Summary Of The Other America By Ken Coleman

Many authors will take a different approach to the way in which they try to convince a reader of something. In Ken Coleman’s “50 years later, ‘The Other America’ MLK described in Grosse Pointe still exists” for the Detroit Free Press, Coleman describes that the issue Martin Luther King Jr. described back in 1968 is still a problem today. Coleman attacks this issue through the organization and structure of his editorial, emotional appeals, and use of statistics as logical appeals. The structure of this editorial is very important, as it allows Ken Coleman’s point to be properly driven home. The way he does this is very unique, as the author does not explicitly state his argument until the fourth paragraph. In the first three paragraphs,

Ken Coleman’s main approach to persuading his audience is through sound logic and reasoning. This occurs several times, beginning with his statement about different agency heads lacking qualifications. He states that Donald Trump has appointed agency heads such as “Rich Perry, U.S. Department of the Energy chief, campaigned for president by pledging to eliminate the very agency he heads” (Coleman para. 6). Coleman then continues, citing several more agency heads which clearly lack the necessary credentials to hold high positions in the government. By showing this lack of credibility in the government, he is able to make the readers ask themselves questions and doubt the government, therefore doubting today’s America. He also continues, showing that the poverty rate has more than doubled in the city of detroit since 1967, rather than decline (Coleman para. 9). Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech aimed at fixing the “other America”, but Coleman shows that America has gone the wrong way since then. Through logical reasoning and facts, Ken Coleman helps the reader to logically understand his argument and realize that the problem does still exist