How the Word Is Passed audiobook cover - A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

How the Word Is Passed

A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

Clint Smith

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How the Word Is Passed
The Nature of History+
Southern Sites of Reckoning+
Northern & Global Complicity+
Systemic Continuations+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 9
According to the text, what is the primary mission of the group 'Take 'Em Down NOLA' in New Orleans?
  • A. To advocate for the preservation of historical antebellum architecture.
  • B. To remove all symbols of white supremacy as part of a push for racial and economic justice.
  • C. To establish new monuments honoring the Union soldiers who died in the Civil War.
  • D. To promote tourism by highlighting the city's diverse musical heritage.
Question 2 of 9
How does the tour guide at Monticello, David Thorson, distinguish between 'history' and 'nostalgia'?
  • A. History is a collection of facts, whereas nostalgia is a made-up fantasy based on emotion.
  • B. History focuses on political events, while nostalgia focuses on family and social life.
  • C. History is written by the victors, but nostalgia preserves the voices of the oppressed.
  • D. History changes over time, while nostalgia remains a permanent record of the past.
Question 3 of 9
What makes the Whitney Plantation unique compared to many other plantation tours in Louisiana?
  • A. It is the only plantation that still actively produces sugarcane.
  • B. It focuses entirely on the antebellum architecture and the wealth of the owners.
  • C. It serves primarily as a popular venue for private celebrations like weddings.
  • D. It centers its narrative entirely around the experiences and humanity of the enslaved people.
Question 4 of 9
What historical connection is drawn between Louisiana's former nonunanimous jury law and the state's prison system?
  • A. The law was created by abolitionists to ensure fairer trials for newly freed Black citizens.
  • B. The law was established post-Reconstruction to easily convict Black men and force them into the convict leasing system.
  • C. The law was a federal mandate meant to reduce overcrowding in maximum-security prisons like Angola.
  • D. The law was designed to prevent plantation owners from reclaiming their formerly enslaved workers.
Question 5 of 9
At Blandford Cemetery, how do docents and organizations like the Sons of Confederate Veterans primarily justify their preservation of Confederate monuments?
  • A. By acknowledging the brutality of slavery but focusing on the architectural value of the monuments.
  • B. By explicitly celebrating the institution of slavery and the economic prosperity it brought the South.
  • C. By promoting the 'Lost Cause' myth, which claims the Civil War was about heritage and honor rather than slavery.
  • D. By arguing that the monuments actually honor the enslaved people who built them.
Question 6 of 9
What does the history of Juneteenth in Galveston, Texas, reveal about the end of slavery in the United States?
  • A. Slavery ended cleanly and universally on the exact day the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.
  • B. Enslaved people were immediately provided with the financial resources needed to become socially mobile.
  • C. The end of slavery was a violent, uneven process, and many did not hear about their freedom until long after the war ended.
  • D. General Gordon Granger's arrival in Texas was immediately welcomed by local enslavers who willingly freed their workers.
Question 7 of 9
According to the walking tour in New York City, what is one of the 'biggest lies' Americans still tell about the country's history?
  • A. That the North was entirely complicit in the slave trade, while the South resisted it.
  • B. That the Underground Railroad was primarily funded by Southern plantation owners.
  • C. That New York City's early infrastructure was built entirely by European immigrants.
  • D. That the North consisted of the 'good guys' who were disconnected from the atrocities of slavery.
Question 8 of 9
How does Eloi Coly, the curator of the House of Slaves on Gorée Island, view the fact that the number of enslaved people who passed through the island is often historically exaggerated?
  • A. He believes the exaggeration damages the credibility of the museum and should be immediately corrected.
  • B. He feels the exact numbers are less important than the site's role as a place of memory and reckoning for a larger truth.
  • C. He argues that European historians intentionally fabricated the numbers to minimize their own guilt.
  • D. He insists that the exaggerated numbers are perfectly accurate and refuses to acknowledge modern historical scholarship.
Question 9 of 9
What profound realization does Clint's grandmother share during their visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture?
  • A. She realized that the history of slavery had been entirely fabricated by modern politicians.
  • B. She discovered for the first time that her own grandfather had been enslaved.
  • C. She felt she was not just learning about history, but revisiting the traumatic segregation and violence she had personally lived through.
  • D. She felt a deep sense of nostalgia for the close-knit communities of the Jim Crow South.

How the Word Is Passed — Full Chapter Overview

How the Word Is Passed Summary & Overview

How the Word Is Passed (2021) is a travelogue that underscores how slavery has shaped America’s collective history and its reality today. Nine locations serve as gateways to important stories that are hidden in plain sight. They exemplify how communities have reckoned, or not, with their roles in the history of slavery and invite us all to dig deeper into what we believe – and why.

Who Should Listen to How the Word Is Passed?

  • Anyone who wants to better understand America’s relationship with slavery
  • Community members seeking historical context on Black Lives Matter
  • Activists and history buffs interested in how the past informs the present

About the Author: Clint Smith

Clint Smith is a staff writer at the Atlantic and the author of Counting Descent, an award-winning book of poetry. His writing has also appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, the Paris Review, and Poetry, among others. Smith has been awarded fellowships from the Art for Justice Fund, Cave Canem, New America, and the National Science Foundation. He holds a BA in English from Davidson College and a PhD in Education from Harvard University.

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