The speaker in the add is a group called Rise. They are trying to present themselves as “activists”. A group of people trying to spread awareness of racism in America. I am able to tell this by the title “Don’t want to get stopped by the NYPD” as an African-American teenager in America. Also, as a young African-American witnessing other young African-American males being stopped and questioned by white police officers for no reason.
This message this add is trying to convey is African-Americans are the main victim of police harassment and that no matter how good or how rich you are if your skin is “black” you can always become the next victim of police harassment.
The intended audience is for the community especially young African-American males. They need to be aware of the challenges life has to offer them and what they may encounter while growing up in this world based on the color of their skin. Also, it’s used to gain unity within communities around the world dealing with this injustice.
One method of persuasion the ad used was the color “blue“. The color blue is associated to tears, hence sadness. This trigger in the brain can cause sympathy for the victim and the “cause”. Also, brought about was the fact that several African-American young males were stopped on the street and while driving for contraband or weapons and had neither were found. This indicated innocent males of color were stopped for one apparent reason, the color their skin.
This ad appeals to pathos because as you know some people are not able to walk away from police interaction alive. This message of people of color being targeted due to their color creates a lot of concern and worry within the African-American community and their homes. This ad appeals to logos by putting true statics of police stops and their finding mostly nothing in dominant black areas. This has ethos because these numbers come from the government of the year 2010 and not from the group Rise.
This ad is effective because it’s spreading awareness of the ugly truth in America, the ugly truth that racism still exists. It’s unfortunate that the legal system set up to protect citizens of America is the same system crippling African-Americans. We have to prepare our youth to deal with these challenges so they won’t become the next victim and hopefully gain enough support to change this on-going attack by cops who are sworn to serve and protect citizens of America not harass and sometimes murder innocent African-Americans.
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In Jalen’s analysis I really agree with him when he says, “no matter how good or how rich you are if your skin is “black” you can always become the next victim of police harassment.” because I notice this too and this add uses facts to prove it. I really like that Jalen makes this point as the message the advertisement is trying to convey because in the ad we see that black people are victimized for this and a HUGE majority of the time, they are innocent! I feel strongly disturbed with this fact that people of color are always seen as the bad guys and always have to be stopped and frisk by NYPD. I believe this is one of the major problems in NYC and we do nothing about it. Also, I 100% agree with Jalen’s statement of, “This ad is effective because it’s spreading awareness of the ugly truth in America, the ugly truth that racism still exists. It’s unfortunate that the legal system set up to protect citizens of America is the same system crippling African-Americans”. I think this point he makes is very important and true because this ad is effective in ways that it not only spreads awareness, but it states facts and true statistics about the situation in NYC. We are informed about how many black people are stopped and how many people really have a weapon which showed us “1” person found with a pistol. It is crazy to see racism still exists even if it tries to hide behind situations people won’t really think about things like these, barely, nearly no one who is white gets stopped. I also really like that Jalen tells us about our government system and how this country is a hypocrite because they say one thing but really show communities the opposite. They contradict themselves by saying they are here to protect the people,” American Citizens”.
I agree with Jalen’s interpretation of the ad since in NY and other states you see that the majority of the stop and frisks and police harassment is towards African American people, especially the males. This is because they still stereotype that African-American males are out in the streets up to no good and always getting into trouble. This has been an ever-growing issue that many lawmakers and the police themselves have failed to correct. I also think this is an effective ad because when you read all the statistics/facts that are given, it reminds you that although we may not notice racism that much at times. It is still very much alive and well in today’s society sadly, and by spreading awareness of issues like this can help correct it for the future generations
Great job, Jalen! I especially appreciate how you both analyzed the ad on its own terms and from your own direct perspective as part of the target audience. (Also, wow, powerful photo, getting the ad with the cops standing in the background!)
Is that at a bus stop? There’s so much text on the ad that I imagine it’s most effective for people who have a few minutes to stand near it for awhile and read all of the different things.
It’s also attention grabbing in how the biggest words are “STOP BEING BLACK,” which is alarming until you read the rest of it, and then it’s alarming in an entirely different way.
In Jalens analysis I agree with a lot of claims he states, such as the main method pathos within the ad to provoke the sense of sadness and to spread awareness of abuse and the controversy of the treatment African-Americans experience on the daily. An eye opener within the message is their choice of color, blue, as Jalen states it represents sadness and an ironically “blue feeling” towards it. I do believe that this ad is effective in its way to spread awareness and discuss the concern of African-American treatment in todays day, I think the bold words “STOP BEING BLACK” really do stand out and almost hit me in a way where it allows me to read more into the ad and understand the concept these activists are trying to put out there, in not a subtle way because this isn’t a subtle issue.
I agree with Jalen’s depiction of this ad. I believe that the speaker is just trying to raise awareness of how Black people are being targeted the most by the police department (NYPD). It relies on the assumption that the audience knows or wants to know about police brutality and police harassment. The intended audience must be people who have been victims of police harassment or know people who are victims. The intended audience can also be the everyday person in NY and it helps them gain insight into what’s happening around them (police harassment). It provides a statement that is very bold and seems aggressive; “Don’t want to get stopped by the NYPD, STOP BEING BLACK”. It is presenting that the only solution to stop police harassment is by not being black and I think they’re saying that not to be offensive but to raise awareness about how nothing is changing although there have been many attempts made just to try to solve the problem. It appeals to pathos very much because the speaker wants you to feel sympathy for the African American community in order to push the audience to try to make a change. It appeals to logos too because it has a lot of statistics about the percentage/people that have been stopped by police.