Rhetorical Analysis Case

The following essay will be performing a visual rhetoric analysis of an ad posted by the American Civil Liberties Union. The piece that was selected was a poster made to make known the continuing trend regarding racial profiling facing the minority community. This is going on everywhere today, regardless of the Civil Rights Act that was passed into law on July 2, 1964, which made discrimination illegal. The target audience is geared towards minorities as they state on the bottom to help them “defend your rights”. This ad introduced by the ACLU is clearly using disturbing imagery, it depicts an inspirational black civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King and the Caucasian cult leader Charles Manson and states that Dr. King would be 75% more likely to be stopped by police than Charles Manson. Why is it that we are led to believe that blacks are any different than whites? We are all human and both races are equally capable of committing crimes.

The logos aspect of the rhetorical situation is the ACLU using their font and type to direct your eyes first to Dr. King. They chose Dr. King because of his lifelong fight for equality and Charles Manson because, although he is not a murderer, he represents the average persons description total evil. Opposite ends of the spectrum. This engages the reader to look at the severity of racial discrimination and want to help out the cause.

The Pathos angle of the rhetorical situation is the strongest section of the piece. Two very well known men that are the complete opposite of racial stereotypes are pictured front and center. Looking at these men invoke a lot of anger and tend to make you want to investigate further into this dehumanizing practice. The police force that was sworn to protect and serve us equally as people, is failing miserably at sticking to their oath. These practices are fifty-one years outdated.

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