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Rhetorical Analysis: Police Brutality

Members of our community are being fatally shot at, beaten down, and attacked
by those who are supposed to protect us. This is the type of issue that President Obama
and many other advocates feel need to be addressed. The time is up for communities
impoverished and suffering these tragic incidents of police brutality; it is time to bring
awareness to injustices and inequality that minorities face. Children are being robbed of
opportunities that lay in the near future while anger has caused riots and chaos outbreaks
everywhere, but no more. President Obama uses rhetorical appeals such as diction, tone,
logos, ethos, and pathos in his speech to convince the audience that there is a way to
grow from these significant tragedies and that we can end police brutality once and for
all.
The speech had many exigent qualities that made it a significant rhetorical piece.
The speech highlighted the importance of police brutality by directly addressing those
involved such as police and violent protesters. The President made it a point to address
Mike Browns family and how this unfortunate incident affected them. His
acknowledgement of the events in Ferguson show that police brutality is a serious
problem with real consequences towards communities and law enforcement. President
Obama wants people to understand that violence only escalates the problem and promotes
negative attention instead of the positive attention that a peaceful effective protest would
provide. Not only are the violent protesters overshadowing the peaceful protesters, but
they are also hindering progress and growth within the community. His speech is
especially exigent because problems like these are occurring all over the nation and this

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speech shines a light on issues like police misconduct and use of excessive force that
need to be resolved.
After the downpour of riots and violence, President Obama speaks to the
community of Ferguson in an attempt to restore hope and push for change. While
addressing the protestors of Ferguson, he also speaks to those who hold authority such as
law enforcers as well as citizens across the nation that may be experiencing the same type
of heartache for the injustices their own communities face. His objective tone allows
everyone to feel heard and provides a neutral ground for each part of the audience,
whether law enforcer or protestor, to listen up. The President does not hesitate to identify
the problems on both sides; for instance he encourages reform of law enforcement and
peaceful protesting while contesting abuse of power and violent protesting. He speaks to
the communities that need the most help; those impoverished and high in crime, with
intention of making them realize that the time for change is now (Obama).
The Presidents speech captivates its audiences with the use of diction. As the
president, he knows that his words are very significant so he chooses them wisely. He
conveys and appeals to making every moment an opportunity when he uses words like
need and intense because the time is running out for the issue of police brutality and
it is necessary to put differences aside and work together to fix the problem (Obama).
Also he reiterates Mike Browns parents words of positive change and incredible
change to show that the problem is bigger than our individual feelings towards police
brutality, moreover it focuses on understanding one anothers opinions in efforts to move
on (Obama). The Presidents speech propels the audience towards compromise when he
uses words such as honoring and peaceful because he wants them to see the bigger

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picture which is that if we do not fix the problems between members of the community
now, more deaths will be on our hands in the future (Obama).
Obamas speech revolves around stasis of action and he uses this to instill hope by
focusing on the future and what policies need to be set in place. The president wants to
focus on working towards reform of the way law enforcement handles violence. He wants
to correct use of excessive unnecessary force and racial profiling while simultaneously
protecting officers constantly placed in dangerous situations with violent individuals. He
appeals to logos in a unique way by applying it to what we can do next to alleviate police
brutality. First, President Obama lays grounds for a general understanding from those on
either side of the issue because he believes agreeing to disagree and pushing personal
conflicts aside is the only way to start the positive and incredible change Mike
Browns parents hoped for. The President appeals to logos when describing how he wants
to tackle criminal justice reform (Obama). His speech puts in perspective the next
logical steps to end the violence, anger, and separation between protestors and law
enforcers.
President Obamas speech strongly possesses appeals to pathos and ethos as well.
His incorporation of Mike Browns parents speech appeals to the audiences emotions. It
communicates to his audience how serious police brutality is and how it affects victims
and their families. By addressing the events that occurred in Ferguson, Obama can bring
necessary attention to the consequences of these incidents such as rioting and a divide in
the community between police and protesters. After appealing to the emotions of the
audience he dives into the ethics of police brutality. He appeals to ethos with his use of
repetition That wont be done by... throwing bottlessmashing car windows

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vandalize[ing] property (Obama). By condemning the violent protesters actions he
reiterates that the current solution to the problem is not right or proactive.
The President uses his authority to convey rhetoric throughout his speech. He, as
our current sitting president, has a lot of power to sway peoples opinions and views on
this argument. The fact that his speech reaches the entire world through television screens
and social media shows how significant this very moment is. Not only does his diction
such as inevitability and responsibility add to the exigent quality of the speech but
also it displays an urgent and impassioned tone (Obama). The president hopes and wants
for what is better for this country by bringing hope back to the broken communities, he is
doing his job and serving the American people. He is an African American man, and
since these incidents affect minorities, his message is especially exigent and meaningful.
Minorities being able to hear from their own appeals to the audience and allows them to
have a connection with the speech. Obama is able to empathize from a place of personal
knowledge as an African American.
The Presidents speech platform is known for being an effective way to show
rhetoric. The audience can see the emotions and hear the change of tone in a speech
unlike a written article which somewhat hinders the overall ability to convey rhetoric. His
objective tone in his speech was very effective because it put his feelings aside and let the
issues at hand remain the focus. He acknowledges all of the views on this issue by his use
of diction agree and deeply disappointed showing that he recognizes opinions of
protestors and law enforcement. His use of diction to convey a tone that is meaningful is
apparent. He also taps into some rhetorical appeals such as logos, pathos, and ethos in
order to create a strong argument to push towards change. The speech contains more of

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an exigent quality due to his position and connection to minorities while it
simultaneously avoids subjectivity. Overall, the president uses the platform he has to
convey rhetoric in the best way possible and his use of rhetorical appeal with regards to
police brutality educates and inspires change for the future.

Works Cited
Obama,Barack."RemarksbythePresidentAfterAnnouncementoftheDecisionbythe
GrandJuryinFerguson,Missouri."TheWhiteHouse.TheWhiteHouse,24Nov.
2014.Web.21Oct.2015.
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