Ethos, Pathos, and Logos in the Civil Rights Movement

Discovering the rhetoric used by certain protesters is an excellent way to analyze the way in which they make their arguments. The rhetorical concepts logos, ethos, and pathos, are often used to strengthen or create an argument. Exploring the ways they are used by certain protesters or within certain arguments allow for a better understanding of them, and can be helpful in trying to understand what makes protest or argument successful. Fannie Lou Hamer and Stokely Carmichael were both civil rights activists who sought equal rights for African Americans. Their different uses of these concepts of ethos, pathos, and logos demonstrate the differences between their approaches and arguments.

Both Hamer and Carmichael put clear effort on creating a specific ethos. Hamer, in a speech before the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, told her story about registering to vote in Mississippi. She spoke plainly and clearly, preferring familiarity over formality. This created a strong ethos of honesty, suggesting that she only wanted tell the truth, devoid of flowery language. Carmichael, however, in a speech at Berkeley University in 1966, spoke with confidence and formality. His speech was deeply structured and clearly well prepared, and he referenced famous existentialist authors Camus and Sartre. This created a completely different ethos; one of an intelligent and educated man. He also repeatedly referenced his affilation with the SNCC, which was very well known and added to his credibility. Both these uses of ethos, although very different, were suited to the different audiences. Hamer, who hoped to be elected to congress, wished to appear trustworthy and honest, while Carmichael, who spoke before educated college students at Berkeley, wished to appear equally educated and intelligent.

Both protesters similarly used the devices of pathos and logos in creating their arguments. Hamer gave implicit details on the more devastating portions of her story, intricately explaining how terribly she and the other blacks who attempted to register with her were treated. The speech is emotionally stirring and is designed to help the audience relate to her plight as a black woman. Carmichael speech also had a strong emotional appeal. His repetition of short, important lines brought attention and emotion to them. He harshly attacked white leaders, calling them sick and accusing them of the murder of women and children. The success of these appeals is evident in his speech through the signified applause at the most emotional moments.

Hamer and Carmichael also used logos in their protests, but again in different ways. Hamer quoted the screams of victims and the taunts of her white captors word for word, emphasizing that she was not exaggerating or inventing her story. Carmichael’s elegant and intricately developed speech used powerful reasoning and clear, straightforward, arguments, and referenced current events such as the Vietnam War and the actions of President Johnson.