Milena Rhodes
Dr. Brown
English 306
February 23, 2016
Rhetorical Analysis paper
In the year of 1989, racial segregation was very much prevalent in South Africa. South Africans who were not white were segregated politically, economically, socially, and legally. This system and laws of racial segregation are also known as the apartheid. Because of these laws, families were now separated and forced to identify themselves separately from their children as either black or white. A set of laws in favor of the white minority which granted eighty percent of South African land were also passed in support of the apartheid. Now that eighty percent of the country was owned by whites, non whites were forced to carry around paperwork allowing their presence in restricted areas.
Not only were they forced to have proof for their allowance in areas, most black South Africans were forced to sell their land for low value to the country and left in poverty. Along with the passing of that law, came with the establishment of separate public facilities for whites and blacks. These laws caused an uproar in the South African community which lead to many strikes, protests, and resistance to the government. The apartheid resulted in the iconic The Purple Rain March and its revival of the black South African identity and equality.
The Purple Rain Protest also known as the “The Purple March” was an anti apartheid protest for racial equality. Fed up wit the white supremacy in South Africa, those who were not in support of discrimination decided to march on South African parliament. This protest served as an act of civil disobedience towards the government in hope to gain social, political, economical, and legal rights for non whites. This protest took place four days before the elections of parliament in the year of 1989. Protesters chose to conduct the march before the elections to promote social change and their views before votes were submitted.
Although the Purple March has gone down in history as an act of civil disobedience, it did not start off that way. The Cape Town protest was initially conducted peacefully, but was unfortunately taken out of hand by South African police. Protesters and non supporters were sprayed with water cannons filled with purple dye by police. This was done for easy identification of protestors so later they could be arrested. In anger, one protester caught a hold of the water cannon from an officer and backfired. This caused the crowd to uproar and follow in example. As a result monumental buildings were now covered in purple paint. Buildings like the Old Town House and the National party headquarters were covered in purple paint and anti apartheid slogans. The phrase “ The Purple Shall Govern” covered the walls of the building and later became the slogan for the anti apartheid activists. Although the protest turned violent, the outcome was much greater. Along with the help of the Purple Rain Protest and other acts of protest, the South African government officially ended the apartheid leaving the country with no laws of segregation.
The Purple Rain March is an act of protest both literally and symbolically. Being as though the people of South Africa who did not support the apartheid physically marched the streets of South Africa proves this is an act of protest. However, the march serves as a symbolic protest as well because of the purple dye projected on the walls of the city and the participants in the protest. The overturn of the police violence symbolizes the frustration and anger towards the apartheid laws . This act of civil disobedience displayed how fed up the non whites were with the segregation and discrimination. The non whites of South Africa yearned for the social identity of racial equality. They strived for the same rights as the whites of South Africa, but because of the apartheid laws their racial identity prevented them from doing so. The social identity of racial equality is very important in this protest because it is the whole reason behind the march. Their lack of this identity caused them to feel left out of society and not as important all based off of their skin color.
The identity of racial equality also brought an emotional appeal to the South African people. The rhetorical strategy of pathos correlated very well with this protest and the people behind it. Without the emotion of the protestors, the impact of the march would not have been as great. I feel that the disapproval of the laws of the government drove the people of South Africa to stand up for their rights. Although pathos was the most reoccurring strategy, the ethos was present in the protest. The ethical component of the march displayed the ability of the protestors to overturn the government and their racist beliefs. Without the emotional drive from the non whites, ethos could not be possible. This appeal to emotion resulted in the persuasion of the government. These strategies helped initiate one of the most important protests of equality in history. Npt only did The Purple Rain March help end the social injustices of South Africa, but it brought about social change and revived the identity of those who were not of white descent.
Works Cited
Rosenfeld, Everett. "Top 10 Most Influential Protests." Time. Time Inc., 28 June 2011. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.
Gibbons, Christina. "The Purple Rain Protest." N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.
Leibenluft, Jacob. "Why Would the Police Spray Protesters with Purple Water?" N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.
"Police Action Painting | Greg.org: The Making Of, by Greg Allen." Police Action Painting | Greg.org: The Making Of, by Greg Allen. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.
Your explanation of the context and situation of the protests were great, and I like how you took an opposite stance to what other people have labeled this protest. I think what is missing is the explanation of ethos, pathos, and logos. You do well to define identity, but using rhetorical strategies in conjunction with your well defined identity will make this essay very strong. Right now it seems to be a summary of events; delve deeper and show us how this protest was an effective one through the use of rhetorical strategies.
ReplyDeleteHello Melena,
ReplyDeleteThe first time I read this, one thing came to my notice, the usage of the phrase “very much prevalent” in your first paragraph. The phrase itself interrupts the flow of your introductory sentence in your first paragraph. Even if you just simply eliminated the word “much” it would make that first sentence much smoother. I liked your introduction paragraph it is short but sweet, and prepares us for the body of your paper.
Unlike me in my paper, you do a good job showing identity such as in your paragraph on the “Purple Rain March”. Why they are called the Purple Rain March is clearly stated, as well as, what they stood for. What I did not understand was the backfiring of the purple dye. I personally would go into more detail on that, because it is confusing. Backfiring dye is a very interesting.
topic haha, please expand on it.
Your ending paragraph is thorough and not too long. However, your paper, as a whole, is a little on the short side. I recommend adding some more stuff in there to, lengthen it up.
Overall this draft is quite good, I liked how clear it was. Keep up the hard work, its looking good!
1) Go more in depth about the backfire between the police and the protestors
ReplyDelete2) Cite your sources
3) Sentence structure
4) Significance of the color purple?
5) Stories from those who were there
6) Ethos connecting with the color purple
Milena,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your essay a second read, I think that the importance of the color purple is something that might be significant only as an unintended consequence of the protest after the fact. When we talked about it in class, I understood the protest a little differently than after re-reading it alone. Maybe the appeal to ethos of the color purple is something that would be hard to argue, given that the protesters were not the source of the purple paint. Sorry for leading you astray!
Also, similarly to what Dylan said, I think that your paper would benefit from more explicit examples of the use of rhetorical strategies. What's really cool about having specific examples of rhetorical strategies is that your body paragraphs seem to almost write themselves once you are able to point out why and how the rhetor(s) did what they did. I would encourage you to analyze the protest as a piece of rhetoric rather than using the bulk of your paper to talk about what happened during the apartheid.
I agree with Henry's first comment, and would add that the use of the word "now" is a bit confusing in the first and fourth paragraphs, considering that this was an event that happened quite a while back.
The last paragraph of your essay leads me to believe that you don't have a solid grasp on what it means to appeal rhetorically, which probably needs to be addressed in the final draft. By that I mean that the emotion of the protesters is irrelevant unless it is being used to persuade others to accept something as truth.
*After giving your essay a second read,
Delete