Annarose Blair assignment

My students are African American women, who, like Wells, must speak upon a taboo subject. Possibly, I’m thinking that this might involve asking for something like reparations for their children/grandchildren whose fathers/grandfathers were white masters with black mistresses. I’m not sure how realistic this would be given the time period, though…

Here's a reading assignment:

Read Hugh Blair's Lecture XXVII (Eloquence of Public Assembles). Pay careful attention to page 350, where Blair discusses the importance of the speaker being able to “attend to all the decorums of time, place, and character.”

Next, read Ida B. Wells's "Lynch Law in all its Phases" in light of Blair's advice to read the crowd and environment well. Since Wells is discussing a taboo subject among her white audience, this sensitivity to her audience is all the more difficult. How does she manage to be attentive to the crowd and environment’s needs while still broaching this crucial yet impolite topic?

For a writing assignment:

Write a letter to the white man who fathered your grandchild, making a request that he contribute to his/her education since he/she has been admitted to one of the most prestigious and most expensive universities in the nation. Keeping the section of Blair you’ve just studied in mind, write in a way that is wary of your reader’s needs and concerns, yet addresses this subject enough to move him to action.