Cesar Chavez Ethos Essay

When Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968, there were many calls for violent retaliation by the members of the civil rights movement. However, in an article written for a religious magazine ten years later, Cesar Chavez, a prominent labor union organizer and civil rights leader, urges society to utilize nonviolent protest as an alternative to violence. Chavez alludes to historical events, appeals to the reader’s sense of Ethos, and uses contrasting diction and juxtaposition when outlining the positive effects of nonviolence and the negative effects of violence in order to convince the reader that nonviolence is the superior method of protest. By alluding to historical violent and nonviolent protests, Chavez brings fact-based validity into his argument by demonstrating a very successful instance of nonviolence, as well as unsuccessful instances of violent protest.
He mentions how his movement, “can gather the support of millions who have a conscience” (25). The phrase “who have a conscience” suggests to the reader that nonviolence is the only ethical way to protest, and any other means of protest is shameful and would go against fundamental human values. Chavez uses aphorism in the sentence “the rich may have money, but the poor have time”. Aphorisms are used in order to convey a moral truth and to relate to everyday life, which makes the article more relatable and appealing. By using aphorism, Chavez both appeals to the reader’s morality and draws fascination. It is also relevant that Chavez published this article in a religious magazine. He says that “life is a very special possession given by God” (8-9), and later says that engaging in violence is an infallible way for lives to be lost. By describing how violence takes away the God-given gift of life while at the same time ensuring that nonviolence will preserve it, Chavez appeals to the religious reader’s ethical