John Lewis Civil Rights Movement

Barack Hussein Obama II was the 44th president of the United States of America. He was a law graduated from Harvard practicing Civil Rights law, then became a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago, and was the first African American president in American history. Former president Barack Obama is well known for his ability to deliver speeches that inspire people and, during his time as president, unite the nation. In Barack Obama’s SELMA Speech, numerous examples of rhetorical devices such as similes, metaphors, allusions that enhanced his message and reached a large audience. Because this speech contained a wide variety of references, the speech had the ability to inspire and rally the American people as a whole. One element that makes former President Barack Obama such an influential speech speaker is his ability to connect to people all over the United States and even in the international community.

Although he generally focuses his speeches in the mindset of a Democrat he possess the capability to speak to Conservatives, Democrats, and everyone in between. This is because his messages follow the beliefs of the Democratic Political Party, but he never insults or demolishes the ideals and beliefs of Republicans or others to relay his message. His use of rhetoric (rhetorical devices) creates a strong, impactful, and lasting message on those that listen regardless of political beliefs, race or ethnicity, or any other difference one may have that is logical. In the SELMA speech, allusions and sensory language were used to create a powerful and lasting message over the audience.

This speech was given on March 7th, 2015, the 50th anniversary of the “Bloody Sunday” event that is also known as the nonviolent protest for civil rights where over 600 people attempted to march from Selma Alabama to Montgomery Alabama but were assaulted and beaten by police officers. President Barack Obama delivered this speech at a commemorative ceremony to remember this event and recognize its significance in United States History and its impacts on the Civil Rights movement. In this speech, the first device used by President Obama is connection. This device connects the audience to the speaker and creates a sense of trust and willingness to listen because it creates a point of relatability between the speech giver and the audience making the listener much more likely to understand and listen to the speech that follows.

President Obama begins by saying, “It is a rare honor in this life to follow one of your heroes. And John Lewis is one of my heroes. Now, I have to imagine that when a younger John Lewis woke up that morning fifty years ago and made his way to Brown Chapel, heroics were not on his mind.” (Lines 1-3). Because Barack Obama, the most powerful man in the free world at the time, is so well known and has so much power, he uses his ability to connect with the audience by relating to the people saying that it is a rare opportunity to follow your heroes. He continues the short story of the morning of the SELMA march with John Lewis and then closes the story with the phrase, “Then, his knapsack stocked with an apple, a toothbrush, a book on government – all you need for a night behind bars – John Lewis led them out of the church on a mission to change America” This phrase is important for two reasons.

The first is that, in this quote, the rhetorical device of the three-part list is utilized when Obama says, “an apple, a toothbrush, a book on government”. Using sets of threes is effective in speech writing and speaking in general because the list is short making the items in these lists easy to remember. The second reason this quotation is important is located after the three part list. In this statement, Obama uses the words “on a mission to change America forever”. This is important because the use of diction here is impactful. The previous four sentences were about the risks and dangers of protesting as well as the intentions that John Lewis held, but this statement makes the point that the true purpose of John Lewis was to change America.

This connection by diction to the first statements made by Obama create a strong and lasting introduction to the speech and provide connections to the audience that create a sense of trust and relatability. In President Obama’s address to the audience he says, “President Bush and Mrs. Bush, Governor Bentley, Members of Congress, Mayor Evans, Reverend Strong, friends and fellow Americans:” This is an important part of the speech because it again demonstrates the literary technique of establishing trust and relation between the speaker and the audience. The use of three-part lists is extremely important in the SELMA speech President Obama has used this method twice through the first two stanzas of the speech and he does this because consistently connecting to the audience allows the speech giver to further their message by creating a relationship between themselves and the listeners.

He also does this several times throughout the speech to further establish his credibility in the subject and to show the audience that he does truly understand the issues and the possible solutions. This can be seen in Stanza # when President Obama quotes James Baldwin: “‘We are capable of bearing a great burden, once we discover that the burden is reality and arrive where reality is.’” This is important to how Obama creates an effective and lasting message with the audience because of his following remarks and how they relate to the quote without flaw or question. Another main tool utilized by President Obama is diction and sensory language. In lines 1-3 of stanza 3, Obama says, “There are places, and moments in America where this nation’s destiny has been decided. … the daring of America’s character” These words are key in the speech because they create images in the minds of the audience that call to the people about a better America and the definition of the American people.

To emphasize the importance of “Bloody Sunday”, he defines the SELMA march as a key moment in history by mentioning it with well known war sites and buildings of independence (lines 2-3 of Stanza 3). To further his argument, the importance of the SELMA march, he uses more diction when he states, “the stain of slavery and anguish of civil war; the yoke of segregation and tyranny of Jim Crow...It was not a clash of armies, but a clash of wills;” (lines 4-7). These strong statements relate to the Civil Rights movements in America and the mentioning of these struggles leads the audience to realize that the SELMA marches were extremely important in resolving the social conflicts that had plagued the nation before these protests. He ends this stanza by mentioning ten Civil Rights leaders and says, “the idea of a just America, a fair America, an inclusive America, a generous America – that idea ultimately triumphed.”

(lines 8-10 of Stanza 3). This final statement is important because it announces the idea that all of these people, beginning with John Lewis of the SELMA march, have fundamentally altered the course of history in the United States through their dedication. President Obama then justifies this statement in Stanza 4 by declaring, “As is true across the landscape of American history, we cannot examine this moment in isolation.” . By saying this, he recognizes the counter-argument that SELMA was not the only turning point in the Civil Rights movement and is able to respond to this with sensory imagery and repetition. “We gather here to celebrate them.

We gather here to honor the courage of ordinary Americans willing to endure billy clubs and the chastening rod; tear gas and the trampling hoof; men and women who despite the gush of blood and splintered bone would stay true to their North Star and keep marching toward justice.” (lines 3-6) The repetition of “We gather here” is important to the statement that SELMA was monumental in the Civil Rights movement because it resonates with the audience and the sensory image that follows creates a vivid image that will last beyond the speech. This imagery is followed by an allusion to scripture: “They did as Scripture instructed: “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” This is an effective rhetorical device because it is evidence of the strength of the protestors by following their religion in the pursuit of happiness and justice, an inalienable right.

In his speech, he uses several Biblical references, three part lists, and repetition to create an enduring message that connected and brought Americans closer as a whole. One example of this unity is shown through a three part list recognizing the different elements of American culture in stanza 35 saying, “We are the inventors of gospel and jazz and the blues, bluegrass and country, hip-hop and rock and roll, our very own sounds with all the sweet sorrow and reckless joy of freedom.” This quote from Former President Barack Obama shows just one of his several attempts to unite the American people and demonstrate some of the things that we can and have done. This creates support for his statement about the power of the March on Selma because it provides examples of small things that have led to large impacts and effects on the culture of the United States, allowing him to compare these to Selma.

He also uses repetition in these stanzas repeating the phrase “We are”. He does this 16 times in 11 stanzas to define who Americans are. This is important because it provides the message of “We are Americans” which means we are, “The gay Americans whose blood ran on the streets of San Francisco and New York, just as blood ran down this bridge” and “We are Jackie Robinson, enduring scorn and spiked cleats and pitches coming straight to his head, and stealing home in the World Series anyway.” These examples of what and who Americans are is followed by a quote from Emerson that states, “‘who for truth and honor’s sake stand fast and suffer long;” who are “never tired, so long as we can see far enough.’” Obama’s use of quotation and past examples from history that are still significant today provide a solid foundation upon which he builds his argument. He goes on to say:

“And that’s what the young people here today and listening all across the country must take away from this day. You are America. Unconstrained by habits and convention. Unencumbered by what is, and ready to seize what ought to be. For everywhere in this country, there are first steps to be taken, and new ground to cover, and bridges to be crossed. And it is you, the young and fearless at heart, the most diverse and educated generation in our history, who the nation is waiting to follow.”

This stanza of his speech is the lasting message he caters to the “young people here today” and across the United States as a way to inspire future change and connect it to remembering the actions and drive of those in the past. After several more comparisons, Obama states, “Because Selma shows us that America is not the project of any one person. Because the single most powerful word in our democracy is the word “We.” We The People. We Shall Overcome. Yes We Can.” In this statement he addresses the crucial point of his speech in which he brings together all of his statements of what America is, and the examples he used, to say that We, the people, are America.

In the 15th stanza of the SELMA speech, President Obama utilizes repetition to impact his listeners when he says: “Because of what they did, the doors of opportunity swung open not just for African-Americans, but for every American. Women marched through those doors. Latinos marched through those doors. Asian-Americans, gay Americans, and Americans with disabilities came through those doors. Their endeavors gave the entire South the chance to rise again, not by reasserting the past, but by transcending the past” (Stanza 15) The repetition of the phrase, “through those doors” created a memorable phrase that was left in the mind of those who were listening. In this same phrase of repetition, President Obama uses two three part lists.

The first is in the phrasing, “Women marched through those doors”, “Latinos marched through those doors” “Asian-Americans, gay Americans, and Americans with disabilities came through those doors.” (Stanza 15). The second three-part list is located within the statement, “Asian-Americans, gay Americans, and Americans with disabilities came through those doors.” where Obama mentions three separate groups of people in the same phrase. This is an important rhetorical device because the three-part list is an effective tool in the comparison of two things. Because though gay Americans and Latino Americans are both minority groups of Americans, they are not the same but when mentioned along with other types and classes of Americans, these separated things appear more similar. Immediately following this, he says, “Their endeavors gave the entire South the chance to rise again, not by reasserting the past, but by transcending the past.” 

This quote is important because demonstrates President Obama’s use of powerful and manipulative diction through the use of a common phrase in the South, “The South Will Rise Again”, to show that all Americans are together. Because the before mentioned stanzas of the speech promote unity in America, this reference to a quote that once separated people as a positive message for unity, the strength of Obama’s claims and argument are reiterated and re-emphasized. In the next few stanzas of this SELMA speech, President Obama creates a conclusion with a call to action. He accomplishes this by saying, “What a glorious thing, Dr. King might say. What a solemn debt we owe.

Which leads us to ask, just how might we repay that debt?” (Stanzas 16 and 17). This demonstrates an effective speaker because the conclusion of the argument not only summarizes the argument and brings the speech to a point, but gathers the listeners and calls them towards action. The use of the words “what a solemn debt we owe. Which leads us to ask...we repay that debt”, solidify his message of unity by connecting to the audience repeating “we”. After this call to repay our debts, he outlines what needs to be done and the mentality that should be used while answering the questions presented in the speech after reiterating the fact there is still more to do:

“we have to recognize that one day’s commemoration, no matter how special, is not enough. If Selma taught us anything, it’s that our work is never done – the American experiment in self-government gives work and purpose to each generation.Selma teaches us, too, that action requires that we shed our cynicism. For when it comes to the pursuit of justice, we can afford neither complacency nor despair.” (Stanza 17) By introducing the opinion that “our work” as Americans is not completely done yet, President Obama further supports his claim that the nation needs to come together to move past our differences and work towards what our social leaders of the past desired and worked towards. The hard work and determination of the civil rights leaders should be carried on by this generation and the future generations that follow us.

This is followed by several comments and evidence points that are presented by his last 8 stanzas. To support his claim and argument, with his call to action, he uses the circumstances of the nation before and after SELMA to describe the work that was done to appreciate it, and the work that still needs to be done today. By defining these issues today, Obama successfully underlines the needs of the American people. After this outline of the needs of the American people as a whole, Obama addresses the possible doubts of his listeners: “We do a disservice to the cause of justice by intimating that bias and discrimination are immutable, or that racial division is inherent to America.

If you think nothing’s changed in the past fifty years, ask somebody who lived through the Selma or Chicago or L.A. of the Fifties. Ask the female CEO who once might have been assigned to the secretarial pool if nothing’s changed. Ask your gay friend if it’s easier to be out and proud in America now than it was thirty years ago. To deny this progress – our progress – would be to rob us of our own agency; our responsibility to do what we can to make America better.” (Stanza 19) This quotation shows Obama’s method for addressing possible counter-arguments and counter-claims. By swiftly and thoroughly eliminating the background and base of the argument, Obama clearly shuts down the other side of the argument.

This is important because by stating this, he directly contradicts the beliefs of his political platform showing his effectiveness in appealing to all sides of his listeners and allowing his message to apply to every American rather that simply catering to his supporters. His final statements in the speech are Biblical references from “the prophet Isaiah” which he uses to summarize his message and close in his words saying, “May He bless those warriors of justice no longer with us, and bless the United States of America.” These allusions to the Bible and his examples of men and women in history combined with his own motivation helped Obama to reach a more broad audience because he combined the elements of the American culture and individuals that affected the overall history of the United States to form his argument and deliver a lasting and impactful message.

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