Summary Of How The Word Is Passed By Clint Smith

Clint Smith's “How the Word is Passed” is an exploration of how slavery is remembered and interpreted throughout important sites across America. Through visiting these landmarks and monuments such as the Monticello Plantation, the Whitney Plantation, and the Angola Prison, Smith gets to interact with many different visitors. He reveals the way that people of different racial backgrounds respond and think upon the history. This gives a broader perspective of how racial background can affect people's understanding of United States history. From these encounters, Clint Smith uncovers a striking difference between the perspectives held by black and white visitors at these landmarks and monuments. Smith starts out the book by visiting the Monticello

During the tour, Smith met two people, Donna and Grace. They are both white females. As Smith noticed, “Each time he presented a new story, fact, or piece of historical evidence about Jefferson as an enslaver, their faces would contort in astonishment, their mouths would sit agape, and they would shake their heads, almost as if they were being told on authority that the earth was flat after all” (Page 19). This underscores the tension between the version of Jefferson as a hero and the darker aspects of his life being an enslaver. The body language Smith eludes to by the two women is clearly of discomfort, surprise and even some disagreement. Capturing just how uncomfortable they were hearing another narrative of what they had been taught and learning about Jefferson. It also highlights white people's perspective on history. Donna said, “‘I am kind of a history nut,’ she said, ‘and I just wanted to see the house because I love going to town, because they built things back in time without all the fancy tools’” (Page

This definitely displays a difference of viewpoints amongst backgrounds. Yvonne, a black female tour guide Smith met at The Whitney Plantation, gives him a tour of the Whitney Plantation. During this tour Vyonne says, “Number one question [we get from white visitors]: ‘I know slavery was bad.I don’t mean it this way, but.were there any good slave owners?’” (Page 70). This question reveals a discomfort while fully confronting the brutal realities of slavery and suggests a desire to find some redeeming qualities on a fundamentally inhumane foundation. Although these white visitors are not intending to be racist or justify slavery, it can be seen that the ones that ask these questions have white fragility. Most black visitors at The Whitney Plantation ask, “we’re not talking enough about the brutality—like, how people were beaten, how awfully people were treated, how young girls were raped, and things like that” (Page 71). Black visitors feel that if these extremes are not talked about during the ninety minute tours, then they believe the tour guide is “sanitizing this history” (page