Gabi

On July 8, 2003, George W. Bush delivered a speech at Goree Island, Senegal in an attempt to acknowledge and atone for America’s past of slavery. This speech served as a confession of America’s past “sins”, and a movement towards restitution for these “sins” through the proposition of “economic partnership and political partnerships” (Medhurst 258), and a promise of American investment to fight AIDS in Africa.

In his rhetorical analysis of this speech, Martin Medhurst asserts the major claim that George Bush’s speech on Goree Island was an attempt at an apology and reconciliation for slavery, and asserts that the speech was “the most important speech on American slavery since Abraham Lincoln” (Medhurst 257). Medhurst supports his thesis successfully by providing significant background information, appropriate quotations from Bush’s speech, and emphasizing the public reaction and opinion following the speech. Medhurst’s claim is well organized, as he immediately states his view on Bush’s speech and then clearly states the three primary parts to his argument.

Medhurst enforces his thesis by citing Bush’s many rhetorical theories, including the use of a progressive narrative structure, the use of paradox and irony, a Providential or God-centered perspective, and a reversal technique, which all aided in the effectiveness of the speech. The first rhetorical theory he explores is Bush’s use of a narrative structure. As Medhurst points out, Bush discusses the horrific experience of slaves through his parallel of the “progressive” journey of the slave. This journey begins “on [Goree] Island” and ends in the promised “land of liberty and justice for all” (Medhurst 258). Medhurst explains that this entire speech is based upon this narrativ...

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... their interpretations would improve his argument. I think that the analysis could have been a little more compacted and concise, which would have made it easier to understand. Also, I would have liked to see a greater depth of explanation of the speech’s historical significance. As Medhurst states, “[Bush] clearly made a historic step by acknowledging the crime with respect to the African states.” (Medhurst 272). However, he failed to reach the African American demographic, and instead received a negative reaction from the African American community. In summation, while there is room for improvement, I believe that Martin Medhurst provided a thorough and insightful criticism of Bush’s speech.

Works Cited

Medhurst, Martin J. "George W. Bush at Goree Island: American Slavery and the Rhetoric of Redemption." Quarterly Journal of Speech 96.3 (2010): 257-77. Print.