Jimmia Clayton
Dr. Camille Passalacqua
English 1110, Section 25
9-22-15 The Break Down Of “The Truth of ‘Black Lives Matter’” Imagine you get a phone call at 10 o’clock at night from the police station saying you son has been shot and killed by a police officer. After your hysterical screaming and crying you scramble up the strength to ask what happened and they begin to tell you that the police officer who shot your son “assumed” he had a weapon and proceeded to shoot him in “self-defense”. You among others begin to protest and then the people you trust to run your country tell you that you’re wrong for it. In the editorial, “ The truth of ‘Black Lives Matter’ ” published by New York Times Opinion Pages, the writer talks about how the Republican Party is trying to demonize the protest movement that is the result of “all-too-common” deaths of unarmed African Americans by police officers and uses logos and pathos to get his point across. The writer uses logos throughout most of this article. He adds an insert of former governor Mike Huckabee saying “ The Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., were he alive, would be appalled by the movement’s focus on the skin color of the unarmed people who are disproportionately killed in encounters with the police.”(Opinion Pages Writers). The writer goes on to say that “This argument betrays a disturbing indifference to or at best a profound ignorance of history in general and of the civil rights movement in particular.” (Opinion Pages Writers). By saying this he prepares the readers for facts and talks about them in depth so the reader will understand. The writer discussed how the movement focused on bringing an end to state-sanctioned violence against African Americans and to acts of racial terror. By stating the reason for the movement he clearly gives his reasoning for his opinion and goes on to prove his case using more facts and even starts to uses logos to evoke a small but clearly present amount of pathos. Emotion is a great way to convince the audience to agree with the point a writer is trying to make and using logos and pathos together is a strategy the writer of the article used. Towards the beginning of article the writer talked about how the movement focused on putting an end to acts of racial terror like the one who took nine lives at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., in June. By mentioning this incident, it evokes sympathy in the reader. The reader most likely heard about this incident. If they know any details about it they know that not only did the shooter kill nine African Americans but he killed the in a church after he sat with them in bible school. Later on in the article the writer discussed how in the early 20th century, civil rights groups documented cases in which African Americans died horrendous deaths after being turned away from hospitals reserved for whites, or lynched in front of fairly large crowds that have gathered to enjoy the sight. Assuming that the reader knows what lynching is and using this to bring of the horrible memories of all those lives lost from white hate crimes causes the reader feel sympathetic, sad or even angry and makes his point even stronger. All and all the writer used logos and pathos in an outstanding way. Although this is a touchy subject, his way of convincing the reader was both emotional and professional. Standing strong as a people and trying to create equality within the races is all the “Black Lives Matter” moment is trying to accomplish. Just think about all the mothers and fathers, sisters and brother, aunts and uncles that have received a call in the middle of the night saying that their loved one has been unnecessarily murdered by a police officer. How would you feel if you were in their shoes? If you care anything about the people your children attend school with every day, your nieces and nephews, your sons and daughters, your coworkers and peers, you’ll take a stand against police brutality and make a better world for the generations to come.