Rhetorical Analysis Of Jesse Williams Acceptance Speech

This rhetorical analysis of Jesse Williams’ acceptance speech for the humanitarian Award. The Rhetors for this speech would be Jesse Williams himself and also BET (Black Entertainment Television). This analysis focused more on the verbal symbols then the non verbal because it was such a important subject that had, and still is going on in American. Jesse Williams’ acceptance speech had focused on informing the world that something has to be done about the injustice in our police system, and also the wrongful doing against African Americans. This speech was given June 26th 2016 at the Microsoft Theater. Around this time mapping police violence shows that 36% of blacks were killed by police even though only 16% of African American take up the

WIlliams uses “Now” in the first four stanzas. He does this to show how prominent and serious this situation is. The target audience can’t just sit there and just watch, they have to do. Mr. Williams also states “ All of us in here getting money? That alone isn't gonna stop this.” This speech being at the BET awards insinuates that majority of the audience are african american, so he’s stating that just because we are doing well for ourselves and are successful people of color doesn't mean they can forget about their people. This brining into another pattern of the word “we”. Constantly through the speech Jesse Williams includes himself as one with the word “we”. Jesse is a celebrity himself and the victims of police brutality are not. But includes himself with we because he understands in this world he still a “ni***r” to the police who are actively killing unarmed black men. He shows that hegemonic practice is blacks being profiled by police race but also they try to legitimize it by which he says himself “burying black people out of sight and out of mind while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment”. By him saying this he proves they’re using african american culture to justify that they’re not racist, or targeting only blacks. While analyzing this speech Jesse isn’t trying to degrade the white race, but he wants to let it be know that what is happening to his people is wrong. He exposes that hegemonic thinking that has been

When he first started the speech he made sure to include black women which are often looked past more than a black man. He builds that relationship with the black women to show them that they are not forgotten he states “We can, and will, do better for you.” This was such a great strategy to engage the crowd to feel and respond to his speech. Also he makes sure to humble himself by saying the speech was not made for him it was made for “real organizers all over the country, activist… the struggling parents, the teachers….. A system built to divide and impoverished and destroy us cannot stand if we do.” He shows these are only some of the people who don’t get enough credit and today they will. Jesse uses such a progressive strategy when giving this speech because he uses every way possible to knock down the “hegemonic masculinity” which would be the white