Rhetorical Analysis of John F. Kennedy's Address on Civil Rights (Essay Example)

In modern day, saying a racist remark or action can cause a person to lose their career, respect, college admission,and even their social following. However it wasn’t always this way and being racist towards African Americans and other people of color as well as segregating them was normal in the past. In the 1950s until the end of the 1960s the civil rights movement was at its pinnacle fighting against segregation of colored individuals in schools, restaurants and other public or recreational property due to Jim Crow Laws. The Civil rights movement led by famous historical figures such as Martin Luther King and Malcom X, was backed by then president John F. Kennedy who worked tremendously to fight racism at its roots.

On June 11th of 1963 President Kennedy delivered a speech in the white house directed at every American. The address would later become one of the most impactful speeches of American history due to the changes it would bring to the nation. President Kennedy was advocating for equal rights among minorities and their white neighbors, which not many presidents have done at the time. The speech was made following an incident in the University Of Alabama, two African- American students whom President Kennedy described as “qualified” were harassed and threatened simply for enrolling. During their short time on campus the U.S. National Guard had to be sent for their protection from racist mobs and students. 

Throughout the powerful speech, Former President Kennedy delivered countless dreadful facts regarding the living situation of African-Americans at the time. Some of his remarks include that “The Negro baby born in America today,...has about one-half as much chance of completing a high school as a white baby…one-third as much chance of completing college, one-third as much chance of becoming a professional man, twice as much chance of becoming unemployed, about one-seventh as much chance of earning $10,000 a year, a life expectancy which is 7 years shorter, and the prospects of earning only half as much” (Kennedy 4). President Kennedy conveys this message that is directed towards the white population of the country, to reveal a depressing circumstance that is taking place throughout the entirety of the nation causing damage to more than 10% of the population. During the start of the speech, President Kennedy asks every American regardless of where they reside, specifically white folks to “examine their conscience” about not only the University of Alabama incident but as well as other correlated incidents. The incident that occured in the University of Alabama was also taking place all over the nation in cases such as Brown Vs. Board that caused the Supreme Court to ban segregation in schools. Nonetheless, even after the supreme court ruled against segregation in schools many states continued to segregate and would create riots and mobs in order to stop desegregation. President Kennedy asks the general public to examine their conscience due to their horrendous actions in stopping African American children from gaining an equal education. The intended goal of the question is to create a sense of guilt for those working against desegregation and causing them to question their actions.  President Kennedy's speech was used to force the public to see their own injustice in treating minorities from the start of the nation's establishment. Through the entirety of the address, pathos, logos, ethos, and kairos are simultaneously used at the same time creating a not only credible speech but also very persuading and impactful for young people throughout many decades to come. 

President Kennedy portrays his message in the speech by using logos in many instances through the entirety of his address. The speech uses patterns of hypocrisy and reasoning that reveal how unfair and unjust the treatment of African Americans and other minorities is. The President states that because an American's skin is dark they can not enjoy the free life that the country is built upon and stands for then proceeds to ask who would like to trade places and have their skin color changed. The president then later goes on to say that “We Preach freedom around the world… this is the land of the free… We have no second class citizens… we have no class or caste system, no ghettoes, no master race except with respect to Negroes?” (Kennedy 8). President Kennedy uses American ideology of freedom against racists to recognize their double sided belief that has led them to twisted and horrendous treatment of minorities for hundreds of years. Former President also used numerous statistics such as the ones mentioned earlier to illustrate how many opportunities such as ones from school, work and voting can be stripped away from minorities. At the time America was recently in WW2, in the middle of the cold war, and on the verge to start the vietnam war causing president kennedy to remind the public of the combined efforts of African-American soldiers in the military. 

Ethos is strongly present through the entirety of the discourse, especially when the former President refers to the beliefs that were rooted in the establishment of the United States by the founding father. The belief that Kennedy mentions is that all men are created equal along with that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights are threatened. The ideology that all men are created equal is one that has been mentioned in nearly every history book in every classroom since the dawn of our nation. The president uses this quote to portray a sense of trustworthiness since it was the same beliefs used by the founding fathers to establish a great nation. 

The presence of an appeal to emotion or in other words pathos is also strongly evident in the speech. President Kennedy reminds the listeners of his speech that it has been one hundred years since Lincoln has freed the slaves then continues to claim in all those years they are still not free from “Social and economic oppression” nor injustice. The president feels the need to remind the public that in a century the country made little to no improvement in treating the African-American community in any shape or form. Later on, It is also stated by JFK that even though Americans love to boast about how free the nation is, it will not be truly free until all citizens are free no matter the skin color. This compels many to feel remorseful about the manner that they have treated African Americans poorly in the past and hopefully work on repairing that sense of judgment that has created countless cases of injustice.

The speech created many instances of urgency in a timely manner for Americans to start changing their beliefs about the civil rights movement and even for those who agreed with the message of equality it pressured them to fight more actively about the issue. These occurrences in the speech can be referred to as Kairos, a clear example of this rhetorical device is when President Kennedy claimed “It is a time to act in the Congress… above all, in all of our daily lives. It is not enough to pin the blame on others…” (Kennedy 10). The president uses those certain phrases such as “it is time” to inform the public media that there is no more waiting and that change will be happening soon. The phrase is also used to demand Americans to start voting for civil rights in congress. 

President Kennedy is famous in history for his powerful and persuasive speeches ranging all kinds of topics from space to the civil rights movement. However what makes him a distinct public speaker isn’t just his confidence and charisma but also his ability to include several rhetorical devices in one piece of literature to influence the audience to his advantage. Kennedy was able to persaud his point of civil right equality that has now been achieved by using all kinds of techniques such as taking advantage of pathos by portraying the injustice of racial disparities in the nation.