On April 4, 1967 clergy and laymen assembled at Riverside Church in New York City. Addressing the concerned congregation about the Vietnam War, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his speech, "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break the Silence". Martin Luther King started his oration with a direct quote from their executive committee: "A time comes when silence is betrayal". He conveys that their voices and actions would justly revolutionize the current government. .
Through the theoretical framework of Neo-Aristotelian criticism, I will explore the significance of Martin Luther King's rhetoric and its contribution to the effectiveness of his speech. Using the Neo-Aristotelian approach, I will examine the speech's context, analyze the speech according to three classical cannons of rhetoric and evaluate the dialog's impact on the audience. .
Context.
In order to identify the context in its entirety, the conditions of the speech can be broken down into three areas for further inspection: the rhetor, the occasion and the audience.
First, examining Martin Luther King as a rhetor will reveal his motives and influences on his rhetoric choices. King was an African American minister who is credited as leading the country to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He passionately believed in a nation of equality, encompassing all people who share unalienable rights. At a time when the United States supported segregation of African Americans from mainstream society, King argued for an ideology other than racism to define the country. It was through his many works, including his celebrated "I Have a Dream" speech, that he gave hope, inspiration and comfort to marginalized African Americans. .
King's success in leading the Civil Rights Movement has shaped the course of his mission. His fight for racial equality has shifted to include social responsibility for the oppressed and poor. His motives for this redirection arouse from his preceding success: he realized that "civil rights laws (are) empty without "human rights" " (Cohen & Solomon, 1995).