The social media post I am doing a rhetorical analysis is on Glenn Kirschner’s response to the ex-police officer Derek Chauvin who was released from prison on a bail of $1,000,000 as he was charged with the murder of George Floyd. Glenn Kirschner is an NBC News/MSNBC legal analyst and a former 30 yr U.S Army federal prosecutor.
So before this news went viral on Twitter, I will summarize everything that led to this. On May 25th in Minneapolis Minnesota, George Floyd was arrested because the store employee thought George had a counterfeit $20 bill. Four police officers arrived at the scene and apprehended George. One of the officers named Derek Chauvin held his knee against George’s neck. Two other police offers were seen holding George down and the other officer stood there and watch the whole thing unfolded. This event lasted for 8 minutes and 46 seconds and George was murdered in the hands of the 4 police officers. This unjust murder sparked outrage across the globe, demanding that the officers that were involved to be prosecuted. Until today, the news that George Floyd’s killer was released from prison on a $1,000,000 bail.
Many people were outraged because how could a murdered be let out of jail with a $1,000,000 bail. This is when I saw Kirschner’s post on the trending topic. Kirschner’s audience was to the Black Lives Matter movement and the allies who supported the cause. He was justifying that the fact that this issue of racism is still going on and shows that even if justice is served it is not enough to put an end to racism in today’s society. Kirschner is using pathos in his post by stating that “the racial inequality hole of which we must dig beginning January cannot possibly get any deeper”. This statement is proving his point that acts such as George’s murdered get bailed out is not stopping the inequality that African Americans face on a day to day basis.
Kirschner uses strong formal language to get his point across. He uses the phrase “racial inequality” to emphasize that George’s murder is just about his race. For example, if a white man was to be arrested, he would just get a slap on a wrist with no issues what so ever. If a black man were to be arrested, the chances of him getting hurt would be greater than a white man. That is how the justice system works. His post was declarative so he can show how he feels and so others can feel the same way he does. The post, in general, is just another person feeling the same anger as other people seeing how unfair the justice system is.