President Johnson’s Commencement Address at Howard University in 1965 was an important piece of history explaining the impact of civil rights bill of 1964 and the continuing pursuit of civil liberties through the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Moreover, his speech remains inspirational concerning how the government will uphold every US citizens equal rights and opportunities according to legislature passed during President Johnson’s tenure. When observing his commencement speech, President Johnson iterates the core principles of freedom our US citizens should receive. For instance, he said “Freedom is the right to share, share fully and equally, in American society to vote, to hold a job, to enter a public place, to go to school (Ball, Dagger, O’Neill, p. 145, 2020) This …show more content…
Overall, President Johnson is highly regarded as a key figure in implementing civil liberties, opportunities, and programs designed to hopefully bring the African American community out of generational poverty. Donald Allen would agree with President Johnson’s viewpoint on the importance of equal rights and fighting the wrongs of discrimination. Moreover, this agreed viewpoint is discussed when Allen illustrates the importance of our Bill of Rights through the statement “That is why a Bill of Rights was added to the U.S. Constitution and why the First Amendment comes first in that list of liberties”. (Ball, Dagger, O’Neill, p. 158, 2020) Both Allen and Johnson agree all US citizens regardless of race are endowed with the rights given in our Constitution. However, President Johnson was in favor of government expansion
Johnson, after John F. Kennedy’s assassination, to push Congress to make the The Civil Rights Act of 1964 into a law (Ravitch, p. 141-142). Ravitch quotes Johnson who reports, “The purpose of this law is simple. It does not restrict the freedom of any American so long as he respects the rights of others. It does not give special treatment to any citizen” (p.142). The only way a man can reach a future for themselves and their family is by their own capabilities (p.142).
Lyndon B Johnson’s "We Shall Overcome" speech demonstrates how Johnson used his platform as president to address the issue of African American rights at the time. The speech was given in Washington DC on March 15th, 1965 to the United States Congress. Johnson was speaking about the injustices that African Americans were facing, after a violent scene had broke out in Alabama a week before. He first spoke out on the social injustices in the country that had been ignored, and later announced his plans to end them. Johnson’s speech was based on true knowledge and had the goal of expanding Congress and America’s knowledge on the problems facing the country.
African Americans held rights, but those benefits did not involve a position in the administration. Johnson declared, “White men alone must manage the South.” Johnson forgave virtually everyone who appealed, and ere officers were returned to power. Congress declined to seat these past Confederates.
Overall, in “We Shall Overcome,” President Johnson uses rhetorical appeals to convince the congress and American citizens to fix the struggle in a society, which is the inequality between the different races. Through this speech, he tries to change the bias of color of people, and remind the citizens that the basic principle of the U.S. is equality by using concerned and formal tone. He claims that the inequality towards the African Americans is against the constitution and the oath before God by using religious and relationship diction. President Johnson’s speech took a first big step towards the equality of mankind by using Aristotle’s rhetorical appeals, tone, and compelling diction.
It is wrong--deadly wrong--to deny any of your fellow Americans the right to vote in this country.” Johnson also quotes the constitution to make his point. “The Constitution says that no person should be kept from voting because of his race or his color.” In this quote former president Johnson is using the example form the constitution because he wants people to know that America was built by people who believed in freedom and for everyone to be treated
The usage of personal stories creates depth and dimension to the position he’s taken on the nation’s bigotry; the addition of quote for other significant civil rights activists add to his knowledge base and give Johnson a stronger foundation for his beliefs. He uses Abraham Lincoln’s civil rights movement to back up statements and positions he has taken on the horrific incident in Selma, Alabama. Appealing to Lincoln creates a precedent about his stance because of Lincoln’s impact on the civil rights movement; the usage of his name and actions builds Johnson’s credibility by using Lincoln’s as support. This speech was a call to action of the nation’s congress on racial differences, most bigotry was found in the south. “As a man whose roots go deeply into Southern soil…” was a portion of Johnson’s speech.
Johnson states three iconic phrases known by Americans, “All men are created equal,” “government by consent of the governed,” “give me liberty or give me death.” (paragraph 9). Those phrases make the promise that all citizens are worthy of the respect of others. This promise is in violation because it relies on the fact that everyone has access to the same opportunities. Since Negroes are denied their basic rights as citizens, they don’t have access to these opportunities.
Johnson repudiated Confederate war debts, and he also supported Black Codes. Johnson did not protect the rights of the freed black men the way that Lincoln did. He took steps to defend a dependant black work force for the South, and restricted the rights of African-Americans . Freedmen were not allowed to marry interracially, perform jury duty, or give even testimony in court against whites. Johnson’s plan had many issues.
On June 11, 1963, JFK gave his famous civil rights address calling Americans to recognize civil rights as a moral cause. His proposal to provide equal access to public schools and other facilities, and greater protection of voting rights became part of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. JFK in a speech to support the African Americans said this, “The heart of the question is whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights and equal opportunities, whether we are going to treat our fellow Americans as we want to be treated. If an American, because his skin is dark, cannot eat lunch in a restaurant open to the public, if he cannot send his children to the best public school available, if he cannot vote for the public officials who will represent him, if, in short, he cannot enjoy the full and free life which all of us want, then who among us would be content to have the color of his skin changed and stand in his place? Who among us would then be content with the counsels of patience and delay?”
Johnson had a belief to have America to this “Great Society” he had plans to be. Johnson said his plan to a “Great Society” to be that it rests on plenty and freedom for the people and it demands an end to poverty and racial inequality, saying this is only the beginning of the society. It was clear Johnson had a plan for America and where he wanted it to go. Though, through his Presidency he had some issues with the war and he wanted to run again for a second term. It didn’t look good for Johnson though to be able to be President for a second term due to his approval rating being low because of Vietnam.
The Great Society On May 22nd of 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson spoke to the graduating class of the University of Michigan on The Great Society, saying "The Great Society rest on abundance and liberty for all. It demands an end racial injustice, to which we are totally committed in our time”, words that were spoken by President Johnson. The main passage of “The Great Society” by Lyndon Baines Johnson was mainly concentrated on eliminating poverty and racial injustice as revealed through his parallelism and anaphora. With this compelling speech, Lyndon inspired many young Americans to take actions to better their country using persuasive proofs such as ethos, logos, and pathos His persuasive techniques that applied directly to the students’ emotions inspired them to construct a better America just like President Johnson’s plan.
In the 1960’s during the era of the Civil Rights movement, America had been divided by the voting rights that were not given to the African Americans. Although, a decade ago the African Americans had been freed from slavery, but they were still not considered “equal” because they weren't able to vote. The discrimination in the area even had political leaders affected, therefore many of those political leaders during that time attempted to put an end to the several agonizing events going on. Lyndon B Johnson, a white persistent president speaks out to the lawmakers using compassionate encouraging appeals about voting for Civil Rights, in order to unify the nation “to build a new community”. President Johnson utilizes many devices in his speech such as anaphora, emotional appeals, and
Throughout history, white males were given better education than other races and minorities. in addition, until 1955 whites had priority seating on busses and trains, blacks were forced to give up their seats if need be. Throughout history, whites have oppressed minority groups for self gain. Today, nothing of this extent is still active, but racism and oppression still exists. Johnson believes that we are all created equal and develop into who we are.
Freedom. The importance of freedom is often forgotten as Americans live day by day taking this gift for granted. In this day and age, freedom seems as a “simple gift’ obtained by every American, but one forgets to think about those who were once unable to enjoy the freedoms one is promised daily. Back in the day, freedom seemed as nothing more than a dream to those of color. Everyday of a colored person’s life consisted of harassment and discrimination as no one cared to treat them as equals.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy delivered his “Civil Rights Address” on June 11, 1963 to talk about how everyone is born equal and just because you are born with darker skin you shouldn’t be considered less of a person and have less rights. It was filmed in the oval office and broadcast on national radio and television. This speech is about equal rights for african americans. It was made because two black children had to be escorted to school by state troopers after numerous threats. John F. Kennedy used diction as well as logos and ethos to make listeners believe that his argument is right and they should take his side.