Albert Min

10/06/14
H. English
Period 2
An Analysis: R.F.K. On M.L.K.s Death Speech
On April 4, 1968, Robert F. Kennedy gave a speech on Dr. Kings death, garnering
nationwide attention. As a proponent for civil rights, Kennedy uses Kings death as a means to
further expose the purpose of the [civil rights] movement. By applying pathos, logos, and ethos
in his speech, Kennedy is able to really extend a conversation to the American people (colored
and white alike) about what many would call the most pressing issue at the time: The Civil
Rights Movement of 1960s. With the death of Martin Luther King, who sparked this longawaited revolution, Kennedy was able to illuminate how racial segregation crosses the line once
again.
Robert F. Kennedy opens his speech by informing the audience with the sorrow news of
the death of Martin Luther King and how important he was to the nation and people who love
peace all over the world. Robert F. Kennedy addresses the issues, appealing to the black
community utilizing pathos in the second and fourth paragraph; it says: Martin Luther King
dedicated his life to love and to justice between fellow human beings. He died in the cause of
that effort for those of you who are black -- considering the evidence evidently is that there

were white people who were responsible -- you can be filled with bitterness, and with hatred, and
a desire for revenge. and ...I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white
man. He also says: So I ask you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of
Martin Luther King -- Kennedy acknowledges the fact that white people were responsible for
his death, however he mentions his family member being killed by a white man, to relate himself
to the blacks. He does this because; he does not want the blacks to rebel in hatred for Kings
death.
Robert F. Kennedy makes an ethos reference to renowned Greek tragedian poet,
Aeschylus. Kennedy quotes: Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget. Falls drop by drop
upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace
of God. He uses Aeschylus poem because since he was a tragedian, it relates to the tragedy of
Kings death.
However, Robert F, Kennedy also used rhetorical fallacy either/ or choices. On the
third paragraph of his speech, Robert F. Kennedy gave the people an ultimatum. He says: We
can move in that direction as a country, in greater polarization -- black people amongst blacks,
and white amongst whites, filled with hatred towards one another or we can make an effort, as
Martin Luther king did, to understand, and to comprehend, and replace that violence, that stain of
bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand, compassion, and love.
he gives the audience only two choices, either blacks and whites living amongst themselves with
hatred toward the other or replace violence and bloodshed with understanding, compassion and
love.

Also Robert F. Kennedy utilizes bandwagon appeals in the second to last paragraph of his
speech, it says: but the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in
this country want to live together, want to improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all
human beings that abide in our land. Throughout his speech he talks about taking action to
racial segregation by trying to persuade the audience. In the second sentence of the seventh
paragraph, Kennedy says: What we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness,
but is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one anotherwhether they be white or whether
they be black. and the last paragraph: And lets dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so
many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world When
these statements and persuasions from the different paragraphs of the speech combine, it
supports the rhetorical fallacy: bandwagon appeal indirectly stating that because the vast
majority of whites and blacks want to live together, the whole nation should do the same.

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s was a revolution that shook America to its very
roots. It brought to question the very ideals that composed the American Constitution, and it
unified hundreds of thousands of men and women that sought to end the age of segregation.
However, the metaphorical flames of revolution require one person to stand above the rest - it
demands them to ignite a fire that would change the course of history. The Civil Rights
movement became a proving grounds for some of the most influential, inspiring, and
motivational people this world has ever seen. Martin Luther King Jr., arguably the most effective
of these aforementioned leaders, was shot and killed on April 4, 1968. That very same day,
Robert F. Kennedy would come to use his [Kings] death as a means to an end. Weaving together

ethos, pathos, and logos in a speech that would rattle the hearts of many, Kennedys speech on
Kings death addressed the audience in a method that was seemingly all encompassing - it was
Kennedys ploy to convince white people that enough was enough.