Analyzing The Rhetorical Situation Of Rfk's Speech

Kirsta Glaister
CAS 100C
Analyzing the rhetorical situation of RFK’s speech on MLK

Robert F. Kennedy was campaigning for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States on April 4, 1968. He was on his way to Indianapolis, Indiana for a rally that was being held in an inner-city black neighborhood. On the way to the rally, Kennedy was informed of the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. Once he arrived he delivered his emotional impromptu speech to the crowd instead of the campaign speech that the crowds expected.

Considering that this crowd was there for a democratic campaign speech, one would assume that the crowd size was fairly large and consisted of a somewhat similar, yet still diverse audience. According to Lewis Sussman,

there were approximately 1,000 residents present to witness the speech (Sussman, 2008). Since the campaign was being held in an inner-city location, the demographic of the audience would have primarily consisted of black voters who planned on voting democrat in the election. The majority of the crowd would have gathered on a voluntary basis in anticipation of what Kennedy was going to speak about for his campaign. The composition of Kennedy’s speech needed to present a sort of unity between himself and the audience as well as all blacks and whites in America.

The area was considered dangerous and the chief of police strongly urged Kennedy to cancel the rally because of the risk of riots due to the audience culture. However, he insisted on addressing the mostly black audience, most of whom had not yet heard the news of Dr. King’s death (39 years, 2007). Because of the risks that were presented to him, Kennedy analyzed the crowd’s demographics and adapted his speech to their level of understanding, attitude, and belief regarding the assassination of Dr. King. He understands a possibility of a want for vengeance and uses appropriate language to show that he recognizes the emotions of his audience by stating, “those of you who are black -- considering the evidence evidently is that there were white people who were responsible -- you can be filled with bitterness, and with hatred…” (American Rhetoric, 2001). This influenced Kennedy to express his own personal sadness at the loss of an American hero, but also to offer an alternative solution: to compose themselves as Martin Luther King Jr. would. He insists that the crowd not revolt in anger and further divide the nation between races due to cultural diversity.

Kennedy’s opening statements of his speech were spoken in such a way to capture the attention of the audience.

Although the audience had originally gathered to expose themselves to a campaign message that was important to them, it quickly changed into something they were not prepared for. Prior to making an initial statement of the assassination, Kennedy starts his speech using Pathos, stating that he has emotional news to share and requests that the crowd lower their campaign signs, “…I have some -- some very sad news for all of you -- Could you lower those signs, please?” (American Rhetoric, 2001). This not only removes the political element from the speech, but allows Kennedy to speak as a fellow human being and links himself personally to the

message.

After acknowledging the sadness and anger that surrounded the assassination of Dr.

King, Kennedy proceeds to empathize with the crowd and calls upon his own ethos, reminding them of the assassination of his own brother. “I would only say that I can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man.” (American Rhetoric, 2001). He brings up this incident to prove an important point, which gains the attention of the audience makes the message stand out. He included the fact that JFK was shot by a white man to demonstrate to the crowd that violence is not restricted to white on black, or black on black, but that it has no boundaries. The addition of this detail was to decrease the crowd’s anger toward white people after Dr. King’s death. The ethos in Kennedy’s speech is fortified with passion, concern, and a commitment to carry on Dr. King’s legacy and he relays this in such a way that makes his message easy to follow. He plans and finishes his speech in a manner that makes his words clear to listeners, states his points plainly so the audience can identify with them, and repeats the key point of what is needed in the United States (Zarefsky, 2011), “What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness…” (American Rhetoric, 2001). The repetition of these words drives across the significance of

refraining from unforgiving and destructive actions.

Chuang and Hart say that “persuasion is seen as not just a method to bring others to action, but the ability to develop a consensus between speaker and audience… A message can be persuasive by means of identification, and the speaker’s rhetorical power in his or her ability to find common ground with the audience.” (Chuang and Hart, 2008) Kennedy uses concern and the power of persuasion in his Ethos to make an impassioned speech to the audience, endeavoring to convince the audience that violence will not solve anything.

Chuang and Hart also indicate that virtual time is as an expression of emotions through rhythm (Chuang and Hart, 2008), which Kennedy exhibited throughout his speech. He manages to phrase his wording with intensity and a sense of urgency while pausing after sentences, conveying a solemn mood. This particular occasion called for brevity, as to not weaken the significance of the speech. By doing this, Kennedy used this time to maintain a congruent message, avoiding misinterpretation of the message and persuaded the crowd into accepting the conclusion.