Jim Beitler's Dissertation3
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Rhetorics of Interdependence: Composing the Ethos of the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission by James Edward Beitler III A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (English and Education) in The University of Michigan 2009 Doctoral Committee: Professor Anne Ruggles Gere, Chair Professor Mary J. Schleppegrell Associate Professor Anne L. Curzan Associate Professor Alisse S. Portnoy Associate Professor Lesley A. Rex © James Edward Beitler III 2009 Dedicated to my parents and Brita Elizabeth ii Acknowledgements What a wonderful thing it is to endeavor at something you love to do with the support and encouragement of so many people, all of whom care about you and want you to succeed. Thank you first to my teachers: Anne Ruggles Gere, Anne Curzan, Alisse Portnoy, Lesley Rex, Mary Schleppegrell, Alan Jacobs, and Steven Spencer. This project has been shaped by your voices and enriched by your careful readings, constructive feedback, and thoughtful questions. Every page of this project attests to your commitment to your students. Thank you also to my friends and colleagues: Josh and Michelle Bard, Alex Beringer, David W. Brown, Jennifer Buehler, Mike Bunn, Heather Thomson Bunn, Bonnie Campbell, Amy Carpenter, Christian and Julie Dallavis, Hannah Dickinson, Paul Feigenbaum, Ben Gunsberg, Heewoo Han, Korey Jackson, Nate and Valerie Kochanowski, Karen Morris, Randy Pinder, Kelly Sassi, Donna Scheidt, Staci Schultz, Lori Scott, Michael Van Horn, and David and Aimee Walford. Many of the arguments that I make in the following pages have come about from our conversations over the past few years. I’m grateful for the ways you’ve informed my thinking. Thank you to all those associated with the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission, especially Executive Director Jill Williams, who has been extremely generous in taking the time to answer my many questions, and commissioner Barbara Walker, who graciously took me out to dinner and discussed her work as a commissioner on the night before the Commission released its report. And, finally, thank you to my family: Brita Beitler, Jim and Evelyn Beitler, LuEtta and the late Ray Frey, Jim and Melissa Beitler, Genevieve Beitler, Ashley Beitler, Alan Beitler, David and Karen Kempe, Joe and Colleen Kempe (and little Brendan Josef), and Tim and Megan Kempe. I love you! I dedicate this work to my mom and dad—who have been a constant source of love, wisdom, and support—and to my wife Brita, who is and will always be my true love and my very best friend. iii Table of Contents Dedication.......................................................................................................................ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................iii Abstract.........................................................................................................................vii Chapter I. “Inescapable Networks of Mutuality”: Authorizing Truth and Reconciliation in Greensboro ..........................................................................................................1 The Project...............................................................................................7 “Looking through a Kaleidoscope” at November 3rd, 1979 .....................10 The Question of Authority......................................................................19 Project Methodology and Theoretical Framework ..................................25 Methodology ..............................................................................25 Theoretical Framework...............................................................31 Transitional Justice.................................................................................37 Dissertation Overview............................................................................43 From Greensboro to South Africa...........................................................44 II. In Medias Res: Desmond Tutu’s Variations on the Middle Ground................46 Historical Context ..................................................................................52 Middle Ground Arguments.....................................................................57 “The Third Way”: Between Nuremberg and Amnesia.................58 Urging Restraint in Response to Calls for Justice.............62 Urging Action, Audacity in Response to Calls for National Amnesty..........................................................................66 “Without Bias”: Between the Criticisms of the ANC and NP......69 In Our Midst: The Commission as Microcosm............................75 Contributing to a Tradition .....................................................................81 iv III. “A person is a person because of other persons”: A Rhetoric of Ubuntu in Greensboro, North Carolina ...............................................................................89 From South Africa to Greensboro...........................................................93 Reaccentuating Ubuntu ..........................................................................97 Endorsing the Ceremony and the Commissioners........................98 Entrusting the People of Greensboro with the Truth Commission Model .......................................................................................103 Establishing the Commission’s Stature in the Community ........107 Reaccentuating Ubuntu, Again .............................................................115 IV. The Greensboro TRC and the Ethos of Representivity: A Close Reading in Four Acts.........................................................................................................127 Act I: Setting Up the Commission ........................................................132 Act II: The Swearing in and Seating Ceremony ....................................137 Act III: The Public Hearings.................................................................151 Act IV: The Report Release Ceremony.................................................159 Conclusion ...........................................................................................171 V. “We Joined a World”: Definitional Maneuvering in the Introduction to the Greensboro TRC Final Report .........................................................................175 Definition Arguments...........................................................................178 (Re)defining “Truth Commission” in the Final Report .........................180 A State-Sanctioned Commission? .............................................183 Broadening “Truth Commission” to include Non-State- Sanctioned Endeavors ...................................................186 Framing Non-State-Sanctioned Authority Positively .....188 An Independent Commission? ..................................................190 Investigating a Pattern of Events? .............................................195 A Political Transition? ..............................................................200 The Commission, the Council, and the Role of Race ............................203 Conclusion: On Definition Arguments..................................................224 VI. Conclusion.................................................................................................232 Project Limitations and Future Directions.............................................234 v Reflections on Method..............................................................234 Reflections on Findings ............................................................236 Project Implications..............................................................................240 Implications for the Greensboro Truth and Community Reconciliation Project...............................................................240 Implications for Scholars Studying Truth Commissions............241 Implications for Practitioners of Transitional Justice.................248 Implications for Rhetoricians....................................................253 Epilogue. “When Hope Is Reborn”...................................................................262 Works Cited ................................................................................................................268 vi Abstract Rhetorics of Interdependence: Composing the Ethos of the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission by James Edward Beitler III Chair: Anne Ruggles Gere On the morning of November 3rd, 1979, the Communist Workers Party organized a “Death to the Klan” rally and parade in Greensboro, North Carolina. Violence ensued when, later in the morning, Ku Klux Klan and American Nazi Party members arrived at the parade starting point and fired on the protestors, killing five CWP members and injuring ten others. Local news crews captured the events on film, but despite this evidence the killers were not found guilty for the deaths. Twenty-five years later, Greensboro citizens hoping to redress injustice and heal “long-standing divisions in the community” formed the first truth commission of its kind in the United States—the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This dissertation explores both spoken and written rhetorical performances surrounding the operation of the Greensboro TRC in order to demonstrate how its members and advocates attempted to establish the authority to carry out the Commission’s mandate and legitimate its claims about the