Kairos of "Is it because i'm black?"

Kairos is an important rhetorical device used in Syl Johnson's "Is it because i'm black?" This song was clearly made to address racial inequality, as the phrase "It it because i'm black?" serves as the hook of this song. This song was released in 1970, the rhetorical situation being a time of racial tenderness. The United States was still recovering from the civil rights movement at this time, and was trying to adjust to a new society that actively promoted equal rights for all regardless of race. The title of this song communicated to the public in saying that even though blacks were protected by the law, there were still many disadvantages of being a black man during this time. At the time, many of these disadvantages were not clear, making black men wonder whether or not they were, for example, denied something because they were black.
-Nebeyu

Stasis Theory of "Is it Because I'm Black?"

In order to apply stasis theory to Syl Johnson's song, it is first necessary to understand some historical context. While the early Civil Rights movement of the1960s succeeded to pass laws which guaranteed equal rights for African Americans under the law, the movement in the late 60s and early 70s moved on to raise the standard of living for the large population of the race living in poverty. Acts such as The Civil Rights Act of 1968 made it illegal to discriminate on housing based on race and court cases such as the Supreme Court case Green V. County School Board of New Kent County made desegregation of schools a priority. All were attempts by the government to improve the socio-economic status of African Americans, many of who were stuck in urban housing with poor education and little opportunity to leave.

As you can see from this graph, the unemployment rate of African Americans in the early 1970s was about twice the average unemployment rate. In his 1970 song "Is it Because I'm Black?", singer Syl Johnson links the high unemployment rate of African Americans to a prejudice held by many white Americans against people with a darker skin tone. Thus, in the context of stasis theory, Johnson would be arguing that the cause of the disparity between black and white people in America is no longer entirely blatant racism, but a subconscious aversion held by most white people to give jobs, let alone high-paying jobs, to African Americans. Johnson's emotional plea reflects his desire to radically change the low socio-economic status of African Americans in the 1970s. His words still ring true today, as there still exists a gap, if not quite as large, between the average unemployment and the unemployment of African Americans.

-Daniel Saliunas

Audience: Syl Johnson's "Is it because I'm black"

 The intended audience for this song would be anyone who had an active role in the Civil Rights movement: whether it was an opposing role or a supporting role.  Syl Johnson's "Is it because I'm black" was released in 1970, which was towards the end of the Civil Rights movement.  At this point, the movement was on its way out and had gained tremendous success.  As a song, the intent is that people will hear it, listen to it, and react to it.  As it extended its reach throughout the public, parents may have prevented their children from listening to it because these parents opposed the message that the song has and wanted to prevent their children from listening to the song, fearing that they might be influenced by Johnson's message.  The song lyrics contain many statements followed by the question that gives the song its title: "Is it because I'm black?"  These statements are reflections of what occurred leading up to, and during, the civil rights movement.  Lines like "Something is holding me back, is it because I'm black" and "Cause I wanna be somebody so bad,...But something is holding me back / Is it because I'm black?"  are direct references to the struggle that African Americans had to face during the Civil Rights movement.  These references act as pulls to the audience for the African American audience to listen to and to relate with to the message of the song.  For the white audience, these lines act to give attention to the struggles that African Americans faced before and during the civil rights movement.  While most of the prejudice that spawns from race is gone, it has not totally been eradicated just yet.  The contemporary relevance to this song is one that reminds any modern day listener to the the struggles that African Americans had to face before and during the Civil Rights movement.

-Louie

Audience: "Glory"

The song "Glory", written and performed by John Legend and Common, was composed as the theme song for the 2014 motion picture Selma, which portrays the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march. Being that "Gory" was produced for a public film the intended audience is the public: men and women age 13 and over. This song may not may intended for an audience under the age of 13 because of its content, which may be too mature for a young audience to comprehend. When dissecting the song itself - apart from it being written for film - the lyrics are directed toward African American men and women. Throughout the song, the pronouns "us, our, and we" are used several times to include the audience in the movement and history of which the song is about. Being that the recording artists of "Glory" are both African American the pronouns prove to target an audience of African American listeners and supporters of the civil rights movement today in order to unify the African American race as a whole against injustice.

- Jessica

Kairos of "Glory"

Kairos is seen as a rhetorical element in John Legend’s song “Glory”, which appeared in the recent movie Selma. The rhetorical situation in which the song was created is the 50th anniversary of the 1965 voting rights marches; the movie was made to commemorate these historic parades. Although the landmark anniversary was the clear reason for the song’s release, there are also underlying issues discussed in the lyrics which hint at a deeper root for the rhetorical situation. One of the major recent events that connects to the Civil Rights Movement is the Ferguson protests, which occurred after a white police officer shot and killed a black man. This event (and the public outrage that followed) is alluded to in the lyrics, which gives the audience the idea that the inspiration for the song came from recent occurrences that highlight stark similarities between the racial inequality of the 1960’s and that of now. Ultimately, the two main kairotic situations that this song explores is the 50th anniversary of the Selma Marches and the current Black Lives Matter campaign, which stems from conflicts over racial injustice.

-Angela Jacob