Does the people who created what America is today not deserve to experience it to the fullest without hatred and lack of respect? The founding fathers of America may have been white, but the hard working people who made it all possible was not. They were foreigners, but America will still not allow them to live peacefully, nor allow more of them access. The sender of the text is Kevin Powell. Powell is a black American, but clarifies that he is not an immigrant. Powell writes on behalf of the newspaper “About the Nation”, a newspaper that is principled and progressive. A paper about equality and justice for all races is not uncommon in “About the Nation”, as they fight for justice and equality for all. Powell writes to all American people. He writes to the white Americans to encourage them to support the black community and the immigrants, because they are all the same. When he reaches out to the black community, he talks like he is one of them. He uses the word “we” a lot, instead of them, so that they know he understands and fells their pain. He writes to the white Americans who does not care for the coloured ones, and tries to make them understand that, without the black Americans, there would be no America. He writes to the politicians with a mind filled with despair, as to why they could describe immigrants so animalistic and anti-human as they do (ll. 37-38). He addressed all of America, asking how they are capable of hate, when there would be no America without slaves. You can tell that Powell did not need a specific reason to write this, as it is such a personal matter to him, however there is an occasion. There was in fact several occasions. There was the mass shooting in El Paso which was connected with an unleashing of a hate-filled, anti-immigrant manifesto, there was the heartrending images of immigrant children and their families being held in detention centres and the abuse and neglect on those Americans do not want in America. (ll. 32-40) Powell writes to inform and educate. He wants to educate about what America was, what it is and what it should be. For him, America is a nation founded by the thousands of slaves forced to work there. A place were black people experienced starvation and premature deaths, parentless children and torn apart families. Because of this horrible past for the black people, the migration of the Italians, the Jews, the Irish and many other was possible. Powell believes that, today, America is place with opportunity for others, but still not for the coloured people, and how is that fair? The only right answer is that it is not fair, and it never will be. America is fortunately not what it used to be, but it can still be better. America needs to be a place without diversity among different races. All should be equal, especially the ones who made the American dream possible. Powell compares the current treatment of the immigrants, with the treatment of slaves back in the day. By doing this, he educates Americans so that they know how wrongly their actions are, and that it must come to an end. He uses comparisons such as “If they are lying and sleeping in their own vomit and feces in freezing-cold detention centers, then I am 50 transported back to the hulls of those slave ships where my ancestors were forced to be and lie and sleep in their vomit and feces too.”(ll. 48-51). This comparison is so crucially important for Powell’s statement. The purpose is also to give the restrictive immigration politics a hard criticism. The criticism is aimed at the current government, which has been really hard towards immigration The subject of Powell’s text is mostly criticism against the racism in America, and how unjustified it is, and why. The message is clear, Powell is angry and in despair. He is angry with all those who does not respect black Americans nor immigrants. The message is that they are simple people just like anyone else are, so they deserve the respect. He is in despair when he sees all the hatred, because if it was not for the black Americans, would there even be an America today? The language in the text is mostly formal and complex. He uses words such as “indigenous”, “death-inducing ocean” and “heartrending” (l. 35) which all shows how complex the choice of words is. The also shows that Powell in fact is a writer (l. 70). This formal stile of writing gives Powell’s ethos strength. Powell also uses a lot of allusions, especially when referring to historical events. He uses the sentence “the strange-fruit hanging” (l. 17) which referrers to the lynching of black Americans back in the day. Figurative language and metaphors is also being used when talking about the black Americans contribution to Americas evolution, such as “We built the melting pot; our fingerprints are all over that symbol of democracy and diversity. Through the many slings and arrows we’ve withstood in the United States, we have made opportunity possible for others…” (ll.) This gives the text a deeper meaning as the reader develops different pictures in their head, which makes them more acceptable of the oncoming text. The fact that he mostly uses the figurative language and allusions when talking about certain subject shows that the whole text is based on those subjects, which is an analogy between the black Americans situation back in the day, and the immigrations current situation. The ethos in the text is without doubt the most dominating form of appeal. By being a black American himself, his ethos already increases there. His background, together with several comparisons between black Americans and immigrants makes the reader see him as being more capable of relating to their situation and understanding it. Besides from using his background to increase his ethos, he also shows that he is a person with moral who is capable of relating to the immigrants suffering. He does this when saying “If they are the victims of a mass 45 shooting, then I am the victim of a mass shooting” (ll.44-45) As said eelier, Powell feels anger when it comes to those who do not treat all equal. This gives Powell pathos, and with his very detailed description of the bad treatment of black Americans and immigrants, along with his feelings about it, gives him strong pathos. Just by being a black American, Powell has an advantage in bringing the message he does, but being a black American is not enough. There is no doubt that Powell truly speaks from his heart, and that these problems really does provoke him, but there should be a more balanced approach between facts and emotions. Powell does not include facts in his text, which is a mistake. Powell’s analogy between the black Americans situation back in the day, and the immigrations current situation is however a great fundament for his text, and makes up for the lack of facts. Because of that, he is successful in communicating his message.
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