While reading through "Picturing the Civil War 3: African American Soldiers," one could see that Professor Fahs' purpose in writing this blog post was to show how the representations of African Americans changed throughout the course of the Civil War; more specifically, the recruitment of African American soldiers changed how African Americans in general were perceived by the mainstream media. Prof. Fahs illustrates how mainstream media before the civil war portrayed African Americans as either stereotypical jokes of themselves or as helpless slaves.
The post proceeds in chronological order from the beginning of the Civil War to the end, separated by images and Fahs' reflections on them. The recruitment posters and her rhetorical questions are especially intriguing as the rhetorical questions give a new light into how the posters may be perceived. While the ordinary onlooker may see the posters as purely informative, Prof. Fahs' rhetorical questions show how the posters appeal to the emotions and agency of African Americans to recruit into the army. From the posters, Prof. Fahs proceeds to talk about a piece in which an African American soldier is being trained by a white general, the Northern white fascination with the lives of slaves becoming soldiers, daguerrotypes of African American soldiers, and finally, the lingering racism that still existed in America despite the improvement of the general public's perception of black people. Not only does Prof. Fahs use rhetorical questions when referring to the posters, but they are also employed in the very last paragraph so that the reader may come to his or her own conclusions about how the images used in the Civil War were effective in changing perceptions and to what extent.
The questions/comments I have for Prof. Fahs are as follows:
Was having African American soldiers pose in a certain way in the daguerrotypes was intended to create meaning or did it just happen to have an impact on those who viewed it? If the latter, how do you know that the any, if at all, impact was created?
Your thesis is very compelling and putting it in a chronological order is helpful to the reader as one can follow along with your argument easily and effectively.
By pointing out how there was still racism underlying all the progress that had been made in changing the negative perception of African Americans, you successfully create an accurate insight into the societal values of the time.
To address your question for Professor Fahs, I think having African American soldiers pose in a certain way was used to both create meaning and to have an impact on those who saw it later. The whites at the time viewed African Americans with a derogatory stereotype and they wanted to maintain this stereotype. Thus, they probably positioned them in specific ways to stick to this image. However, those who would later see the image would create their own meaning when they saw the image (a meaning that was often aligned with those who took the photograph).
ReplyDeleteI agree that Professor Fahs does touch upon the underlying racism thread that spun before, during, and after the Civil War. She specifically calls it the "Long Civil War." It is almost as if to say that no matter what the Blacks did, their subordinate position in society remained fixed and solid as tradition that streamed from bloodline. This points the responsibility of the Northern Republicans to do something with the privilege they had to be on the side to defend the defenseless. However, the progressive sentiments to spark a countercultural movement that once burned passionately at the heat of the war cooled down during the Reconstruction Era. At this time, many of such advocates lost their zeal and prioritized reconciliation with the South more than pursuing the Black cause.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think was the underlying driving force in the evolution of racism?
ReplyDeleteIn addition, I would argue that the fact that she lets the reader answer the rhetorical question at the end of her article makes it that much more convincing because one finds that their ideas line up with hers.