7. Summary for More Accurate
Analysis
• In response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Robert
Kennedy, brother of John F. Kennedy, is giving a speech addressing
residents of an African-American ghetto in Indianapolis.
• In honor of Dr. King, the speech consists of how he would want love
and compassion instead of hatred.
• This came as a shock to those involved in his campaign. Rather than
a rousing, passion filled speech typical to someone on an election
trail, Kennedy offered short, passionate remarks for peace
• Considered one of the greatest public addresses of modern times.
• Pushed for acceptance, love and a greater peace rather than an
uprising over the death of a national hero
• Giving this speech he draws a comparison to the death of his brother
John F. Kennedy
• Quoted the Greek poet Aechylus to teach us to “to tame the
savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.”
8. Analysis of Ethos and Pathos
• Pathos:
• Robert Kennedy is trying to instill a feeling of compassion and
love.
• By doing this, he wanted to show the life’s work of Dr. King
and that an uproar would undo this work and prove it was
meaningless
• He’s trying to prevent an uprising and feelings of hatred.
• He is trying to prevent rebellion by quoting a Greek
philosopher . This utilizes precedence to teach those of the
modern era a lesson learned by those of an older era
• These ideas demonstrate and illustrate the pathos of this speech
9. Analysis of Ethos and Pathos
• Ethos
• Robert Kennedy is campaigning for the Democratic presidential
nomination.
• This gives him the authority to present the speech to this
audience.
• His brother was assassinated therefore Robert Kennedy believes that
he has experienced an event similar to what the audience is going
through
• Thus engaging the audience emotionally
• He is connecting two national tragedies
• This is necessary because his audience is primarily African-
American
10. Alternate Rhetorical Strategies
• Kennedy used the Rhetorical strategy of negation by
explaining to the audience what the goal was not:
“What we need in the United States is not division; what we
need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the
United States is not violence and lawlessness…”
• He completed the statement by explaining what the goal was:
“…but is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one
another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer
within our country, whether they be white or whether they be
black.”
11. Alternate Rhetorical Strategies
• Kennedy compared the assassination of his brother, JFK, to to
the assassination of MLK:
“For those of you who are black and are tempted to fill with -- be
filled with hatred and mistrust of the injustice of such an act,
against all white people, I would only say that I can also feel in
my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my
family killed, but he was killed by a white man.”
• RFK made the comparison with the goal of calming heated
race relations.
• His own personal experience gave him authority to make
the comparison.
12. Effectiveness
• The speech was immediately effective - there were no riots in
Indianapolis, the place where the speech was given.
• The speech was not heard by many in other cities, and
therefore riots took place in over 100 cities – including New
York and Chicago. This lends credit to the effectiveness of the
speech where it was given.
• The long term effectiveness of the speech resulted in
continued improvements in race relations over the next few
decades.
• Robert Kennedy’s own assassination on June 6, 1968, eight
weeks after Martin Luther King’s assassination, would cause
people to look back on his speech and be further motivated to
improve on race relations.
13. “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.”
Robert F. Kennedy - April 4th, 1968
