A Rhetorical Analysis Of Robert After Mlk's Speech

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After Martin Luther King died, the public was affected deeply and was devastated and wasd because people looked up to him for his belief in civil rights. Robert Kennedy was also torn to his death. He wrote a speech to present the night of his death, which took place in Memphis, Tennessee. The speech itself was very emotional and also affected people all around the country. The news of Martin Luther King’s death caused a lot of violence and racial tension which included riots across the nation. The speech was written to inform the people who supported civil rights that their leader has passed away. He died for equality which is now what the nation has. Everybody is now equal and MLK achieved his mission which is equality for every race. Robert …show more content…

Which was non violence and protests. Kennedy used a lot of tools in his speech to make it more effective to his audience. The speech starts off by announcing the death, which causes the crowd to panic in shock and disbelief. According to the speech, Robert said “ I have some very sad news for all of you, and, I think, sad news for all of our fellow citizens, and people who love peace all over the world, and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and was killed tonight in Memphis, Tennessee.”. The crowd wanted to get revenge immediately as they were all angry and sad but Kennedy explains the options instead of violence. When Kennedy unfortunately announced that Martin Luther King Jr. had been shot, the crowd panicked, that a leader whom only promoted peace would be murdered out of hatred. According to the speech, Kennedy goes on to ask “what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move it,” when speaking about how to react to King’s death. The options Kennedy states in the speech are of a desire for revenge, one of which would be acted upon by “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” which Robert said in the speech. He goes on to offer an alternative solution that MLK would do, with an attitude of understanding, peace, and …show more content…

But, there are parts of the aftermath that are long term also. People today, any race, now exercise civil rights. Thanks to leaders like Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. The speech itself has been listed as one of the greatest speeches in American history, ranked 17th by a group of scholars in a survey of 20th century American speeches (jfklibrary.com). It has a high rank due to the amount of emotion and the impact that it had in people’s lives. And will be remembered forever. The Landmark for Peace Memorial, which was installed in 1995 in the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Park near the site where the speech was delivered in Indianapolis, includes sculptures of King and Kennedy (jfklibrary.com). To remember what the speech meant to people and that it deserves to be permanently remembered. People may remember only MLK’s “ I Have a Dream” speech. But this speech by Robert Kennedy had the same impact as MLK’s had, which was that people now know that why Martin Luther King fought for equality and that non violence is just as effective as violence. So it should be acknowledged as well. The aftermath of MLK’s death and Kennedy’s speech was impactful and also violent. The audience in Indianapolis listened to Kennedy but every other city didn’t by causing destruction So that shows that people really cared about what MLK believed in and what the people believed in