April 17th Blog

TA-NEHISI COATES, THE AUTHOR OF THE NONVIOLENCE AS COMPLIANCE TAKES A SIMILAR STANCE AS MARTIN LUTHER KING'S ICONIC "LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL" BACK IN THE 1960'S. IN THE "NONVIOLENCE AS COMPLIANCE" THE MAIN ISSUE IS HOW OFFICIALS ARE CALLING FOR CALMNESS WITH THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF FREDDIE GREY IN POLICE CUSTODY. TA-NEHISI COATES USES THE EMOTIONAL APPEALS ETHOS PATHOS AND LOGOS SIMILAR TO HOW MARTIN KING JR. USED IT IN HIS OWN LETTER. THE AUTHOR USED HIS OWN PAST EXPERIENCE WITH POLICE OFFICERS IN HIS OWN NEIGHBORHOOD AND HOW YOUR SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO TALK TO THE POLICE AND NOT Be afraid of them. But in the authors case its the complete opposite. the author used statistical data of how the police has abused their power throughout the past years and have not helped the community but predominately hurt it. Martin Luther King jr. uses the apeals in his own way. He talks about the PREDICAMENT he is in, and by being unjustly placed in police custody and unlawfully not given a lawyer in the 24 hour period he was held. He also talks about how it is effecting the rest of his colored brothers in Birmingham. In my opinion, I belive that MArtin Luther King jr's argument is more POWERFUL and holds more weight. Ta-nehisi Coates did a very good job at presenting his point and then defending it with ethos, pathos, and logos, but ultimately Martin Luther king jr's has stood the test of time and is still powerful to this day.