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Give Us The Ballot Speech Analysis

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Civil Rights Leader, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., in his speech, “Give Us the Ballot”, emphasizes the importance of African American suffrage and urges many groups of people to do what they can to help this cause. King’s purpose is to inspire the black community to fight for their right to vote through nonviolent protest. He adopts a tone of urgency in order to encourage action from the African American audience, as well as from politicians, white northern liberals, and moderate southerners. Martin Luther King Jr. begins his speech by vilifying the institutions which disobey the Supreme Court’s decision to allow black people to vote and by expounding how the newly enfranchised African American community will vote to make changes in the …show more content…

closes his speech by suggesting that love will overcome and encouraging his African American audience to engage in nonviolent protest. He references a very relatable text by quoting the Bible to support his ideals of love and change through nonviolent protest. He encourages his audience by saying, “it is always difficult to get out of Egypt, for the Red Sea always stands before you with discouraging dimensions”. (4) The audience knows the story of the Hebrews escaping Egypt through the sea and that makes them believe their dreams are also attainable. King also argues for unconditional love by reminding his audience to “love the person who does the evil deed while hating the deed that the person does”. (3) Using these bible references reminds the crowd of King’s background as a preacher. It also appeals to ethos by showing the character of the speaker and assuring the audience that he is qualified to be speaking about the power of love and nonviolent protest. These Bible references from King remind the audience of the importance and usefulness of love as well as encourage them to continue fighting for their rights. The bible references reassure the audience that the use of nonviolent protest is the optimal way for them to go about working to correct injustice in society. In his speech, “Give Us the Ballot”, Reverend Martin Luther King speaks passionately about the need for African American suffrage while also suggesting that politicians and sympathetic

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