Civil Rights Speech Analysis

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In 1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson introduced the civil rights bill. He was broadcasted in radio and television. To some people the bill was motivation for joy; to others it had a different effect. the speech could be interpreted in many different ways, it just depends on the way that the piece is chosen to be looked at and understood by people.

The speaker is president Lyndon B. Johnson because of the year the bill was signed. From the piece I can tell that he agrees with what Kennedy had started and that he wanted to make a change "Proposed more than one year ago by our late and beloved President John F. Kennedy.". He also comes across as a very proud citizen because he mentions all the struggles that the united states when through and
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had because he uses repetition. Lyndon repeats "we believe..." and "It does.." like king repeated "I have a dream". he might be trying to sound like Martin Luther king because he was a revolutionary for that civil rights movement and an icon. Johnson is trying to relate to the minorities more specifically the negro society because they were the ones being targeted the most. when he says, "It does say that there are those who are equal before God shall now also be equal in polling booths, in class rooms, in factories, and in..." referring to the segregation that was going on in society, this implies that the group he is trying to relate to is in fact the minorities. He is not trying to separate himself from the group because he uses the pronoun "we" which includes him. "we will achieve these goals because most Americans are law-abiding citizens who want to do what is right" he includes himself in that group. The image that he repeats is the image of equality, "It does not give special treatment to any citizen. The phrase that it repeats is "it does..." because he wants the public to know what the bill is meant to do. The president to put the audience in a place of civil duty; a duty to end discrimination "let us close the springs of racial poison.". his word choice was meant to really motivate the people to change for the better, "This civil rights Act is a challenge to all of us to work in our …show more content…
"Americans of every race and color have died in battle to protect our freedom." by saying his it gives the public a sense of a kind of duty accept the minorities because even they have protected this country. The group that he was trying to directly address was people of the Caucasian race because for the most part they were the group of people that did not want to accept desegregation. The message could have been taken by many different audiences. Minorities could have seen the speech as hope for a better future. "Millions of Americans are deprived of those blessings not because of their own failures, but because of the color of their skin." Minorities were faced with many obstacles while they were trying to be successful and get a better future, and the color of their skin was a major if not the center of all of their problems. With this bill the color of their skin would no longer be an obstacle and could really decide what kind of future they wanted for themselves. The speech could be taken in different ways and it would probably be made to do so on purpose since it was going to be a public speech and many different people were going to be listening to it. The reaction that Johnson was trying to get was acceptance. "It was proposed more than one year ago by our late and beloved John F. Kennedy. It also received the bipartisan support

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