History is neither glamorous, nor accurate.
Through the rhetorical examination of one of the darker periods
in American History, the Civil Rights Movement, the students of the Communication
and Rhetorical Studies Department at Syracuse University are working to shed some
light. Countless individuals lost their lives, but were merely swept aside.
The importance of creating a public memory concerning the injustices
during the period from 1954-1980 is immeasurable. Beginning with the film/documentary
by Keith Beauchamp, now a Syracuse University Artist-in-Residence, about the tragic
and disturbing lynching of Emmet Louis Till in 1955, the FBI has allocated funds
and energy towards a list of "Cold Cases" - murders and lynchings that were never
solved, or cases in which justice was never served.
Through public documentation, research, and the rhetorical
analysis of the contextual information surrounding each case, we aim to
construct a hope by acknowledging the errors and omissions of the past. Please
recognize the goal of this project is not to solve cases, bring culprits to
justice, or hunt down perpetrators; instead we ask you to entertain the idea
that there are multiple kinds of justice: there are times where closure and
admission of the truth are more powerful than a verdict delivered from a
courtroom.