Marc Chavez Speech Analysis

It is interesting that Chavez chooses to address Mexican Americans about the misuse of the Church’s funding because they themselves probably do not have much to offer. If his audience does not have much monetary support to offer him, then is his ideal audience too far removed from reality or is this intentional? If this is intentional, he is using his audience to prove that it is not so much about the finances of the people, but how the people of the Church use the money they do have. He must not be saying to give more money, or if he is, then he will probably not be as successful as if he were speaking to a different demographic. Therefore, he must be advocating for the people to spend the Church’s money more wisely and to stop tolerating the passivity of the Catholic Diocese when it comes to social justice.
Chavez argues that it is the job of the Mexican American community to provide for their brothers and sisters. He names himself among those guilty for apathy when he states, “The leadership of the Mexican-American Community must admit that we have fallen far short in our task of helping provide spiritual guidance for our people” (Chavez). Chavez places himself among the audience members when he uses phrases such as “we have fallen,” “our task,” and “our people” (Chavez). Even though Chavez himself is probably nowhere near being close to passive about workers rights, he chooses to “enter the private perceptual world of the other” in order to maintain humility and appear equal to his audience (Rogers 105). Chavez empowers his audience by giving them the command to take charge of the genuine welfare of their own