TOW #22 "Why Slaves' Graves Matter" by Sandra Arnold

The Arnold's central claim is that, "Our country should explore ways to preserve the public memory of enslaved Americans," in order to contribute to healing, help understanding and potentially lead to reconciliation. I completely agree with the statements that Arnold's makes, especially after reading the piece and seeing all of the sound and convincing evidence that she includes in the piece. The sources that she includes, such as statistics from various burial grounds and communities make her piece much stronger and really back up what she is trying to communicate. In addition, the argument is as well supported as it is well written. The author uses inductive structure to make a really strong point, beginning with smaller conclusions about all of the positives that slaves' graves could contribute to, and ends by tying all of these smaller conclusions into one larger concept that comprises her central claim. Arnold also utilizes the classical model of oration for the most part, but embellishes with narrative and actually does not really have much of a counter argument section. However, if someone was trying to refute Arnold's claim, they could definitely suggest that stronger action be taken in order to ensure remembrance, far beyond allocated land with the purpose of burial ground preservation. One could argue that having historical societies put in place, as well as upping the amount of education on this subject in schools would be more effective. Even so, Arnold may not disagree with these notions. Although she focuses on the importance of slaves' having proper commemorative graves, from other statements that she makes it is evident that she would certainly not protest anything that would lead to communities being more educated on slavery and the fundamental impact that slavery had on our modern society. Even though the country's level of education on this subject is far from ideal, more and more steps are being taken to make the author's vision a reality. We fulfill this vision more and more, as we begin to see ex slaves less and less as unfamiliar, and more and more as our ancestors.

I found this piece digitally on the NY Times site: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/03/opinion/sunday/why-slaves-graves-matter.html?ref=opinion