Mayor Mitch Landrieu gave a controversial speech on removing four statues from the city of New Orleans. The confederate statues were erected over 100 years ago, and they were a part of the city’s heritage. They were identification markers, but they were removed in 2017 by the Mayor. In this speech, he provided justifications based on the rhetorical triangle. Aristotle coined this concept to obtain more knowledge and seek the relevance of elements of arguments. The rhetorical triangle aspects appeal to the audience’s reason, logic, and emotions: ethos, pathos, and logos.
Pathos
In his speech, he stated how native Indians and African Americans felt when they looked at the statues. The persecution and racial discrimination the minority groups underwent was influenced by those represented in the statues. When the statues were left as they were, it would imply that the administration was pleased with the heinous acts they suffered. Further, he asked whether the audience feels proud about the monuments that were a sign of bondage.
Logos
The basis of his speech was the aim of erecting the monuments in the first place, and how it represented injustice. The goal of the white supremacists was to scare the minority groups and reveal their inferiority. They imposed the confederate ideas which opposed the establishment of the United States of America. The appeal to logic is founded on the aspect that no one should be proud of the moments because they are divisive. This makes the monuments irrelevant in the contemporary life of New Orleans.
Ethos
Mayor Mitch Landrieu used his title to motivate people to see his points. As Mayor, he had the role of doing the acting justly, which cannot be considered an easy objective. Although the removal of the monuments was challenging, it was done for the prosperity of the city.