Rhetorical Analysis Of Speech By Ta-Nehisi Coates

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After Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was asked about reparations, he said that America should not be held liable for something that happened 150 years ago, his reply inspired Ta-Nehisi Coates to speak. In his testimony in June 2019, Ta-Nehisi Coates passionately spoke to a subcommittee of the House Judiciary through the use of emphasis, rhetorical appeals, and contrast to convey his message that America owes a debt to African Americans for their contribution to the collective wealth of the country. Coates uses the rhetorical strategy of emphasis, specifically repetition, to help convey his message. Coates began his speech by quoting McConnell, “...since none of us currently alive are responsible.” Coates comes back to this later in …show more content…

Throughout his testimony, Coates uses contrast to disprove McConnell's statement that we should not be liable because we weren't alive. For example, Coates brings up treaties that are still honored, but not one person who signed them is alive. This contrasts McConnell’s point and instead helps show that we can forget about something because no one is alive from when it happened. If we applied McConnell’s logic of someone from the historical event must believe that for people to be held liable for everything much of the world would be very different. Coates also uses contrast later to say that McConnell may not have been alive during the time of slavery, he was however able to still witness other important historical events related to African American history in the United States. This use of contrast helps convey his message by showing that even though slavery is done, African Americans still have to live with hardship and racism that was rooted earlier on. The least America can do is repay its debt to the African

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