On Juan Williams’s Speech by Dana Dodds and Melody Fowler

In recognition of Black History Month, Juan Williams delivered a speech on Democratic rights with a focus on equality in voting. A strong sense of ethos was established through his African American heritage, his Harvard education, and his accomplishments as author and editor. The majority of the speech employed forensic rhetoric, as he took the opportunity to look back on the history of segregation that led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The pathos of Williams’s speech was primarily evident in the "you" attitude with which he addressed the audience. In referencing historical events, he consistently prefaced his narratives with the statement, "you should know," addressed to his audience. When he related the story of the Montgomery bus boycott, and specifically the part played by Rosa Parks, Williams described the physical barrier of chicken coop wire that segregated African Americans from whites on buses. He made the comment that these barriers likened the African Americans to "human chattel." "Laws of segregation," Williams said, "were demeaning and dehumanizing." He recounted one instance where an educated woman who was working as an English professor was called a "nigger-ape" on a bus. He noted that the primary tool of the KKK’s active regime was intimidation. He said that the true power of white supremacy was attained through disenfranchisement of African American rights that were evidenced in the poor quality of the life of African Americans in the Southern states.

Because Williams explained that history serves as a precedent upon which to build the future, his speech maintained clear logos. He said that we must understand history to appreciate and understand the voting privilege. A discussion of history allowed Williams to take the deliberative approach when he asserted that the quality of life and rights are still at stake today. He said that all Americans have to be vigilant in protecting the franchise of political power and freedom of speech. We must understand the rights provided to us through the institution of democracy. Williams focused his audience towards a specific end goal in which citizens must be active to ensure that they have a government that works in their best interest: voting rights are the gemstone or cornerstone of successful democracy.