The March on Washington in 1963 is an extremely memorable event in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement. Containing over 200,000 people, and giving us one of the most iconic speeches in American history, this event was a pivotal moment in the fight for civil rights. This event was put together by a team of leaders, all of which contributed their own personal beliefs and fought for what they believed in. I truly believe that this event deserves to be taught in the rhetoric of race relation course, and specifically, one of the six amazing civil rights leaders who organized the March on Washington. This leader, known for his speeches, written work, and work with the National Urban League, is Whitney Young. In this paper, I am going to discuss …show more content…
The National Urban League is an organization that was founded in 1910 by Ruth Standish Baldwin and Dr. George Edmund Haynes, and the organization has played a significant role in advancing civil rights and promoting economic empowerment for marginalized communities. Young became the executive director of the National Urban League from 1961 to 1971, and was a very important figure in this organization’s efforts to provide African Americans with equal economic opportunities. During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, when Young was the director, the organization worked closely with other civil rights leaders and activists to promote desegregation, voting rights, and equal access to education and employment opportunities. Some examples of specific things that Young did during his time as executive director were: held job training programs, established affirmative action initiatives, built partnerships with businesses, and provided financial assistance for housing. Today, the National Urban League continues to advocate for equal opportunity for communities by running programs throughout the United …show more content…
First, Young’s Ethos was properly developed and notable, as he was known for his intelligence, strategic thinking, and strong leadership skills. He was also highly respected because of his work with the National Urban League, which was seen as one of the most effective civil rights organizations of its time. In addition to this, Young also had the ability to connect emotionally with his audiences. He often spoke about the challenges that African Americans faced in their daily lives and the need for greater economic opportunities. His speeches and writings were powerful and moved his audiences to action, as well as his potential to find a common ground and persuade those who were not favorable of his beliefs. In addition to this, Young’s credibility was high due to his rhetorical skills in knowing his audience. He understood the needs and concerns of the African American community, and he constantly worked to address those needs. He was also skilled at reaching out to white audiences and convincing them of the importance of civil rights and economic justice. Finally, Young was also skilled in adapting his message to different contexts. Whether it was through speech, written work, a business meeting, or a political proposal, Young was able to tailor his message to the specific audience, leaving him with exceptional credibility and
Young Jr. is a person worth knowing because he wasn’t afraid to speak his own mind. An example of him speaking his mind, is when he knew lots of people criticized him for working with whites and seeming slightly complacent with only white leaders running the country, but he said that instead of cursing out whites on the street, he focused more on getting thousands of African Americans jobs. (“Whitney M. Young, Jr.” Contemporary 5) This example supports the idea that Whitney M. Young Jr. wasn’t afraid to speak his own mind, because it shows that he is doing what he thinks is right, and he stuck to his plan despite being criticized and disliked by many. This characteristic helps him to be one of the greatest civil rights leaders of his time, since many people in his situation would change plans to win everyone's support, but Young Jr. decides to stick to his plan because he believes that it will be for the better.
This paper explores the fundamental facts
The March on Washington For Jobs and Freedom held on August 28th, 1963 had a total of eighteen speakers, including association presidents, chairmen, and religious leaders all united in one march pushing for the civil rights bill. Each of the speakers was from a different organization, association, religious background, and age, the most famous speech being Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Perhaps, out of all the speakers, the biggest example of the younger generation's voice in “The March on Washington For Jobs and Freedom” was John Lewis’
This form of oppression was known as Jim Crow laws, which allowed a sort of legal discrimination towards Blacks. The need for a march was first thought of in the early 1940’s when A. Philip Randolph who was the president of the Negro American Labor Council wanted to combat discriminatory hiring toward African Americans. Fast forward to 1963, the year that the March On Washington occurred, America hit the 100th year mark for the passing of the Emancipation Proclamation set forth by Abraham Lincoln. This was a reminder to the nation of the need to alleviate racial tension. With that being said, people from all different races set aside their differences in order to collaborate for the march.
In the famous 1963 speech following the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speaks to a large crowd of Civil Rights sympathizers with the intent of persuading them to take action and bring about equality for African Americans. This speech was particularly effective due to its emphasis on key concepts and its appeal to the audience’s reasoning, which work together to captivate the audience and sway them to take action for the Civil Rights movement. One way that Dr. King persuaded his audience was via recurring phrases which helped to emphasize key points. One example of this is when he reiterates an important phrase a few times:
King’s influence on the younger generation allowed for a motivation to rise. Combined, the work of student organizations and Martin Luther King Jr. had contributed to major advances in the Civil Rights Movement in the 60s that had not yet been seen in the
The National Urban League was founded more than a century ago on September 29, 2010, primarily by Dr. George Edmund Haynes and Ruth Standish Baldwin. They are the largest community-based organization in the country, but they originally started as a small group trying to give voice to those that were oppressed: African Americans. To understand the importance of the initial grassroots movement of the National Urban League, one must first place into context the dangerous climate of America in the early twentieth century. Segregation was still allowed in many states, and it was only with the advent of civil rights laws did African Americans begin to make inroads in America society. The main goal of the National Urban League in the 1920s was to provide employment for African Americans in the urban cities, as many of them lived in poverty and homelessness.
For almost half a century, Andrew Young has worked for the social, political and economic advancement of oppressed people around the world. He joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1961 as director of the organization's Citizenship Schools, joining veteran activist Septima Clark to teach literacy and leadership skills to rural southern black women and men. Young was an aide to Martin Luther King, Jr. and a thoughtful strategist for some of the most important protests, including the Birmingham campaign and March on Washington in 1963. Young served as executive director of SCLC (1964-1968). He helped draft the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The world saw him as a treat, marching protest leader, an activist, representative, and a civil rights leader. With a different insight of how the social structure and equality should be brought to justice for all. However, some of his greatest messages, achievements, and heroic stands were not preached from the mountaintop before millions in Washington, D.C. Instead days before I walked into his church looking for the civil rights leader, but I got a preacher. A preacher who just been assassinated in 1968, he had a sermon that reminded people that color should not be a factor in human life.
He declared that his vision for a “Great Society”, that he hoped one day would-be America, was “an end to poverty and racial injustice”. This vision was driven by his own childhood of poverty, equivalent to the life of an African American child, giving him empathy for those affected by racial discrimination. He was also motivated by the amount of popularity he was given prior to his presidency from helping pass previous acts that helped develop civil rights. His moral values exclaimed that discrimination was not just. He also had no doubt that helping this minority group would advantage America both spiritually and economically and that racial discrimination was ruining the economy of his hometown, the South.
He later became the executive director of the National Urban League, a civil rights organization that focused on economic empowerment and social equality for African Americans. Under Young's leadership, the National Urban League became one of the most influential civil rights organizations in the United States. Young was a strong advocate for economic equality and believed that economic empowerment was a critical component of the Civil Rights Movement. He worked to establish partnerships between the National Urban League and major corporations, which helped to increase employment opportunities for African Americans. Young's efforts helped to create more than 2 million jobs for African Americans during his tenure as the executive director of the National Urban League.
He believed that African Americans could achieve progress by building coalitions with white allies and by advocating for change through peaceful means. For example, during the civil rights movement as the director of National Urban League, he worked closely with government officials and corporate leaders to promote policies that would benefit African Americans, and he successfully worked to bridge the gap between white and black Americans. This also justifies that his rhetorical strategies involved those of providing rational arguments and appeals to the opposing side’s self-interest, rather than speaking purely on emotions and violent protests. Along with this, Young believed that his approach was more effective in achieving lasting change and was very aware that such changes happen over time and not right away, and he was able to achieve significant progress for African Americans during his career. Moreover, Young’s ideals were mainstream compared to other rhetoricians he worked closely with.
Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most influential leaders of his time and played a crucial role in the African-American Civil Rights movement. Luther was a charismatic leader who took a firm stand against the oppressive and racist regime of the United States (US), devoting much of his life towards uniting the segregated African-American community of the US. His efforts to consolidate and harmonise the US into one country for all is reflected in many of his writings and speeches spanning his career. As a leader of his people, King took the stand to take radical measures to overcome the false promises of the sovereign government that had been addressing the issues of racial segregation through unimplemented transparent laws that did nothing to change the grim realities of the society. Hence, King’s works always had the recurring theme of the unity and strength of combined willpower.
This paper is intended to explore