Black America Again Rhetorical Devices

Common's 2016 song "Black America Again" featuring Stevie Wonder is an example of a song made in support of racial equality. It draws attention to the challenges Black people face in the pursuit of justice, including racial wage inequality, gentrification, voting suppression, and mass imprisonment.. Common uses rhetorical devices to persuade listeners to envision the Black American story he hopes to rewrite. Common's song "America Black Again" was released at a time of tensions and the Black Lives Matter movement. Common convinces his listeners of the Black America he has seen through rhetorical strategies including ethos, pathos, and logos. A Toulmin style argumentative analysis will be conducted to identify the claim, warrant, and grounds

Thousands of songs have been made in the fight for racial equality since the beginning of the slave trade. As the years go on songwriters and performers have shifted their songs to focus on the issues plaguing humanity at the time in which the song is being released while also reflecting on the past and hoping for a better future. Common’s 2016 song “ Black America Again” featuring Stevie Wonder is a recent example of a song made in support of racial equality. Common mentions many of the problems Black people face in the fight for justice in his song such as mass incarceration, the wage gap, gentrification, and voter suppression. Throughout the song Common makes his stance evident, he wants to rewrite the Black American story that we know today, instill a sense of pride in Black people across the nation, and reclaim the life and culture that was taken from Black people. Common uses rhetorical devices throughout his song to effectively persuade his listeners to envision the Black American story that he hopes to

He sings “Black Children, they children stole from them” alluding to the murder of Trayvon Martin a 17 year old who was fatally shot and killed after being racially profiled. In modern society parents are robbed of their children due to gun violence in the same way individuals were robbed during the slave trade. These children are stolen unfairly and without warning and in most cases are not served justice in their wake. He follows with “Robbed of our names and our language, stole again/ Who stole the soul from black folk?” In this instance Common is implying that while these things were taken from Black people their souls were taken from them as well. Robbing someone of their name and language takes away their identity as well. He poses the question Who stole the soul from black folk? Because this burglary has occurred multiple times over the course of history without