she analyzes each subgroup while pointing out its limitations in regard to the abolitionist movement.

Yet this [muted group theory] theoretical perspective on Douglass’s narration has significant limitations. First, Douglass’s use of storytelling may have had its roots not merely in the expectations of whites, but also in what Blassingame notes was one source for "[Douglass’s] first rhetorical theories" — the "slave story teller."

When the author steps away from the subgroup’s individual rhetoric to explain the context and analyze the words, as readers we are also pulled away from the words and passion of the speaker’s original intent. Bacon includes the theories of different historians within the larger context of her own points. At times the analysis of the rhetoric detracts from the strength of the original speaker’s intent. It also impacts Bacon’s own goal of demonstrating how the rhetoric of the subgroup allowed their stories to be heard. In her dedication to analyze how these subgroups managed to get their voices heard, she often denies them of their very words that she is at the same time advocating history needs to hear.

I recommend this book to academics looking to study the abolitionist movement and how the three subgroups interacted both with each other as well as within the constraints of antebellum society. While at many points throughout the book I feel it lacked compelling reasons for me to continue reading it since she had already made her case so persuasively in the beginning, there are just as many places where the author’s interest in the subject kept me turning the pages. And most of these are in the last chapter. In fact, I found the last chapter to be the strongest, with its overall summary of the book and an interesting perspective on how the abolitionist rhetoric has influenced the methods used by many highly regarded African Americans since. I found this to be the most readable chapter of them all — and the most enjoyable. Seeing the methods described in detail throughout the rest of the book brought through history from the abolitionist movement and applied briefly to Malcolm X, was extremely interesting, and demonstrated absolute support for the powerful rhetoric used by the abolitionists to get their voices heard.

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