Critical Introduction

Thank you for visiting our blog. We are four University of Maryland Scholars students in English 101S studying various rhetorical devices. We have put a lot of thought and effort into this blog and are very proud of the final product. A Right for Civil Rights examines multiple aspects of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960’s. Racial inequality is an issue that still plagues America today and we thought it would be worthwhile to examine what is now called “The First Civil Rights Movement” and draw our own conclusions as to how far the country has actually progressed since the 1960’s. We believe we are qualified and worthy analysts of these texts because we have practiced analytical skills throughout the semester and are confident in our ability to project our ideas onto others.

We chose these texts because they provide different perspectives on a movement that was incredibly polarizing, hence the need to examine multiple texts. The Civil Rights Bill newspaper and article and the March on Washington protest picture demonstrate the grassroots and legislative aspects of the passing of the Civil Rights Bill respectively.  The protest picture demonstrates the fervent nature of the movement, while the newspaper article offers more of a national perspective on the Civil Rights Bill. Taken as a whole these texts demonstrate that although there was enormous support from Civil Rights Bill from the public, that enthusiasm was not matched by Congress who after much debate seemed to only approve the bill to appease President Johnson. Finally, both texts clearly demonstrate that in order to change social norms, there must be an incredible amount of both hard work and patience, despite the mass protests, it took many years for the Civil Rights Bill to pass Congress, and many today still question its effectiveness.

Our blog is relevant today because we are currently as a nation facing many of the racial perils of the 1960’s, best exemplified by the killings of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and many other unarmed African-Americans. There is also a wealth gap amongst the races, even though economic equality was one of the major goals of the Civil Rights Bill. We believe that much can be learned from the 1960’s about how to close these gaps. We expect readers to come away with a better understanding of how social movements work, and hopefully find hope that we can change the current racial inequalities that still persist.

We first analyzed audience and pathos because we believed that we should methodically contextualize the texts to better serve our readers. Of course every rhetorical appeal is incredibly germane to understanding a specific text, which is why we viewed the appeals equally rather than purely focusing on one. After analyzing the texts, it was clear that logos was used less than the other rhetorical appeals, but we wanted to provide a complete overview for our readers. We last tackled kairos as to give an overall historical context for our readers to walk away with. We also attempted to allocate appeals that each member felt confident in analyzing, to ensure the strongest blog possible.

To quote the great writer George Orwell, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. As this paradox explains as humans we are all inherently equal but this equality has been corrupted by the institutions and systems man has created. It is our duty not just as Americans but as members of the human race to eliminate this persistent inequality. We hope reading this blog can be the first step towards accomplishing that goal.

-Alex, Asiyah, Daniel, Miles

Picture - Kairos

The kairos depicted in this picture is perhaps one of the most evident rhetoric devices out of all of them we have discussed this semester. The civil rights movement is perhaps one of the most decade defining moments of the 1960's and this picture does an excellent job showcasing how the civil rights movement was carried out. The main thing that captures the significance of the movement at that time is the large number of protesters shown in the picture. Protesters in the 60's often used large crowds of people to send their message because media outlets were not as big as they are now, so their best medium for voicing their opinions was through large protests. Signs on the other hand are very universal, and they are used in many different ways from protests to your everyday traffic signals. Because of this I would argue that the signs used do not necessarily add much to the kairos because they do not have an extreme importance to that particular moment in time. In other words, signs are almost always used in protests or rallies so the fact that they were used in this 1960's civil rights protest does not add much significance to that moment in time like the large and diverse population of protesters does.

Photograph Stasis

The primary stasis used in the photograph is the stasis of action. Depicted in the photograph are, as the title of the stasis suggests, people acting in response to the unjust state of the United States during the Civil Rights Movement. This answers the first question of the stasis, "what should we do about this": What they did was make signs and protest a system that was undeniably oppressing them. The actions that were possible to them were limited by their scarce resources, so they were forced to make use of the one resource they had in abundance, people willing to protest, and used them to send a message. That message contains the answer to the stasis of action's third question, "what proposals shall we make about it," in the form of the protestors' demands. They do not simply propose they be given their basic human rights, they demand it. These demands were necessary at the time in order to fulfill the stasis of action, as the Civil Rights Movement demanded no half measures in its quest for progress. Obviously this one protest was not enough to bring about the desired change in America at the time, nor was the movement limited to just the stasis of action, but it certainly provides a clear snapshot of one of the puzzle pieces that all fit together to make change.

Newspaper Stasis

The main Stasis used here is Action. After many debates and a vote, an agreement on the Civil Rights Bill was made. The other stases were used prior to passing the Act. The first stasis: Fact and Definition was used when considering who is protected under the law already. Also used when considering who should be granted civil rights. There were civil rights acts of 1866, 1875 and 1957, but the one of 1964 was named the "strongest civil rights act". The second stasis: Cause comes into play when considering what will happen or change for the better when passing the new act. The third stasis: Value plays a role as well because what was included in the bill had to be precise and good quality. Value played a role when movement leaders had to find a balance of what they wanted to propose for the bill. The draft had to be strong enough, but not too strong where moderates and republicans would be completely opposed to it. The fourth stasis: Action was a turning point because since that the bill was signed figuring out how the law was going to be enforced was a new issue. The President made a T.V. appeal to end hatred, but the treatment of minorities was not changed simply by the passing of the bill.

Newspaper Kairos

The kairotic moment discussed in the newspaper is clearly the passing of the Civil Rights Bill. The article itself only mentions the long battle in congress, but this forgets all of the hard work that went into even getting the bill to Congress in the first place, much less getting it approved. The Bill was the product of early support from President Kennedy who wanted a Civil Rights Bill as the centerpiece of his administration. Lyndon Johnson took over and wanted to complete Kennedy's mission and get the bill passed. Unfortunately, their was much opposition to the bill including a senator filibustering for over 14 hours to prevent the bill from being voted on. The bill even changed many times in congress but kept its main points of equalizing voting, barring discrimination both in public places and employment, and encouraged the desegregation of public schools. In order to understand why the bill was so controversial, one must understand both the vast scope and power of the bill, as well as its difficult journey through congress to get approved. 

Newspaper Ethos

Ethos is another rhetorical device used to get people to read this news article. The title alone appeals to ethos. The title states that the President signed the bill which makes the signing of the bill more official. The article references other leads in America as well to establish more credibility. Mentioning the House having a long debate makes the bill passing worth the wait. The people in the House are elected to make legislative decisions, so it can be argued that since they are granted the right to vote on the passing of laws then their decisions have value. The article to the right by Laurence Stern begins with addressing congressional, religious, and civil rights leaders. These were people who helped fought for civil rights and they were gathered at the white house to see the signing as well. Having the image of those people there at the signing makes the signing more personable for those who wanted the bill to past. All of the experienced people that were previously mentioned make the passing of the bill more official and remarkable.

Logos is an appeal to an audience's sense of reason by the use of logic, which is why President Johnson made use of it in relation to the newly signed Civil Rights Bill. The headline of the newspaper contains two claims: the President signed the bill, and he made a TV appeal related to it. In both of these actions by the President he uses logos to support his pleas. The first component of him signing the bill into law is very straightforward with its logos; the items contained within the bill are now law, and it is logical to follow the law. To not follow just laws are an unreasonable act, so by signing the bill into law, he is making an appeal to American citizens to simply be reasonable. The second claim the paper makes, that the President went on TV to appeal against hatred, also contains logos even though it might outwardly seem to be entirely pathos. The logos of this comes from the fact that it is illogical and unreasonable to hate, so by the President reminding the American people of this, he is employing logos. Although there is more to the story than just headlines, one can clearly see how the President was trying his best to ask Americans to use their better judgement and not act with hatred and malice, but instead with reason.