Rhetoric Review Jan 2022

Inventing the Slums: Rhetoric, Race, and Place in Westlake Terrace

Joshua M. Rea Louisiana State University in Shreveport

Abstract

This article examines connections between rhetoric, race, and place. Using archival research to examine Westlake Terrace, the author asks how the rhetorics of places like Westlake racialize the place and its people. The article shows that these rhetorics perpetuate the agenda of structural racism, and the material consequences of these rhetorics. It is argued that looking at the history of Westlake reveals a process of rhetorical invention that imbues the place with rhetorical and racial tensions. Attending to these moments of invention can both reveal ways that inequalities are built into places and help us work toward more equitable places.

Journal
Rhetoric Review
Published
2022-01-02
DOI
10.1080/07350198.2021.2002071
Open Access
Closed
Topics
race and writing

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Rea (2025)
    Social Problems and Racial Agendas: Analyzing the Structural Racism of Historic…
    Technical Communication Quarterly

Cites in this index (5)

  1. Handley (2019)
    “The Line Drawn”: Freedom Corner and Rhetorics of Place in Pittsburgh, 1960s-2000s
    Rhetoric Review
  2. Malinowski (2018)
    Claiming Cosmopolitan Geographies:Space and Ethos at Hull House, Chicago
    Rhetoric Review
  3. Skinnell (2015)
    Who Cares If Rhetoricians Landed on the Moon? Or, a Plea for Reviving the Polit…
    Rhetoric Review
  4. Simonson (2014)
    Reinventing Invention, Again
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  5. Marback (1998)
    Detroit and the closed fist: Toward a theory of material rhetoric<sup>1</sup>
    Rhetoric Review
Also cites 6 works outside this index ↓
  1. Allen Douglas (2019)
    10.1177/0309132518803775
    Progress in Human Geography  ↗
  2. Dobrin Sidney (2007)
    The Locations of Composition
     ↗
  3. 10.18574/nyu/9780814790670.001.0001
     ↗
  4. 10.1080/02691728.2017.1397799
     ↗
  5. 10.2307/j.ctt5vkftk
     ↗
  6. 10.1353/par.2007.0030
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 1 View in citation network →

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