Deja Woolard

Janel Spencer

WRT 101S

September 13th 2019

Rhetorical Analysis of  Bryan Stevenson: “We need to talk about an injustice”

Bryan Stevenson, who is the speaker of the “We need to talk about injustice” TED Talk, published on August 10, 2017, is a human resources lawyer who claims that the criminal justice system in America not being fair towards African Americans and how it also matters if you are rich or poor. Dr. Stevenson has worked with many young people who are on death row and being convicted. Having to experience the “injustice” that’s been happening in the criminal justice system, Dr. Stevenson engages the audience by having them really understand the root of the issue by also supporting his claim with history that coincides with the “injustice” for African Americans in the criminal justice system. Stevenson’s purpose is to bring awareness to the lack of truth and the disconnect from society for allowing the system to have such inaccurate rules that have caused so much friction for African Americans in the U.S. His purpose is also to have certain rules changed in the criminal justice system to decrease the amount of people in jail in the U.S., and for us to change as a society and help one another. In this essay I will be analyzing the way Dr. Stevenson effectively uses numerical evidence and historical examples to support his claims, his career and personal experience to build his ethos, and appeals to the audience’s emotions by using emotionally loaded language such as “terror” and “hopelessness” to evoke empathy for those affected by problems in the criminal justice system to urge his audience to support changing it.

 By supporting his claims about the disadvantages African Americans face in the criminal justice system with numerical evidence, Stevenson builds a strong case by stating how it is not just African Americans that are being mistreated, but it is everyone who has been in the system. Dr. Stevenson provides facts which demonstrate how the rich are more privileged than the poor. Since 1972, there have only been 300,000 people in jails and prisons, and today has increased to 2.3 million, and about seven million incarcerated (Stevenson). Giving the statistic that one out of three African American men between the ages of 18 to 30 are in jail, on probation, in prison, or on parole is effective in persuading his audience that we have a major problem in the criminal justice system. Age is also considered when Stevenson shows evidence that African American teenagers can stand on trial at 13 years old and face adult sentences, but it depends on which court and what kind of crime has been committed. Stevenson makes the argument that it should not matter what crime the person has committed, and that having a judge turn you into something that you’re not by having young kids tried as adults, whether they’re white or black, rich or poor, to be trialed as an adult, is an injustice (Stevenson).

Another powerful strategy to appeal to logos that Stevensons utilizes is citing historical examples of slavery and the segregation of African Americans in comparison with statistics from 1972 to today. He uses  these examples to support his claim that we have lost our identity as a society and this is another factor of injustice. History has never been a secret for anybody, but it has also been a topic that we as a country never like to talk about or address whether it is in schools, politics, or in the criminal justice system (Stevenson). 

The ethos of the author  is that he is a human resources lawyer who does not like injustice being done and makes a stand on the truth of what is going on in the courts.  

Stevenson appeals to pathos with  emotional facts and emotionally loaded language about how African-Americans have been treated for years, and is somehow still reflecting in the criminal justice system. Dr. Stevenson talks about the history of terror and the disconnect in this country that has been based on race. Terror has been spread around in many ways in the U.S., but being in poverty is one major way to experience  terror, sadness, and hopelessnesses as an individual, whether they have committed a crime or not. He also discusses white privilege which has always been a form of injustice and has shown an unbalance, disconnect, and toughness for those whether they are black or white, and the silence on the issue is what intrigues the speaker and has been the same for years. Dr.Stevenson explains at the end of the TED talk to “keep your eye on the prize, hold on,” and was also quoted by a black Janitor at the courtroom when on trial assisting a 13 year old African American who was being trailed for adult charges. “Keep your eye on the prize, hold on” was meant for the audience to feel encouraged to keep hope  yet to understand that injustice is real, and coming together to solve is an issue can improve our country, and to also improve humanity.

Dr. Stevenson appeals to logos effectively by stating that injustice as become a part of our history and it is more of a modern version of how African Americans have been treated. Racism has never gone away in this country, or in the court system; however, there are a few resolutions for the injustice of the criminal court system. It is not just about race that is affecting injustice, being poor makes you more than likely to get charged more years on a case then you are rich, but whatever life throws at you no matter what race you are, “keep your eye on the prize, and hold on.”

Works Cited

Stevenson, Bryan. “We need to talk about Injustice.” TED Talk. March 2012.www.ted.com/talks/bryan_stevenson_we_need_to_talk_about_an_injustice/transcript?referrer=playlist-talks_to_help_you_understand_r&language=en#t-695779. Accessed March 2012.