Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm's Speech Analysis

Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm was an African American women born in the 1920s.. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, but moved to Barbados to live with her grandmother. She then became the first black congresswoman in 1968 (Biography.com). Chisholm wrote a speech confronting her coworkers about the equal rights of women. She then delivered her speech to her fellow members of the House of Representatives. She brought up the Equal Rights Amendment reminding congress that “women do not have the same opportunities that men do.” Not only does she speak about the discrimination between men and women, but she also speaks about discrimination against blacks (Graveline). She stood for what she believed in and persuaded many with her adamancy. As the only African American women in congress at the time, giving this speech about the equal rights of women gave Chisholm a sense of authority. “As a black person, I am no stranger to race prejudice,” she said in her speech. She’d

The reputation of women is expressed in her speech. She talks about how women are just as powerful as men, women can do the same job that a man can do, women deserve the same job opportunities as men. She appeals to her audience’s emotions by talking about her life and how she grew up with the diversity between blacks and white. She felt the same diversity happening between men and women, and how men were becoming more “powerful” than women. Chisholm used the rhetorical device antithesis in her speech by saying, “The physical characteristics of men and women are not fixed, but cover two wide spans that have a great deal of overlap.” She uses this to show that men and women are similar in looks, and should be treated with no difference. She goes on to say that a “robust women” would be better for a physical job than a “weak man.” Women aren’t given this chance, though, because women are best fit to be teachers and secretaries