We Shall Overcome

We Shall Overcome Propaganda and politics go together like two peas in a pod. George Orwell discusses the marriage of the two in his essay, “Politics and the English Language.” Among the most common propaganda techniques Orwell demonstrates, the two most prominent political speeches would be meaningless words and pretentious diction. Propaganda techniques are most commonly known as ways to be dishonest or when there is a hidden agenda. However in President Lyndon B. Johnson speech known as “We Shall Overcome”, he shows how propaganda can be used with good intentions. His speech changed the lives of millions of African American people that struggled for human rights back in the nineteen sixties. President Johnson utilizes propaganda techniques in a positive way to help direct the nation on the course of racial equality. President Johnson’s opens his speech by saying, “I speak tonight for the dignity of man and the destiny of democracy.” (Pauley). Orwell gives several examples of “meaningless words,” one of which being “democracy”. In the case of a word like “democracy”, not only is there no agreed definition, but the attempt to make one is resisted from all sides (169). A word like democracy is often used in a consciously dishonest way. This happens when the person using it has their own personal definition for the word but allows the listener to interpret it in their own way. When President Johnson gave his speech there were millions of Caucasian men and women who were strongly against racial equality. It was only a century before that, when President Lincoln freed the African race from slavery. It was another big undertaking that wouldn’t come easy. Johnson has to convey that the destiny of democracy, is racial equality. However he must do this without turning away his racially biased voters. He uses propaganda to reach a wider audience with a cause that he believes will lead the country in the right direction. In the next line he announces, “I urge every