Rhetorical Analysis: MLK and Fannie Lou Hamer's Civil Rights Speeches

Introduction

The Civil Rights Movement of the mid-20th century succeeded in achieving major progress in reducing racial inequality and segregation across the United States. Yet, as the ongoing racial strife that characterizes life in early 21st-century America demonstrates, the movement's work is not yet complete. Nevertheless, it is also apparent that the foundational efforts of civil rights activists such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Fannie Lou Hamer were responsible for the substantial progress made over the past 70 years. This paper compares the rhetorical and genre characteristics of two different styles of communication used by these activists during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, examining how both the audience and the genre affected their communication strategies and made them more effective. Following this analysis, the paper summarizes key findings in the conclusion.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' Speech

By any measure, King's speech — delivered on August 28, 1963, during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom — had a profound and lasting impact on American society and the Civil Rights Movement. While King's speech would leave a lasting legacy, the stated purpose of the March on Washington was more modest. As one historian notes, "The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic rights of African Americans" (McCurtis 3). Even the most committed segregationists of the era were forced to take notice when King's compelling oratory rang out across the National Mall from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. "I have a dream," he proclaimed, and what followed was a series of declarations insisting that Black and white Americans must learn to live in harmony, because in reality there is no viable alternative.

King began his speech with the observation that, despite the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation a full century earlier, "The life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity." In an apparent effort to immediately capture the attention of white Americans — including those responsible for Jim Crow and those largely indifferent to civil rights — King declared, "So we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check." This remark served as a powerful attention-getter and helped King achieve his broader purpose.

The overarching purpose of King's speech was to use the March on Washington as an opportunity to make the case for racial equality and justice, especially with respect to the rights of African Americans (Godwin et al. 2011). As Josiah and Oghenero note, "The speech is about the failed promises by the Americans whose dream advocates equality for all" (43). The main argument throughout the speech was that the United States had failed to deliver on its constitutional promises of freedom and equality for all citizens. King further argued that racial segregation and discrimination were not only unjust, but that it was long past time for America to live up to its own values and ideals (Vail 52).

In support of these arguments, King employed a variety of evidence. He referenced seminal historical events — including the Emancipation Proclamation and the Declaration of Independence — to highlight the stark contrast between America's promises of freedom and equality and the harsh reality of racial inequality for tens of millions of African Americans. He also used vivid imagery and personal anecdotes to engage his audience emotionally and make his case more evocative.

Delivered as a centerpiece of the March on Washington, the genre of King's speech was a public address intended to inspire and galvanize both the immediate audience gathered on the National Mall and the broader American public watching on television at home, as well as observers around the world. King's use of powerful rhetorical devices — including repetition, metaphors, and historical allusions — served to craft an effective and persuasive message for his intended audience.

Fannie Lou Hamer's DNC Testimony

In sharp contrast to King's "I Have a Dream" speech, which painted a broad, hopeful vision of a future America, Fannie Lou Hamer's efforts to promote civil rights were focused primarily in her home state of Mississippi. Her testimony before the Democratic National Convention (DNC) Credentials Committee on August 22, 1964, during the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey, highlighted the brutal voter suppression and discrimination routinely faced by African Americans in Mississippi and attracted national attention to these abuses. Unlike King, Hamer was visibly nervous when she began her testimony, yet clearly unafraid — like King, she had an important purpose in mind and was determined to share her personal experiences in trying to become "a first-class citizen" simply by registering to vote.

The purpose of Hamer's testimony was to shed light on the experiences of African Americans in Mississippi and to advocate for voting rights and political representation for her community. Her central argument was that African Americans in Mississippi faced severe racial discrimination, violence, and voter suppression that required immediate resolution. In support of her arguments, Hamer drew on personal narratives, empirical observations, and vivid descriptions of the injustices she and others had experienced while attempting to register to vote and run for Congress from Mississippi's second district in the Democratic primary — a race she lost. Among other things, she recounted being physically abused and economically exploited while having her basic constitutional rights denied. Throughout, Hamer stressed the urgency and fundamental necessity of change in the United States (Cox 140).

The genre of Hamer's testimony was a personal narrative delivered in the context of the Democratic National Convention. Her remarks aimed to raise awareness and evoke empathy from the DNC audience, as well as to influence political decision-making through her televised appearance. It is especially noteworthy that while President Lyndon B. Johnson tolerated King's rhetoric, he was less comfortable having someone like Hamer testify about her real experiences in the Deep South, and he quickly scheduled an impromptu press conference to divert the nation's attention away from her testimony. Nevertheless, the power of her firsthand accounts created a compelling and persuasive case for the need for social and political change. Hamer's testimony ultimately had a significant and lasting impact on the Civil Rights Movement and the push for equitable voting rights legislation (Clabough 180).

Conclusion

It would be gratifying to conclude that King's speech and Hamer's testimony generated sufficient attention to the problem of racial inequality and segregation that positive changes were made overnight — that the United States immediately emerged as a nation eager to fulfill its promises of freedom and justice for all citizens regardless of race. Unfortunately, that has not been the case, and the struggle for equal rights continues to the present day. It is gratifying to note, however, that the efforts of King and Hamer were instrumental in focusing the nation's attention on these problems to the extent that the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act were passed in the 1960s, despite vehement opposition from many lawmakers from the South. Today, many African Americans — like their white counterparts — take the rights they enjoy for granted, as they should, and they can credit King and Hamer for the contributions to the Civil Rights Movement that made the progress achieved so far possible.

Works Cited

Clabough, Jeremiah. "Using Thematic Social Studies Teaching to Explore the Civil Rights Movement." Social Studies, vol. 112, no. 4, July 2021, pp. 177–89.

Cox, Julia. "Never a Wasted Hum: The Freedom Singing of Fannie Lou Hamer." Women's Studies Quarterly, vol. 46, no. 3/4, Fall/Winter 2018, pp. 139–57.

"Fannie Lou Hamer Testimony." Learning for Justice. Available at

Godwin, Jeffrey L., et al. "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' Speech as a Tool for Teaching Transformational Leadership and Vision." Journal of Organizational Behavior Education, vol. 4, Jan. 2011, pp. 23–41.

Josiah, Ubong E., and Gift Oghenero. "Pragmatic Analyses of Martin Luther King (Jr)'s Speech: 'I Have a Dream' — An Introspective Prognosis." Journal of Education and Practice, vol. 6, no. 17, Jan. 2015, pp. 43–52.

McCurtis, Kirby. "On the Anniversary of the March on Washington." Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children, vol. 18, no. 4, Winter 2020, p. 3.

Vail, Mark. "The 'Integrative' Rhetoric of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' Speech." Rhetoric & Public Affairs, vol. 9, no. 1, Spring 2006, pp. 51–78.