Visual Rhetoric

Aaron,





Irritated

Emotionally Drained

Stressed

Rachel Jeantel is 19-year-old woman from Miami, Florida. She was the star witness in the State of Florida vs. George Zimmerman trial. She was the very last person Trayvon Martin talked to before the 17-year old was shot and killed. 

The interviewees believed, being stressed, emotionally drained and irritated because of the extended court time was Rachel Jeantel's demeanor/attitude during the State of Florida v. George Zimmerman trial. Her attitude definitely showed it. She was instantly judged because of one thing.

Rachel Jeantel is a Black woman. Preconceptions of black women are formed due to stereotypical portrayals in media. For example, in Disney Channel's popular cartoon show, The Proud Family, there is a character by the name of Dijonay. Dijonay portrays the stereotype of loud, sassy, "ghetto", etc. This would be a person's first glimpse of how stereotypical black women act, especially considering that this is a children's TV show.

Rachel Jeantel's performance showed tons of attitude as the African-American interviewees stated. Everyone has their own opinions about it, but at the same time try putting yourself in her shoes before you can judge her, not to mention she just lost her best friend.

African Americans will be treated differently just because were black, so we need to demonstrate professional behaviors and home training at all times, stated by the interviewees. Not to conform to what is considered "normal", but to demonstrate politeness. Communicating and caring is the key being respectful. No matter what the situation might be, we will always be judged so treat people the way you would want to be treated.  So don’t give people reason to stereotype, control your actions and don’t get so easily defensive.

(im)politness

What is politeness?

When asked to define politeness, one would usually reply, “Oh, well isn’t it simply being kind and considerate of others?” or, “Saying please and thank you.” Politeness is much more than a simple definition; it is a concept. Let’s analyze two approaches to politeness. In Culpeper’s, et. al. (2009) English Language, he describes the social-norm view of politeness and the pragmatic view of politeness. (524-525)

The prescriptive social-norm view assumes that each society has a certain set of social norms enforced by society. “Politeness subsumes notions such as ‘good manners’, ‘social etiquette’ and ‘minding your Ps and Qs.’” (Culpeper, et. al, 2009: 524) Experimental or descriptive social norms are based off an individual’s experiences in social situation. Experience of social situations might lead someone to know how to expect certain things, be able to read someone by hypothesizing what his or hers expectation are. Social experiences lead us to know what is “socially positive” and what isn’t. For example, the use of the word ‘please’ is considered socially positive. However, using the world please does mean politeness will be achieved. If you say to someone, “Fall off a cliff please,” that means you would want to get rid of that person. This would be considered ‘socially negative’. Politeness always involves a contextual judgment. (Culpeper, et. al, 2009: 525)

Politeness theories are focused on how we use communicative strategies to maintain social harmony. (Culpeper, et. al, 2009: 525) For example, if you were having Thanksgiving dinner with your family, you would use words such as ‘please’ or ‘excuse me’ to achieve something and maintain social harmony.

What is Face?

Face, defined by Brown and Levinson (1987), is the public self-image every person shows. There are two aspects to face: positive face and negative face. Positive face is to want to be liked and appreciated. Negative face is the want to have freedom. The University of Sheffield explains that this can relate to politeness by being contextually appropriate, following social norms, and being socially positive. Also, this can relate to impoliteness by engaging in aggressive face to cause social disruption. (2012)

In order to save face, people have the option to use politeness strategies (Brown and Levinson, 1987). 1.) Bald on record is trying to lessen the face threat. 2.) Positive politeness is showing you showing value someone. 3.) Negative politeness is not impeding on someone. For, example if a student walks into a class in session would say to the teacher, “Sorry, I don’t mean to bother you but, __________.”

Impoliteness strategies would include 1.) Bald on record: an intentional face attack. 2.) Positive impoliteness: not showing you value someone. Criticism and disagreements would make good examples of positive impoliteness. 3.) Negative impoliteness: imposing on someone by making orders, treats, or requests. (University of Sheffield, 2012)

First Order Impoliteness in the African American Speech Community (AASC) 

First order impoliteness is defined as an individual's interpretation of politeness based on experience. One of the main problems with first order impoliteness is that some people believe the way politeness is for them would be the same way politeness is for everyone. For example, many people think that the type of speech used mainly in the AASC would be impolite. If a young black woman were to say, "My momma be working," it would be dismissed as 'ignorant' or 'improper English'. What people do know is that they are truly the ignorant ones if they say that. The young black woman was speaking Ebonics, or African American Vernacular English. "My momma be working," is a habitual statement. The young black woman was would be saying that her mother is currently employed. The reason why this would be a problem is because African Americans exists in a white privileged institution. The idea that 'being/acting white' is considered normal in this country is why people would dismiss Ebonics as 'ignorant'. In actuality, Ebonics is actually systematic and considered a language. (Rickford, n.d.)

What is the 'right' way to speak English?

Position on Race

• Race is a social construct produced by the dominant groups in society. The human society is seen through racial lens that colors our world black, white, Asian, or Mexicans. How we are seen and how we see others affects various domains of our lives and the lives of others; from the types of jobs we have, the money we make, friends we make, places we live, foods we eat, and the schools we attend.

• Race is something that is real in society, it shapes the way we see ourselves and others. For instance, if you see a tall black male that is 6 feet 7 inches tall, a person would stereotype him as basketball or football player. If you see a house with gates surrounding it, you would stereotype that home is owned by Mexicans. How whites can't dance because they have no rhythm. How all Asians are geniuses and all Chinese people know kung Fu. One of the first things we notice about a person is the race or ethnicity and we all automatically judge or stereotype them.

(Bruce Lee) All Chinese know Kung Fu



Typical Caucasians dancing.



The Great Michael Jordan. Stereotypes say blacks are good with basketball.



• Why does our human society stereotype different races? Deep down inside everyone knows each person is an individual and knows what that race is capable of doing. We as a people have been exposed with stereotyping through the things we see and learn.





What is Race?

Whenever most people are asked to define race, some people will discuss outward appearance while others will discuss ancestry. When people are asked to identify the races that exist, some will begin listing different races while others will say, "There is only one race, the human race."

How did we come about defining the different races?

During the Age of Enlightenment, a man named Johann Friedrich Blumenbach identified and classified five races: The Caucasian race, the Mongoloid race, the Malay race, the Negroid race, and the American race. A German Encylopedia, Meyers Blitz-Lexikon used images to describe a couple of the different races.

Caucasian Race (Meyers Blitz-Lexikon, 1932)

Mongoloid Race (Meyers Blitz-Lexikon, 1932)

Negroid Race (Meyers Blitz-Lexikon, 1932)

A person's race is determined by their ancestry, their physical features, and their ethnicity.

Scientific racism is the "use of pseudo-scientific and hypotheses to justify racial superiority".

In the image above, scientists are measuring the nose and jaw size of white men. The sketch compares black people to chimpanzees.

During the Apartheid in South Africa, a pencil test was issued to determine whether a person was white, black, or coloured (a person of mixed race). If people were uncertain about their racial group, a pencil would be slid into their hair. They were asked to shake their head a few times. How easily the pencil fell out would determine if a person "passed" or "failed" the test. If the pencil was stuck, the person's hair would be considered to be too "kinky" to be considered white and would be classified as "coloured" or "black". If the pencil fell, the person would be classified as "white".

Biologically, race is not real. Race is a social construct, but it has a social reality. The effects of race and racism are still shown in our society today. When race was created, it formed a social structure that gave whites privilege over non-whites. For example, a white kid can use "black" slang, listen to hip-hop music, and dress in hip-hop attire but he can easily shed that image and still be white. If a black kid were to do the same thing, he would still be profiled and people would still stereotype him.

Meyers Blitz-Lexikon: d. Schnellauskunft für jedermann in Wort u. Bild = Blitz-Lexikon.. Leipzig: Bibliogr. Inst. AG, 1932. Print.