Simplicity
The speech uses clear, succinct, and simple words in order to carry the point across the audience. It avoids words that are not familiar, which may only cause confusion instead of understanding (Heinz, 2021). I also appreciate that the outline clearly captures the intention of Landrieu – to correct the wrong history about the Confederacy statues.

Metaphors are also richly scattered on the speech that gives it more emphasis. For example, talking about many Americans view the statues, he writes: “While While some have driven by these monuments every day and either revered their beauty or failed to see them at all, many of our neighbors and fellow Americans see them very clearly. Many are painfully aware of the long shadows their presence casts” (The New York Times, 2017). It indicates the untold history about the statues, which is hidden by those who want to suppress the real history of black slavery and disenfranchisement in New Orleans.

Multiple Forums

Another element that is observable in the speech is leadership by example. At the onset of his speech, Landrieu emphasized that although putting down the status would be tough, “you elected me to do the right thing, not the easy thing and this is what it looks like” (The New York Times, 2017). This demonstrates political will that most politicians lack. Some political leaders tend to tolerate inaccuracies, wrongdoings, and historical revisionisms because they do not want to enrage or disappoint a significant proportion of the public under his or her jurisprudence or area of responsibility (Brooks, 2011). It takes a lot of courage to do the right thing. He says that if the people want to have a better future, then it must first correct the wrong narrative of the Confederacy – to straighten the crooked line – in order to truly give justice to those who have been enslaved under the watch of Confederacy.

Repetition

The speech also contains an element of repetition as Landrieu repeatedly emphasizes about righting the wrong, which is correcting the public’s view and notion of the Confederate statues by correcting the people’s knowledge of history. This is the central aim of the speech – to re-educate the public of the history of Confederacy, which subordinated races instead of embracing them. This strategy effectively ushers the listeners to the central message of the speech (Heinz, 2021).

The Landrieu appears relatively effective in casting a vision for a different New Orleans – it contains bold statements of assertions of the wrong associations made with the Confederate statues. However, the speech sounds more diplomatic than visionary (Matush, 2023). It appears to pre-empt any possibility of backlash from a disagreeing public so it may sound a little unconvincing to some. In this case, the speech could have used more assertive words such as “We must correct history” or “We have been fooled to believe of the history of Confederate statues”. These kinds of statements create a sense of controversy, which appeal to the emotions of the public.

In Proverbs 15:32 (NIV), it says “He who refuses correction despises his own soul, but he who listens to reproof gets understanding.” In order for us to truly understand something – as in this case, the history of the Confederacy and why it revises historical narratives – we need to correct those which are served to us in erroneous ways, whether through the accuracy of facts or through a collective understanding of the meaning of a structure (Confederate statues).