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University Microfilms International 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 USA St. John's Road, Tyler’s Green High Wycombe, Bucks, England HP10 8HR I ' 78-5818

BUTLER, Jennifer Bailey, 1946- AN ANALYSIS OF THE ORAL RHETORIC OF MORDECAI WYATT JOHNSON; A STUDY OF THE CONCEPT OF PRESENCE.

The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1977 Speech

University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, Michigan 4sio6

© Copyright by

Jennifer Bailey Butler

1977 AN ANALYSIS OF THE ORAL RHETORIC OF MORDECAI I-TYATT JOHNSON

A STUDY OF THE CONCEPT OF PRESENCE

DISSERTATION

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate

School of The Ohio State University

By

Jennifer Bailey Butler, B.A., M.A.

*****

The Ohio State University

1977

Reading Committee: Approved By

Dr. John J. Makay Dr. James L. Golden Dr. Osborn T. Smallwood

iviser Department of Commuhication ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to all those who supported this work spiritually during its incubation period. Some of those persons include my sensi­ tive and loving daughter Laurie who was not always sure what it was all about but who came to accept "waiting in the wings" with a beautiful smile, my imaginative, supportive and wonderful parents, my sisters Jessica and Judy,

Russel Kania, my husband Bill, my advisor John Makay, the members of my committee and the countless other friends whose help facilitated its completion. This work is particularly dedicated to the memory of my father whose favorite refrain still rings in my ear.

The heights by great men reached and kept Were not attained by sudden flight. But they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The Ladder of St. Augustine, St. 10

XI VITA

May 9 , 1946. Born - San Juan, Trinidad, West Indies

1971 . ; . . B.A., InterAmerican University, San German, Puerto Rico

1973 - 1975. Teaching Associate, Department of Communication, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

1974 . . . . M.A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

1975 - 1977. Assistant Professor, Department of Speech, The Chicago State ' University, Chicago, Illinois

PUBLICATIONS

"The Rhetoric of Change: A Burkeian Analysis of Joseph Warren's Message- on the Occasion of the Fifth Commemoration of the Boston Massacre." Ohio Speech Journal, Volume 12, 1974.

Ohio National Bank Leading the Way: An Orientation Booklet for New Associates of Ohio National Bank, 1975.

FIELDS OF STUDY

Major Field: Communication

Studies in Rhetorical Communication. Professors John J. Makay, James L. Golden and William R. Brown

Studies in Communication Theory. Professors David Smith, Jack Douglas and Leonard Hawes

Studies in Research Methods. Professors Jack Douglas and Wallace Fotheringham

1 1 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Ü

VITA iii

LIST OF TABLES vü

Chapter

I INTRODUCTION 1

Background Research Question Justification for the Study Review of the Literature Research Methodology Speeches Selected for this Study Analytical Procedures Contents of the Chapters

II THE NATURE OF PRESENCE AND ITS RELEVANCE 52 TO RHETORICAL THINKING

Presence in the Works of Lord Karnes Presence in the Works of Kenneth Burke Presence in the Work of Chaim Perelman Chapter Summary

III THE BLACK ORAL TRADITION AND 10 0 MORDECAI JOHNSON

The Black Oral Tradition Characteristics of Black Preaching Johnson's Life Experiences: Their Relation to his Potential for Creating Presence Johnson's Early Education Chapter Summary

IV A SEARCH FOR PRESENCE IN THE CONTENTS OF 125 MORDECAI JOHNSON'S SPEECHES

Analysis of Johnson's Six Speeches

IV Cont'd. Cont•d

Clarity 130

Organization of the Message Word Choice and Sentence Structure Overall Style of the Message

Communion/Identification 140

Personal Pronouns Allegory Quotations Specific Names Collective Nouns The Imperative Wit and Ordinary Language

Emphasis 1^0

Superlatives Repetition Oratorical Questions Demonstrative Adjectives

Actuality/Reality 104 The Present Tense Imagery Metaphor Personification

Chapter Summary

V JOHNSON'S PRESENTATIONAL STYLE AND THE 209 SPEAKER-AUDIENCE RELATIONSHIP

Analysis and Discussion of Questionnaire 211 Responses

Opinions of Interviewees Johnson's Background Mastery of Oral Expression Duration of Speeches Non-verbal Style A Positive Audience-Centered Approach

An Interview with Mordecai Wyatt Johnson The Speaker-Audience Relationship An Assessment of Johnson's Credibility Non-verbal Features in Johnson's Recorded Sermon Chapter Summary

V VI IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS 262

Summary Conclusions Proposals for Future Research

BIBLIOGRAPHY 287

INTERVIEWS 291

APPENDIX A 293

APPENDIX B 297

VI LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

1. Tabulation of Responses to Question 220 Seven

2. Tabulation of Responses to Question 227 Eleven

3. Tabulation of Responses to Question 230 Twelve

vxi CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Carroll C. Arnold in his book. The Criticism of Oral

Rhetoric, laments the lack of concern that has been given oral rhetoric in the 20th century.1 Arnold writes;

..."it is strange that the nature of oral dis­ course has interested few Western thinkers. How speech is created, how it functions and how it is received and interpreted have been given only sporadic study ... Yet, we cannot deny that English speaking peoples and others have passed from a world in which print set standards for general communication, to a world where the aural-visual dimensions of rhetoric have probably more impor­ tance than at any time since the end of the Greco- Roman era."%

Arnold's reflections on this disinterest with oral discourse was a key factor which led to the undertaking of a study of the communication of Dr. Mordecai Wyatt Johnson.

Johnson, a prolific Black orator of 20th century America, used a mode of communication that was exclusively oral in nature. The purpose of this study is to analyze the oral rhetoric of Mordecai Wyatt Johnson. Background

In 1926, Johnson became Howard University's first

Black President, a position he held for 34 years. As a minister, ex-debater and valedictorian of his Harvard

University graduating class, Johnson brought his already renowned speaking skills to the Presidency of Howard. In his 34 years as President, Johnson made hundreds of speeches in the United States as well as in foreign countries.

Marcus H. Boulware writes that Johnson's popularity as an orator was so well known and so well respected that upon learning that he was going to speak in some city, people would travel hundreds of miles just to hear him. It became a proverbial expression that "those who had not heard

Johnson speak, or Howard Thurman preach or Marian Anderson sing, were not qualified to appear in genteel company."^

Approximately eighty-five of Johnson's speeches are part of a collection on the famous orator housed in the

Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University.

Although that collection is the largest extant collection of Johnson's speeches, it does not include many of the speeches made in Africa, India and the British Isles during

Johnson's visits to those countries. In addition, the Moor­ land-Spingarn collection does not include a complete record 3 of Johnson's annual Baccalauréat addresses to the Howard

community; copies or recordings of the sermons often de­

livered by Johnson on Sundays in the Walter Rankin Chapel

at Howard University, or copies of the innumerable speeches made before the United States Congress in his quest for

Federal appropriations for Howard University.^

It is noteworthy that Johnson never wrote a speech in

its entirety and then read it to his audience. Nor did he

ever prepare a speech and then deliver it extemporaneously.

An earlier statement acknowledging the exclusively oral na­

ture of Johnson's rhetoric is a direct reference to Johnson's

custom of reflecting mentally on his topic making minor

notes and awaiting the moment of contact with his audience

before bursting into his lively, descriptive, brilliant,

eloquent and lengthy oratory.^ Johnson's speeches were

typically sixty to ninety minutes long. Two-hour speeches

were not unusual. Comments about Johnson's "hypnotic

effect" and brilliant oratory by no means presuppose that

there were none who dared to refer to him as "long-winded.

It is ironic that in spite of the esteem Johnson

appeared to enjoy as an orator, the references made to him

in approximately 160 books, magazines and newspapers are

typically biographical in nature and usually quite brief. 4 The writer was unable to uncover a single work which was dedicated to checking the particular style, method and effect of Johnson as an orator. A study on the public communication of Johnson seems attractive from the stand­ point of furthering the research in the area of oral rhetoric. It also appears necessary for the purpose of expanding the body of information on Black individuals who have made contributions toward improving the quality of life of members of their race and other disadvantaged groups.

Mordecai Johnson was born in 1890 and grew up in a period when Blacks were denied many of their basic civil rights. Public education for Blacks was either segregated and inferior to that of Whites, or completely non-existent.

Blacks were denied admittance to public libraries and many other public facilities for which they paid tax dollars.

Growing up in an environment where people were treated dif­ ferently because of the color of their skins gave Johnson a strong awareness of the banality of injustice, prejudice and inequality. His life, therefore, was largely shaped by a struggle to improve his personal condition as well as that of his fellow man.

Concern for the improvement of the condition of Blacks in America later caused Johnson to become a crusader against inequality and oppression wherever those evils existed. 5 Boulware ranks Johnson among those Black orators he called

'protesters,' because of his outspokeness against social ills on the behalf of the downtrodden.& Johnson therefore represents a long, but not well-documented, list of Black

Americans who have shared in the ongoing struggle for equal rights for all people.

The Research Question

A review of the journalistic responses to Johnson's speaking, and interviews with persons who heard Johnson speak, disclosed a general concensus that he was a moving, dynamic and interesting speaker to whom one could listen for hours. The writer subsequently undertook the task of inves­ tigating the reasons for these typically positive responses.

That investigation led to a comprehensive study of a rhetor­ ical concept called "presence", particularly because people who had heard Johnson speak consistently described him as capable of commanding the attention of his audience and 9 making his subject matter seem real and relevant to them.

These descriptions seemed to be sufficiently related to the rhetorical phenomenon presence to warrant further investiga­ tion in that direction.

Although the concept of presence has been part of rhe­ torical thinking since the study of rhetoric began, only

four writers seem to have done extensive study of this 6 phenomenon. They are Lord Karnes, Kenneth Burke, Chaim

Perelman and Lee Rhoads Buice.^®

Lord Karnes divides presence into "ideal presence," a

circumstance which can be created through discourse, and

"real presence." Kames views ideal presence as the ability

of language to animate and elevate the mind of the listener.

He writes,

"...without it (ideal presence) the finest speaker or writer would in vain attempt to move any passion: our sympathy would be con­ fined to objects which are really present and language would lose entirely its signal power of making us sympathize with beings removed at the greatest distance of times as well as place."11

Kenneth Burke suggests that presence is the result of a

particular use of language and presentational techniques 12 that cause ideas to become real or actual to an auditor. Chaim Perelman who has made the most in depth study of pre­

sence yet undertaken, thinks that presence acts directly on

man's sensibility and is a means by which things are made

to seem real to people.

In her 1975 dissertation Lee Rhoads Buice investigated

the historical development of the concept of presence and

emerged with the following definition. Presence is ..."that

conscious or sub-conscious psychological perceptual influ­

ence of all discursive techniques and stylistic instruments. 7 including imaginative and sensuous language, that causes the substance of rhetoric to seem near at hand by being as compelling as defined or created reality.

In this study, presence will be viewed as the sum total of those discursive and presentational factors which make the subject of discourse seem real to the listener. The premise of this study is that Johnson's ability to create a sense of presence functioned to enhance the quality of his speeches, and created an atmosphere in which people were able to experience a sense of membership and involvement in a rhetorical event.

The two major tasks here are; to develop the foregoing premise by explaining the specific ways in which Johnson utilized the concept of presence. This will be done through an analysis of Johnson's speeches. The second task is to explain how presence functioned to enhance the speaker- audience relationship. This is done through analyzing the data from interviews and questionnaires which were adminis­ tered to persons who have been part of Johnson's audience on at least one occasion.

The purpose of this study therefore is to explore the following major question:

Can Dr. Mordecai Wyatt Johnson be described as an orator who successfully developed a rapport with his 8 audience through his capacity to create a rhetorical effect called "presence"?

To completely respond to this major question answers to five questions are sought;

1. What are the characteristics of presence? What are its functions and probable effects in rhetorical theory and practice?

2. What experiences in Johnson's life might have predis­ posed him towards developing those rhetorical features which foster and promote the creation of presence?

3. To what extent do the contents of Johnson's speeches reflect the utilization of rhetorical methods which have the potential for creating presence?

4. To what extent do the presentational aspects of Johnson's oratorical style reflect the potential for creating presence?

5. Does Johnson's audience describe his effect as an ora­ tor in terms which approximate the concept of presence as it has been discussed in this study?

Justification for the Study

This study seems to be justified from four different points of view. It can:

1. Contribute to the study of how discourse acts on the minds of its receivers, which is the function of rhetoric.

2. Focus attention on oral rhetoric in particular and thus contribute to an area of study which is in need of further development. 9 3. Provide information on the public communication of Dr. Mordecai Wyatt Johnson, a renowned Black leader of 20th century America, and thus contribute to the rhetoric of Black Americans.

4. Provide a method for investigating the occurrence of presence in rhetorical communication and for assessing the significance of presence in contributing to the effectiveness of rhetorical discourse.

The latter part of the 20th century has seen such major developments in the channels of mass communication, that oral and written messages reach millions of people simultan­ eously or at least, eventually. Concern for how these messages act on the minds of audiences is the realm of people involved in the study of rhetoric. Rhetorical think­ ers typically believe that one can learn as much about an

audience by examining the speeches which were addressed to

them, as one can learn about an orator by examining the

quality of his discourse. Therefore, when a student of

rhetoric focuses attention on historical and contemporary

oratory, that person is simultaneously engaging in the study

of human nature, human societies and human behavior.

A focus on Johnson's communication is justifiable not

only as a study of a great orator, but also as the study of

a period in American history. It can provide information on

the particular nature of oral rhetoric, its special unique­

ness and its possible effects. It can also provide the 10 impetus for developing a body of data from which methodolo­ gies for testing the occurrence of presence in oratory might be developed.

Review of the Literature

Prior to embarking on this dissertation a thorough

search of sources in the area of rhetorical communication,

in general, and Black rhetoric in particular were explored.

Journals, Dissertation Abstracts, computerized search

services, newspapers and special library collections were

examined to ensure that a study of this kind had not been

previously undertaken.

One of these searches was conducted through the Vivian

Harsh Collection at the Carter G. Woodson Library in Chicago

Illinios. The Harsh Collection is considered the most

thorough collection in midwestern American on the subject of

Black America,

The most valuable search, by far, was conducted through

the Moorland-Spingarn Collection at Howard University. The

Moorland-Spingarn Collection was valuable in two ways.

1. It provided detailed information on all the literature

that has been written on Dr. Johnson. 11 2. It contained copies of all of the extant, transcribed

copies of Johnson's speeches and was the source for

providing five of the six speeches used in this study.

A survey of the literature did not reveal any material which indicated that a study similar in nature to the present one had previously been undertaken. Below is a detailed break­ down of the pertinent literature reviewed.

Subject Guide to Books in Print 1975. This index lists

available books, new and old in 62,000 subject categories.

The literature on Johnson which was found here was mainly

biographical. Books in Print was a valuable starting point

for a survey of the literature because it identified several

bibliographies which specifically targeted the area of

research. Those works appear in the bibliography at the end

of this study.

Publications in the Area of Speech. In an attempt to

discover the research done on this topic in the field of

Speech Communication the following sources were consulted.

1. The Knower Index published in Speech Monographs, 1935-1969.

The Knower Index covers research generated in the area of Speech which might have been published in either of the following professional journals: Speech Monographs, 1934-1964 The Quarterly Journal of Speech, 1915-1964 Speech Teacher^ 1952-1964

2. Bibliographic Annual, 1970 12 3, Cleary and Haberman's Bibliography of Rhetoric and Public Address/ 1947-1961.

Special Collections The writer was able to obtain indexes to several "Special Collections" on Negro life and history. These collections provided a final and thorough screening of the literature of and about Johnson. The material in the special collections greatly overlapped, but in some of these collections were the primary documents needed to conduct this study thoroughly. The indexes reviewed are listed in the bibliography.

Dissertation Abstracts. The search through Dissertation

Abstracts was especially rewarding. No study of which the present study is a duplication, was found. However, one dissertation, the work of Lee Rhoads Buice had specific reference for this study and can be singled out.^^ Buice's dissertation provides a comprehensive overview of the concept of presence as it has appeared in rhetorical literature from the classical period to contemporary times. Other disserta­ tions which have contributed to this study are listed in the bibliography.

Additional Sources. A variety of other sources provi­ ded data for this study, and they also gave no indication that a study of this nature had been previously carried out.

These sources included; The New York Times, The Progressive, 13 New Directions, Readers Digest, Negro Digest, The Quarterly

Journal of Higher Education Among Negroes, Journal of Negro

Educationf Journal of Negro History, Ebony and Time Magazine.

Research Methodology

Discussion of a methodology for analyzing the occurrence and function of presence in Johnson's communication necessi­ tates a brief discussion of the theoretical framework on which that methodology is based. The methodology developed in this study evolved from the works of Lord Kames, Kenneth

Burke and Chaim Perelman. Guidance was also provided through Carroll C. Arnold's work on oral rhetoric. Before embarking on a statement of the methodology employed in this study, a concise review is offered as background. This review also provides an orientation for the more detailed discussion of the concept of presence in Chapter two.

Lord Kames, in 1762, seems to be the first rhetorical thinker to make explicit use of the term "presence". Al­ though Kames' work was mainly concerned with the stylis­ tic aspects of rhetoric, he expressed a view which was later reflected in the works of Burke and Perelman. Kames viewed 14 presence as a state of psychological spectatorship inspired by language. It resulted with an auditor becoming one with communicated ideas. Kames felt the style of oratory a speaker used was largely responsible for creating this sense of psychological arousal which he called "ideal presence".

According to Kames, "Ideal Presence" is created through a particular use of language and is a state which exists solely in the mind, admits no time but the present and cap­ tures total mental, emotional aesthetic reality.

Ideal presence has the potential for supplying the wants of real presence. That is, things which are actually physi­ cally present but which supply no particular mental stimula­ tion. Ideal presence therefore has the power to engage the mind actively.

According to Kames, spoken language is the medium through which 'ideal presence' is most likely to be aroused.

Kames relates this circumstance to the potentially descrip­ tive and dramatic characteristics of the spoken word which appeals to man's imagination and links ideas to his sensory nature. Kames claims that spoken language is capable of lifting man beyond his first hand experiences to a state of sensory participation with things which are not actually present but which are made to seem so.^G 15 Kames' discussion of presence makes three important assertions.

1. A speaker addressing an audience has the potential for stimulating that audience’s emotions and thereby creat­ ing a circumstance called "Ideal Presence".

2. The use of particular linguistic and stylistic patterns enhances the possibility for creating "ideal presence".

3. "Ideal presence" reduces the distance between the speak­ er and the audience and enables the audience to enjoy a sense of unity with a speaker.

Kenneth Burke recongizes a two-dimensional approach to presence which Buice carefully explored in her work.^^ In the first instance, presence refers to qualities of symbols that account for their power to stand for things they name, to give force to those things and impress them with an immediate and persuasive sense of reality. Presence also refers to the creation of a human relationship in which man is consubstantial with his fellow and his universe.

Burke's conception of presence can be best explained if one understands his philosophy of rhetoric. Burke's philo­ sophy of rhetoric is grounded in the belief that man's symbol-using character separates him from his primitive state, but that through these self-made symbols, man has 16 created divisiveness, hierarchies and specializations which have resulted in a highly complex environment.

Burke describes this situation as a "human barnyard" which man is always symbolically trying to escape. He pro­ poses that man may find solace in this divisive atmosphere 19 through the use of identification. Burke believes that human beings can rise above their generic differences through the creation of mental and psychological identifications created through the use of language in rhetorical communica­ tion. In Burke's view, rhetoric can and should operate to make men's commonalities known to them. He says that while men may never be of the same generic substance, they can, through social acts and language use, share common sensa­ tions, images, ideas and attitudes and thus maintain sufficient identification with each other to become consubstantial.20

Like Kames, Burke gives style central importance in his concept of presence. To Burke, style is ingratiation, an attempt to gain favor by the hypnotic or suggestive process of "saying the right thing.Yet, he insists that style is not mere embellishment. It must serve a function. That function should be the promotion of identification which makes a message real to an audience and creates a sense of presence. Burke's emphasis on the potential of verbal 17 symbols for creating identifications and making ideas present to the receiver is no indication that he belittles or neg­ lects the importance of the non-verbal and 'partially unconscious' factors in promoting and creating presence. This dual emphasis is clearly expressed in the following statement.

"You persuade a man only in so far as you can talk his lang­ uage by speech, gesture, tonality, order, image, attitude, idea; identifying your way with his."22

This statement infers Burke's realization that in different circumstances and with different people, distinct­ ly different approaches to creating presence and identifica­ tion are required. Burke's blatant suggestion is that an orator must use whatever verbal and non-verbal means are required by the situation to create the desired effect and thus stimulate his audience and create a sense of presence.

Burke's discussion of presence offers four important assertions.

1. Verbal and non-verbal symbols are inherently persuasive because they have the power to create identification and are capable of impressing things with a strong sense of reality.

2. Burke calls this ability of symbols to create identifi­ cation and make things seem real "presence".

3. Presence plays an important part in contributing to the effectiveness and acceptance of messages by audiences. 18 4. Orators can establish this spirit of oneness and this sense of presence through the selection of appropriate stylistic rhetorical devices which promote identifica­ tion among a particular audience.

Chaim Perelman refers to presence as that quality of rhetoric which "energizes arguments", and ultimately is a means of bringing about the adherence of minds to theses.^3

The creation of presence is a means by which messages are made to seem "true" or "real" to receivers. According to

Perelman, what is true or real is based on those opinions, appearances and impressions which individuals perceive to be most likely or probable. Perelman believes that the onus rests on rhetorical arguments to validate such beliefs, per­ ceptions and observations. His forthright statement is that presence is that quality in rhetorical argument which has the ability to fulfill the need to make the subject matter of discourse seem near at hand.

The highlight of Perelman's work, which is less evident in the works of Kames and Burke, is his audience-centered approach to the creation of presence. Perelman makes the achievement of presence contingent upon the particular inter­ action of rhetor and receiver. Perelman also suggests some rhetorical devices which may contribute to the creation of presence. Among these he cites myths, legends, specific objects versus abstract objects, particular names of persons. 19 the imperative form of the verb the present tense, the singular versus the plural, and the use of figures.

Even though Perelman cites these modalities as being highly capable of creating a sense of presence, he points out that they may simultaneously, or in other contexts,

serve other purposes. While the interrogative form may

signify the seeking of agreements and thereby create presence, it may also be used as a hypocritical way of expressing certain b e l i e f s . 24

Perelman seems to be saying that there is no witchcraft

to the creation of presence. He stresses that presence can­ not be created in abstraction. In fact, he insists that

"it is not enough indeed that a thing should exist for a 25 person to feel its presence." Rather, Perelman points out

that presence is created through a rhetor's conscious or

sub-conscious application of those principles and techniques which make the subject matter seem real to the receiver.

An important part of the rhetor's role therefore is to

devise the arguments to which he thinks his audience will

adhere. If the rhetor's purpose is to gain the adherence

of minds, he must adapt himself to the audience he addresses

in order to fulfill that purpose. When adherence takes

place, audience and speaker become as one and the audience

is able to associate itself with and identify with what the 20 speaker is saying. This is the context in which persuasion takes place, ideas are made to seem real or true to receivers and presence is created.

Perelman seems to indicate that there are three impor­ tant areas of the argumentation process with which the rhetor must involve himself if he is to create a sense of presence.

1. Agreements or identifications.

2. Associations which highlight connecting links and dis- associations which highlight the absence of linkages. 2 6 3. The presentation of data and the form of discourse.

Perelman's overall position on the effect of rhetoric is that attention must be given to both the presentation of material and the content of the material if the desired rhetorical effect of gaining the adherence of minds is to be attained. Buice states this point very well when she writes;

"the relationship Perelman intends to suggest between presentation and presence is impossible to miss. Indeed, it is in the area of presenta­ tion and form of arguments that he gives presence its most explicit and detailed treatment."2'

Perelman's view can be summarized as follows :

1. If rhetoric is the process of acting on minds by means of discourse the rhetorician must pay attention to the audience to whom his rhetoric is directed. 21 2. Rhetorical arguments are capable of creating a spirit of presence through the use of those verbal and non­ verbal stylistic devices which will move an audience and make messages seem "real" and "true" to them.

3. The most effective rhetor is one who is concerned with devising the kinds of arguments to which he thinks an audience will adhere, and which will bring about presence.

This review of the works of Lord Kames, Kenneth Burke and Chaim Perelman points to three specific factors which must be considered by anyone interested in studying the occurrence of presence in rhetorical discourse.

1. The form of the discourse.

2. The presentation of the discourse.

3. The speaker-audience relationship.

These three factors are used as criteria for developing the critical methodology applied in this study.

The Form of Discourse. Rhetorical devices associated with the creation of presence have been selected for this study. Those devices are connective words, myths and allegory, the imperative, the singular, demonstrative adjec­

tives, collective nouns, personal pronouns, specific names, the present tense, repetition and figures of speech. Atten­

tion is paid to those figures which utilize repetition.

Anaphora, aggregation and interpretation are some of these.

A concise definition of each of the previously mentioned 22 rhetorical devices is made to show their relation to presence,

Connective words point out relationships and associa­ tions among things. They may effectively guide the hearer

towards what the speaker wants him to admit and thereby con­

tribute to the creation of presence. Note the effect of connectives in the following quotation. "I say to everyone

among you, do not be conceited or think too highly of your­

selves but think your way to a sober estimate based upon

the measure of faith that God has dealt to each of you. For

just as in a single human body there are many limbs and organs all with different functions so are all of us united with Christ form one b o d y . "28

Myths and allegory have the ability to express the values a society holds or should hold. They are avenues

through which arguments are made present and agreement can

be achieved. Aesop's Fables and the great stories of Greek mythology are based on the myths which have served to provide

people with clearly accepted standards of evil and good.

They can operate as focal points from which agreements or

disagreements may be developed.

The imperative implies a personal relationship and is

effective for increasing the feeling of presence. The imper­

ative gives the listener the impression of having an active

role in the situation being described. 23 If you can't be a pine on the top of the hill Be a scrub in the valley - but be The best little scrub by the side of the hill. Be a bush if you can't be a tree.

If you can't be a highway just W a trail If you can't be the sun ^ a star; It isn't by size that you win or you fail Be the best of whatever you are.2"

The action emphasis and involvement depicted in the above lines is a notable example of how the imperative may function to create presence.

The use of the singular makes the referent more specific and may in this way create presence. Two examples follow;

(a) The plight of the Black Man in North America must be understood.

(b) The plight of Black Americans in North America must be understood.

Because example (a) uses the singular form it appears to be a clearer and more vivid statement than example (b).

Particularly when they are used in place of the definite or indefinite article, demonstrative adjectives draw parti­ cular attention to the nouns they qualify. "In spite of grave persecution, that Russian serf sought his freedom at any cost."

Some collective nouns such as 'kindred', 'clan',

'people', 'nation', are capable of creating presence because the referent is so familiar and all-encompassing that the obscurity of the symbol vanishes. While kindred, clan, I 24 people and nation could in isolation seem to be obscure symbols/ a skillful language-user could incorporate these terms into a strong statement as follows. "This development is a matter of concern not alone to the Negro people them­ selves but to the nation as a whole.This usage tends to engender warmth, closeness and familiarity.

Personal pronouns, particularly the first person singu­ lar and plural also denote involvement and inclusion and may contribute to the creation of presence.

The disease and the evils that we have pointed to in our American culture have grown out of segrega­ tion and its partner, prejudice. We are for integration. We reject those (racist) theories. We are working"Tor the right of Negroes to enter all fields of activity in American life.

The potential for stimulating audience participation and engendering a sense of reality is apparent in the above passage.

Specific names create an effect of familiarity and readily take advantage of presence. The following passages, when compared in terms of the impact they create, confirm this point of view.

1. Howard University is one of the first places in the United States where women were received in the School of Medicine.

2. This is one of the first places in the United States where women were received in the School of Medicine. 25 Repetition has the capacity to lend significance and importance to a point of view. Notice how the theme of

'brotherly love' is developed and strengthened through repetition in the following example.

"Let love for our brotherhood breaths warmth of mutual affection. Give pride of place to one another in esteem. Let love keep you joyful. Contribute to the needs of God's people, practice hospitality. Call down blessings on your persecutors; blessings, not curses. With the joyful be joyful, mourn with the mourners."

The present tense expresses things universal. It is the tense for that which is always timely and never out of date. It is the tense of maxims and proverbial sayings. It therefore has the property of readily conveying presence.

A Spartan never dies. Love is forever. Women like to talk. Man is subject to death.

The figures of speech anaphora, aggregation and inter­ pretation all utilize forms of repetition, have the capacity of imposing or suggesting a choice and have the potential for bringing about the feeling of presence and communion 33 with the audience. Anaphora is the repetition of the first two words in two successive sentences. An example follows. Having referred to Rome as one of the most power­ ful empires of the ancient world, Johnson used anaphora to elaborate this theme as follows: "...the Rome of the Roman senators; the Rome of Pompeii; the Rome with the greatest 26 military geniuses? the Rome with road builders so great that

you can go today in many part the world and put your foot

on the very spot on which Roman soldiers walked some two

thousand years ago."34

Aggregation is a stacking or listing of things while

referring to them by different nomes. "Grief, sorrow, dis­

tress, sadness can barely describe my pain." Interpretation

is the elaboration of a theme by further explanation. "One

day I came upon an essay on Ghandi and I said, this is it,

this is it. This is the kind of thing I have been looking

for, for five years. And I didn't cry out loud— I just sat

there and soaked it up like a sponge soaks, soaks up pre­

cious liquid." The idea of not exclaiming or crying out

aloud is developed here in the sentence which immediately

followed it. The result of aggregation seems to be that of

making the message seem closer and more real to the receiver.

The content of six of Johnson's speeches are analyzed

to assess the frequency of the occurrence of these rhetori­

cal devices and to estimate the possible effects these

devices might have had in contributing to the creation of

presence. An explanation for the choice of these six

speeches appears later in the chapter. 27 Presentation of the Discourse. The literature reviewed in this study supports the view that both the form of the dis­ course and the presentation of the discourse contribute to the creation of presence. A major concern of this section is the identification and analysis of the presentational devices employed by Johnson. Those presentational features which have the potential for creating presence are carefully examined. Finally, an assessment is made of how these features might have worked with Johnson’s verbal style to create presence and win the adherence of minds.

Presentational features include all those characteris­ tics of delivery employed during Johnson's discourse which might have been capable of exercising some influence on the way his message was received by his audience. In this chap­

ter, the clarity, intelligibility, emphasis, tone and pitch variation and the relevance of Johnson's presentation are

examined. Gestures he used which might have served a

rhetorical function are also examined. Hand gestures, facial

gestures, body movement and pacing are discussed in terms of

their rhetorical significance.

These non-verbal characteristics are important to a

study on presence because Kames, Burke and Perelman who have

done extensive writing on the subject of presence, have all

emphasized the connection between presentation and presence. 28 Kames stresses that oral face to face communication is a particularly vibrant medium for creating presence because of its appeal to the senses of seeing and hearing. The vocal quality of the speech one hears as well as the nature of the gestures the speaker uses are, in Kames' view, avenues for bringing about presence.

Perhaps Burke's most frequently quoted statement is the one in which he suggests that a speaker can affect an audience only in so far as he identifies with them through

"speech, gestures, tonality, order, image or attitude. The implication here is clear. Both the critic and the rhetor who are concerned with presence must take into con­ sideration all the verbal and non-verbal criteria which affect that rhetorical situation.

Perelman most strongly emphasizes this relationship be­ tween presentation and presence by stating that a rhetor's principal goal is "winning the adherence of minds". The

gaining of adherence, Perelman feels, can be achieved

through a process of creating presence through the use of

that particular combination of form and presentation which

establishes agreements with a particular audience, arouses

their awareness and attitudes and gains their adherence.

Clear tones, easily understood speech, appropriate emphasis

and vocal variation, gestures which imply action, identifica­

tion and closeness may contribute to the creation of presence, 29 Information on Johnson's style of presentation has been obtained through interviews with persons who have been part of his audience on at least one occasion, from questionnaires administered to Howard graduates and from a two-hour record­ ing of one of Johnson's sermons which was obtained from the files of the Walter Rankin Chapel at Howard University.

The particular non-verbal characteristics isolated here have been cited by questionnaire respondents and interviewees 37 as characteristic of Johnson's mode of delivery.

While the information gathered through interviews and questionnaires is of invaluable importance in conducting a study of this nature, the shortcomings inherent in data based on reminiscence and reflection are not overlooked.

After a person has aged and passed on people tend to view them in a more romantic and endearing manner than they did while that person was alive. Many persons might have recol­ lections which are quite dim and faded, yet they fail to admit to this and fearlessly complete the questionnaire.

Johnson was such a controversial figure throughout his life­ time, it is conceivable that some persons would have difficulty separating Johnson the controversial character from Johnson the orator. Because of these shortcomings, the recollections are not viewed in isolation, but in con­ junction with the data gathered from reviewing the content of

Johnson's speeches and from listening to the recorded sermon which was delivered in 1964. 30 The Speaker-Audience Relationship. While a critic might learn much about an audience by analyzing speeches that were addressed to that audience, an equally effective way of learning about that audience is by studying it and seeking information on the kinds of attitudes and beliefs those audience members had towards the speaker and the speaking occasion. Audiences frequently share some common traits such as sex, race, age, religion, educational level or some particular value orientation. The speaker who wants to be effective in reaching and influencing his audience must seek as much information as possible about that audience. He must also attempt to make the necessary adapt­ ations and adjustments in his message which will enable him to affect that audience in a specific manner.

This work strongly adheres to the view that effective study of the concept of presence must have a strong audience- oriented approach. The importance of the speaker-audience relationship has been emphasized throughout this study and is highlighted in Perelman's statement that "knowledge of those one wishes to win over is a condition preliminary to no all effectual argument."

This audience-oriented approach includes a careful assessment of the audiences identified in this study. It also includes the use of questionnaires and interviews to 31 draw on what is available from people who have been part of

Johnson's audience. Moreover the critic must make a deter­ mination of the extent to which this audience describes the rhetorical effect of Johnson in terms which approximate the concept of presence.

Perhaps further explanation is necessary at this point.

Because Johnson is no longer alive, the critic finds it

difficult to discover his ability to create presence in a

live setting. This study proposes to adjust for that in

two ways. In analyzing the verbal content of Johnson's

speeches, the author identifies those rhetorical features

which have the capacity to create presence and also aims to

identify a pattern or style of oratory which is unique to

Johnson. Hopefully, this rhetorical style will be one,

which, because of its unique features, holds the potential

for creating presence.

A second approach to discussing the speaker-audience

relationship necessitates an explanation of what is referred

to as the "Johnson audience." It is impossible to identify

a group of persons who had all heard Johnson speak on the

same occasion. An effort was made to formulate a concept of

this audience. Data were sought from any persons who heard

Johnson speak on at least one occasion. Because Johnson was

a prolific speaker, such an audience was not difficult to 32 locate. A select number of those persons was interviewed by the writer. Questionnaires were administered to 150 others.

Collection of Data. During a visit to the Howard Uni­ versity campus in 1976, the writer interviewed six persons who had either worked with Johnson or had been exposed to his oratory on numerous occasions. Names were provided by

Dean Crawford of the Walter Rankin Chapel and by Dr. Michael

Winston, Director of the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard.39 Dean Crawford and Michael Winston were among the six persons interviewed. The other interviewees were

Dr. Inabel Lindsay, retired Dean of the School of Social

Work at Howard, Dr. Charles Thompson, retired Dean of the

Graduate School at Howard, Mr. Jaunes Clarke, retired Treas­ urer of Howard and Dr. Carroll Miller.

In addition to the interviews, questionnaires were sent to 150 persons who graduated from Howard University between

1930 and 1960. Since Johnson was President from 1926 to 1960 the author assumed these persons were very likely to have 4 0 heard Johnson speak on at least one occasion.

The names and addresses of these persons were selected from the, Howard University Directory of Graduates

1870-1976. Howard graduates who live in the United States or United States territory were randomly selected from this directory in the following manner. Starting with the letter 33 A, the writer selected one page of names for each letter of the alphabet. From that page were selected the names and addresses of all living persons who had graduated between

1930 and 1960. This was done until 150 names had been col­ lected.^^ The writer estimated that 150 persons would con­ stitute an adequate sample from which generalizations about

Johnson's audience could be derived. A cover letter and questionnaire was forwarded to those persons.

Speeches Selected For This Study

The six speeches selected for this study are:

1. "Opening Address" of Dr. Mordecai W. Johnson, First Negro President of Howard University, at the beginning of the Autumn Quarter, Wednesday, September 29, 1926.

2. "Inaugural Address" of Mordecai Wyatt Johnson, Presi­ dent, Howard University, June 10th., 1927

3. "Christianity and Occidental Civilization", an address delivered at the Inter-Seminary Conference, Colgate- Rochester Divinity School, December 8, 1933.

4. Speech Presented at the 1950 CIO Convention, Chicago, 1950.

5. Speech to the Second Plenary Session of the Atlantic Congress, London, England, June 6, 1959.

6. Address to the Howard University Community Sunday Morning Chapel Service, Walter Rankin Chapel, Sunday October 25, 1964. 34 Rationale For Selecting These Particular Speeches

Selecting six speeches for analysis from among the extant speeches and sermons delivered by Johnson during his lifetime was not an easy task. The reasons certain speeches have been selected for analysis is now detailed.

These speeches span approximately four decades. The "Open­ ing Address" was given in 1926, the year of Johnson's appointment to the Howard Presidency. The final speech to be reviewed is a sermon delivered in 1964 by Johnson, four years after his resignation from Howard.

Some speeches in this study appeared at later dates in magazines and journals, but each was originally delivered

in an oral face to face setting. This study contends that oral communication differs from written communication to

the extent that the former is a more personal form of com­ munication . In oral communication both the verbal content

of the message and information about the speaker are data

the audience used in their interpretation of the message.

Arnold describes the response to oral communication as

being "as much empathie as critical What the speaker

seems to be partly determines whether or why we want to

accept his invitations to b e l i e v e . "44 ^he exclusively oral

nature of the six selected speeches is of primary importance

in their selection for analysis in this study. 35 Except in the cases of Johnson's "Opening Address" in the Fall of 1926 and his "Inaugural Address" in June 1927, the speeches were delivered on the average of eight years apart. The writer argues that in spite of this time span, a certain pattern in Johnson's a speaking was maintained over the years and can be seen and analyzed by the critic.

Johnson's "Opening Address at the beginning of Autumn

Quarter, September 29, 1926", was selected because it marks his first appearance before a Howard assembly as university

President. According to a report in the Washington D.C.

Tribune, a large number of people had turned out for the occasion and the faculty was quoted as referring to the

audience as the largest gathering of students, faculty members, alumni and visitors at any opening exercise at the 45 university. Because this message marks the starting point

of Johnson's Presidency of Howard, it seems necessary to

include it in this analysis. Johnson's inaugural message

must be regarded as an important rhetorical event for both

speaker and audience but for quite different reasons than

the "Opening Address". In the 1920's Black Americans were

actively struggling to demonstrate that they shared with

Whites a desire and ability to pursue higher education and

to accept positions of responsibility in the community and

in the nation. These historic features largely explain why

Johnson's appointment to the Howard Presidency was 36 considered one of the most important educational adminis­ trative appointments in the country.Perhaps it was a strong symbolic statement of the capacity of Black people to assume and carry out leadership functons.^^ The expectancy accompanying a speaking occasion marking that sym­ bolic appointment must have been magnanimous for both speaker and audience. The rhetorical situation put Johnson in the position of laying his case before "the people" and stating not only his personal goals for the institution, but also his desire to seek community and academic support for his task.

Newspaper coverage of the event indicates there were a great many more people interested in what Johnson would say in addition to the audience that actually heard the address.

That fact makes that speech a necessary selection for a person studying the oratory of Dr. Johnson. If the comments of several national journals are to be considered relevant, many eyes were on the event. The New York city Messenger called the appointment a fortunate one and described

Johnson as " a man of great force, scholarly attainments, vision and idealism."48 Christian Century made the 4 9 statement that the appointment was important "because it gives a remarkable man a chance to do a remarkable piece of work." This address like Johnson's "Opening Address" had to be a milestone in the history of Black America, and in the minds of the speaker and the audience who were parties to 37 that rhetorical situation marking the appointment of a

Black man to one of the top educational positions in the country.

The "Christianity and Occidental Civilization" address was delivered at the Inter-Seminary Conference at the

Colgate-Rochester Divinity School, one of Johnson's Alma

Maters. The speech is chosen because it represents Johnson's point of view on the role of Christianity in western civili­ zation. The views expressed here earned Johnson the reputa­ tion of being a person who urged his listeners to adopt the principles of Christianity regardless of the religion, group or organization to which they officially belonged.

Johnson was known to be a theologian who preached with­ out giving any inkling of religious bias.^^ Even though he was a minister in the Baptist Church, Johnson felt Christ­ ianity should be an ecumenical religion which reached all people at all times. At the base of his religious thought

Johnson was influenced by the Social Christian Philosophy of

Walter Rauschenbusch who was on the faculty of the Colgate-

Rochester School during the time Johnson attended.The

Interseminary Conference at which this speech was delivered had a special significance. It was held at the Colgate-

Rochester Divinity School and was attended by seminary students from various institutions primarily in the middle 38 Atlantic states, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The inter-seminary movement was a strong ecumenical force C2 among theological students in the 1930's.^

The fourth speech in the study, Johnson's speech at the Twelfth Constitutional Convention of the Congress of

Industrial Organizations, was delivered to a capacity audience at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago on November 23,

1950. Johnson spoke to an audience of approximately 500 delegates, representing 31 national and international unions,

36 state industrial union councils, 131 city and county industrial unions and 92 local industrial unions.

The speech was delivered during a time marked by great concern about communist influences in the United States.

Both the Congress of Industrial Organizations and the Howard

Faculty had been accused of being communistically inclined and inspired. Johnson was known for being very outspoken on the subject of academic freedom and he stoutly defended his faculty's freedom at all times. This speech was chosen because it offers a public statement by Johnson about the

role he saw the United States playing in combatting inter­ national communism. He saw the nation as establishing it­

self to be a benevolent and moral leader in the world.

The 1950 C.I.O. speech was so important as a statement of 39 the controversial subjects of communism and United States foreign policy that it was adapted for publication in the 53 national magazine, The Progressive.

Johnson was introduced to the audience by the Presi­ dent and Chairman of the C.I.O., Phillip Murray who stated;

"This convention and your officials are deeply honored today to have with us a great educator and a great friend of the common man. For nearly 40 years he has served the cause of decency and honor, often at great personal sacrifice to himself. While he is an ordained minister and the son of a minister, he has devoted most of his great ability to the education and guidance of youth He is truly a leader of the American people, and I take a personal honor in present­ ing to you this morning, Dr, Mordecai Wyatt Johnson,

President of Howard University.

The fifth speech chosen, was delivered at the Atlantic

Congress in London in June, 1959. It warranted selection because the speech provides the critic with a significant and different setting for assessing the Johnson oratory. In this instance Johnson addressed an international audience of about 650 distinguished citizens who represented 14 North

Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nations assembled in

London for the first Atlantic Congress. The Congress was aimed at developing greater unity within the Atlantic 40 community. Johnson was a member of the United States delegation to the Congress which numbered ten. He was also a member of the delegation's 15-man board of directors.

During the deliberations he served on the Congress' Free

World Committee. On the recommendation of the American delegation, the leaders of the Congress chose Johnson as one of five plenary speakers. The address he presented in

June 1959, was delivered on behalf of the Free World Com­ mittee. As one source reports, "many were moved (by the address) some with annoyance, but at its end the applause lasted for five minutes.

Johnson's sermon at the Walter Rankin Chapel in October

1964, the final speech chosen, was one of several sermons which he habitually delivered at Howard during his Presi­ dency. It is included in this study not only because of its

importance but because it was the only extant recording of

Johnson's speaking, the writer was able to locate. After

listening to the very positive remarks of persons who had heard Dr. Johnson speak, the critic realized the need to

uncover a recording of his speaking in order to hear

Johnson's voice and share as fully as possible the experience

of his oratory.

Analytical Procedures

The research procedures are conducted in three parts, 41 each aimed at fulfilling a distinct purpose. The first part of the analysis focuses on the form of Johnson's discourse, the second on the presentation of his discourse, and the third on the speaker-audience relationship.

Form of Discourse. Johnson's speeches are typically very lengthy.The six selected speeches were examined in

their entirety, for the purpose of identifying the use of particular rhetorical figures. The writer carefully reviewed

the content of the six speeches and then noted the frequency with which each rhetorical characteristic was used. Those

rhetorical characteristics which were identified include;

connective words, the present tense, myths, the imperative,

the singular, wit and ordinary language, allegory, demons­

trative adjectives, quotations, collective nouns, specific

names, metaphor, personification, the rhetorical question

personal pronouns and the use of repetition. These rhetori­

cal features were selected because they were cited by Kames,

Burke and Perelman as some of the formal devices which, if

C *7 used effectively, are capable of creating presence. After

identifying these rhetorical characteristics the critic

attempted to determine which characteristics were most con­

sistently used by Johnson, which characteristics had the

greatest potential for creating presence and which character­

istics constituted features typical of a "Johnson style of

oratory." 42 Presentation of Discourse. Questionnaries were sent to persons who heard Johnson speak. These persons were asked to identify particular non-verbal stylistic features of

Johnson's speaking which they thought were used by him to 58 accomplish his particular effect. The responses to these questionnaires have been analyzed so that limited general­ izations can be drawn about the possible effects those non­ verbal techniques might have had on the audience in terms of their potential for creating presence.

In this analysis, the focus is on finding general over­ all effects and responses rather than attempting to isolate particular incidents. As the only data which provide the writer with direct exposure to the Johnson oratory, the recorded sermon will be heavily relied on to provide the critic with additional information on Johnson's manner of presentation.

The Speaker-Audience Relationship. Data collected from questionnaires and interviews were also used to help the critic assess the possible speaker-audience relationship. Limited generalizations can be drawn about Johnson's potential for creating presence as perceived by his audience. The question­ naires seem to provide some opportunity for audience members to identify those characteristics they feel were in part 43 responsible for creating the particular effect Johnson had on his listeners. Target words provided in the questionnaire include some words developed from the literature review which can be accepted as stimuli for acknowledging the existence of "presence" and other words which have no relevance to the concept of presence. This procedure was used because it gave the critic the oppor­ tunity to rule out presence if in fact the effect of

Johnson's oratory could not be described by respondents in terms which approximate this rhetorical concept. The speaker-audience relationship would be incomplete without an assessment of speaker credibility. Johnson's credi­ bility is also discussed in this section.

Contents of the Chapters

The sequence of chapters allows a meaningful develop­ ment of answers to the research questions. Chapter two

examines the concept of presence and focuses on its place

in rhetorical theory. The purpose of the chapter is to

answer the question, "What are the characteristics of

Presence? What are its functions and probable effects in

rhetorical theory and practice?" The works of Lord Karnes,

Kenneth Burke and Chaim Perleman are reviewed in detail. 44 These theorists offer significant ideas about the concept of presence.

Chapter three focuses on Black oral communication as a rhetorical form which holds great potential for creating presence and on those experiences in Johnson's life might have predisposed him towards developing a rhetorical style which fostered and promoted the creation of presence.

In this chapter, particular attention is paid to the tradi­ tion of Black oral rhetoric and the characteristics of the

Black oral tradition which promote and create possibilities for establishing presence. It is proposed that Johnson, as a Black man, and an inheritor of that oratorical tradi­ tion, must have utilized some of these characteristics which in turn enhanced his potential for being an orator who was capable of establishing presence.

In chapter four, the verbal contents of Johnson's mes­ sages are examined in an effort to answer the question: "To what extent do the verbal contents of Johnson's speeches reflect the utilization of rhetorical methods which have the potential for creating presence?”. The critic here identi­ fies those rhetorical devices in Johnson's speeches which have potential for creating presence. The use of myths, personal pronouns and demonstrative adjectives are some of the devices. The discussion argues that because of the 45 particular contexts in which these rhetorical devices were used by Johnson, they were instrumental in the creation of presence.

In chapter five the non-verbal features which typified

Johnson's mode of presentation are analyzed and the relation­ ship Johnson had with his audiences is explored. The purpose here is to assess the potential of Johnson's non-verbal style for creating presence and to examine the speaker-audience relationship to determine whether Johnson's audience per­ ceived him to be an orator who was able to develop a rapport with them through his ability to create presence. The ques­ tions to be answered in this chapter are: (a) "To what extent do the non-verbal aspects of Johnson's oratorical style reflect the potential for creating presence?" (b)

"Can Johnson's audience describe his effect as an orator in terms which approximate the concept of presence?" Data for this chapter are derived from the interviews, question­ naires and a recording of one of Johnson's sermons. In this chapter Johnson's credibility is also discussed and the critic argues about its possible effect on Johnson's audience,

Chapter six provides a summary of the study, raises suggestions and draws conclusions. In addition, the chapter discusses how the study seems to enhance the general under­ standing of presence as a rhetorical phenomenon. The critic 46 then views the potential for additional study which can be generated to increase the knowledge of the rhetoric of Black

Americans and presence in rhetorical theory. 47

Footnotes

1. Carroll C. Arnold, The Criticism of Oral Rhetoric (Columbus, Ohio; Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co., 1974), p.3.

2. Ibid., p.3.

3. Marcus H. Boulware, The Oratory of Ne^ro Leaders: 1900-1968, (Westport, Conn.: Negro Universities Press, 1969). p. 73.

4. A thorough listing of the extant copies of Dr. Johnson's speeches can be found in: Mordecai Wyatt Johnson, A Bibliography of his years at Howard University: 1926-60 James P. Johnson, Janet L. Simms, and Gail A. Kostinko, (Moorland-Springarn Research Center, Howard University, Washington D.C., May 5, 1976).

5. In April, 1976, the author interviewed several persons at Howard University who had had contact with Dr. Johnson during his presidency and who had heard him speak on numerous occasions. These interviews bear out what the author has previously been describing as the distinctively oral nature of Dr. Johnson's communication. Dr. Michael Winston, the present Director of the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, commented that Dr. Johnson wrote little. According to Winston, Johnson prepared mentally for a speaking occasion, made brief notes, and spoke extensively and long. Dean Evans Crawford of the Walter Rankin Chapel had this to say: "Dr. Johnson did extensive mental preparation for his speeches, he actually seemed to over-prepare, so that he would have enough information to respond to the needs of his audience and have the freedom to give as much as was needed for the occasion."

"Longwinded," was Dr. Charles Thompson's response to the author's questions" 'What is your opinion of Dr. Johnson as an orator?' 48 Following is a list of some of the biographical work done on Dr. Johnson, a. J. A. Rogers, Five Negro Presidents (New York; (New York: Springer Publishing Co., 195Ô). b. Sterling G. Alford, Famous First Blacks (New York: Vantage, 1955). c. Harold C. Allen, Great Black Americans (New York: Pendulum, 1971). d. Cavalcade of The American Negro Federal Writers' Project, (Boston: Harvard University Press, 1975). e. Ralph W. Bullock, In Spite of Handicaps: Brief Biographies of Famous Negroes (New York: Association Press, 1927). f. Edwin R. Embree, Thirteen Against the Odds "Mordecai Wyatt Johnson, Lord High Chancellor." (New York: The viking Press, 1927).

8 Boulware, p. 73.

9' Interviews with Dr. Inabel Lindsay, Mr. James Clarke and Dr. Carroll Miller, Washington D.C., April 16, 1976

10. a. Henry Home, Lord Kames, has written extensively on they subject of presence in his book Elements of Criticism, Volumes I II & III (New York : Garland Publishing Co. Inc., 1972).

b. Kenneth Burke refers to the concept of presence throughout many of his works, see A Rhetoric of Motives and A Grammar of Motives (Berkley: University of California P r e s s , 1956).

c. Chaim Perelmen and L. Olbrechts-Tyteca discuss the role of presence in rhetorical argument in. The New Rhetoric (Notre Dame, Indiana: The University of Notre Dame Press, 1969). In future references to this book, only the first author's name will be used.

d. Lee Rhoads Buice, "The Concept of 'Presence' in selected Theories of Rhetoric," unpublished dis- ertation (University of Southern California, 1975).

11* Kames, p. 12.

12* Burke, Rhetoric of Motives, p. 21. See p. 6.

13. Perelman, p. 143.

14. Buice, p. 147.

15- Ibid., p. 147.

16. Kames, Elements of Criticism I, pp. 89-105. 49 3-7. Buice, "The Concept of Presence", pp. 106-109.

18. Burke, A Rhetoric of Motives, p. 21.

19. Ibid.

20. This notion is carefully developed by Buice in her discussion on Kenneth Burke, pp. 115-120.

21. Burke, Permanence and Change (New York: New Republic Inc., 1935). p. 50.

22. Burke, A Rhetoric of Motives, p. 55.

23. Perelman, The New Rhetoric, p. 52.

24. Ibid., p. 159.

25. Ibid., p. 117.

26. Buice carefully and with considerable detail discusses Perelman's focus on this subject. See Buice, pp. 157-160.

27. Ibid., p. 159.

28. Address of Mordecai Johnson, Walter Rankin Chapel, October 25, 1964.

29. Excerpt from the speech of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "Facing the Challenge of a new Age'. An address de­ livered on December 1956 in Montgomery Alabama. Dr. King was at the time quoting a poem by Douglas Mallock, in James Golden and Richard Rieke, The Rhetoric of Black Americans (Columbus, Ohio: Charles E. Merrill Pub. Co., 1971) . pp. 248-258.

30. Excerpt from. Inaugural Address of Mordecai Johnson, June 10, 1927.

31. James Farmer and Malcolm X, "Separation or Intergration", a debate before students of Cornell University, 1962. In Golden and Rieke, The Rhetoric of Black Americans, pp. 422-439.

32. Mordecai Johnson, Walter Rankin Address, 1964.

33. Perelman, The New Rhetoric, pp. 154-183.

34. Mordecai Johnson, Walter Rankin Address, 1964.

35. Kames, Elements of Criticism I, p. 105. 50 •30• Burke, Rhetoric of Motives, p. 55,

37. See the breakdown of responses in Chapter five of this dissertation.

38 Perelman, p. 20.

39. Dean Crawford was personal minister and religious adviser to the Johnson family. He was on hand to spir- tually support the Johnson family during the illnesses and deaths of both the first Mrs. Johnson and Dr. Johnson himself. Michael Winston was one of the principal coordinators of activités held in May 1976 to honor the 50th an­ niversary of the election of Dr. Johnson as President of Howard University.

40, It has already been mentioned that Dr. Johnson addressed the Howard community several times each year; at Commencement, at the start of the Fall quarter and some­ times on Sundays in the Walter Rankin Chapel.

41. Howard University Directory of Graduates, 1870-19761 (white Plains, New York: Bernard C. Harris Publishing Co. Inc., 1977).

42. The Howard directory was extremely helpful in identify­ ing deceased persons by placing ** next to their names.

43. Of the 150 questionnaires mailed, twelve were returned because of inccorect addresses. Fifty-nine were com­ pleted and returned and 81 were unanswered. A copy of the cover letter and questionnaire is in the appendix.

44 Arnold, Criticism of Oral Rhetoric, p. 12.

45 Washington D.C. Tribune, October 1, 1926, p. 11.

46. The Southern Workman, Hampton Virgina, September 1926.

47. Oportunity Magazine, New York, 1926.

48 The Messenger, New York, 1926.

49 The Christian Century and Christian Work, Chicago 1926.

50 Boulware, p. 76.

51. The Rochester Theological Seminary and the Colgate Theological Seminary were united in 1928 under the name of the Colgate-Rochester Divinity School. .. 51 Letter dated March 4, 1977 from Peter N. VandenBerge, Director of Library Services. Ambrose Swasey Library. Colgate-Rochester Divinity School.

^3. The Progressive, March 1952.

54. Proceedings of the Twelfth Constitutional Convention of the C.I.O., Nov., 20-24 1950, pp. 413-414.

55. Abstracted from. The Leadership of Mordecai Wyatt Johnson, Howard University, 192^-1960. A book compiled in tribute to the fifieth anniversary of the election of Dr. Johnson to the fiftieth presidency. The Moorland- Spingarn Research Center, Howard University, Washington D.C., May, 1976, p. 59.

56. The sermon delivered at the Walter Rankin Chapel in 1964, lasted two hours.

57" A detailed discussion of factors which may contribute to the creation of presence is found in chapter two.

58• A copy of the questionnaires which were administered will be found in the appendix. CHAPTER II

THE NATURE OF PRESENCE AND ITS RELEVANCE

TO RHETORICAL THINKING

This chapter examines the concept of presence and focuses on its place in rhetorical theory. The purpose of this chapter is to answer the question, "What are the characteristics of Presence? What are its functions and probable effects in rhetorical theory and practice?"

Rhetorical thinkers from Aristotle have expressed vary­ ing degrees of concern with the concept of presence and its importance in rhetorical theory. Presence has been des­ cribed as that particular set of characteristics which make discourse accomplish the ultimate rhetorical objective of

gaining the adherence of minds to the proposed ideas.^ The concept of presence seems largely understated in most rhetor­

ical works; at the same time one can see it as a unique

genre for critical study.

Kames in 1762 made explicit use of the term presence and was perhaps the first rhetorical thinker to treat it in consid- 2 erable detail. In recent times Kenneth Burke made implicit 52 3 53 reference to presence in his major works. In the late 1950's

Chaim Perelman and L. Olbrechts Tyteca offered the most thorough statement on the nature and functioning of presence to be found in the literature on rhetoric. Lee Rhoads Buice (1975) provided valuable information on how presence was treated in rhetorical theories in classical rhetoric, the rhetoric of the eighteenth century and in contemporary rhetoric.

Since Perelman, and prior to Buice, the concept of presence has remained somewhat dormant and perhaps antithetical to the vibrant function it supposedly serves in the rhetorical process.

Review of the works of Kames, Burke and Perelman serves both a revitalizing function and the function of providing answers to the principal questions of this dissertation,

"Can the effect of Johnson's speaking be attributed to his ability to create a spirit of presence?"

Each of the three theorists seems to have a distinctive approach to discussing presence as a rhetorical feature.

Yet these writers also share some important commonalities since they all stress the importance of style and language in their assessment of the nature of presence. This exam­ ination of the works of Kames, Burke and Perelman is simul­ taneously a review of their concept of presence and an 54 examination of their ideas on the nature and function of language and style in the rhetorical process.

The consensual implication derived from reading their works seems to be that one cannot exclude a discussion of

language from a discussion of rhetoric nor can one omit a discussion of language from a discussion of presence. A hierarchical statement of the focus of these works might be

arranged as follows:

SYMBOLS

LANGUAGE

RHETORIC

IDENTIFICATION

PRESENCE

This hierarchy establishes that the basic framework for

the discussion of presence and its relation to rhetorical

thinking emerges from a focus on the human ability to re­

spond to symbols and use language.

Presence in the Works of Lord Kames

The principal source for Kames' views on presence is

his three-volume work. Elements of Criticism, written in

1762. An appreciation for Kames's view on presence can be

enhanced by putting his work into its philosophical and

historical perspective. 55 The eighteenth century, the period during which Kames wrote, has been described by rhetoricians as "virile and in­

tellectually alive".4 Golden and Corbett tell us:

"It was a period characterized by intensive study of the classical tradition, a pervasive enthusiasm for the merely devloping empirical method, a committment to rationalism, a curiosity to understand human nature and man's relationship to God, a preoccupa­ tion with the origin and use of language, and an appreciation of the potentialities of persuasion as a force in democracy and in a Christian society.

Elements of Criticism grew out of this atmosphere of

virility, curiosity in human nature and concern with the

origin and use of language. Karnes's work exhibits a stong

focus on the nature of man and explores his potentialities

as a language-user. Unlike later theorists, Kames adopts

a highly prescriptive approach to language use. He has

distinct ideas about the "most effective ways of using

language". He devotes a great deal of his time to language

forms and stylistic formulas for accomplishing particular

effects,

Kames viewed any study of any aspect of human endeavor

as a study of man himself, his emotions and actions. He

saw philosophic and critical inquiry as definite ways of

"bringing the mind in contact with the most enticing sort

of logic.To him, criticism in particular was an impor­

tant part of any person's intellectual and educational

growth because it stimulated the exercise of judgement.^ 56 He felt very strongly however, that the rules of criticism should have a concordance with human nature because the critic is not simply an examiner of artistic output, but an evaluator and assessor of human nature.

To Kames, the critic is a person highly knowledgeable about human nature, and rules which are made to assess human nature, should reflect that wisdom and knowledge of human characteristics. In an interesting though perhaps elitist approach, Kames proposed that involvement and knowledge of the fine arts is central to human understanding, development and morality. In his view, the fine arts epitomized the expression of what is the highest level of human endeavor.

Yet, Kames's work is not simply a dedication to the

fine arts for the sake of the fine arts. He did considerably more than this. His reasons for highlighting the beauty of the fine arts go beyond the intellectualism and enjoyment they inspire.

Karnes's theory for the fine arts actually began with his

assumptions about man as a perceiver who experiences his world through his five senses. The assumption is that

nothing external is perceived unless it first makes an im­

pression on the senses of taste, touch, smell, sight or

hearing. Hearing and seeing are singled out as superior 57 senses because of the particular way they function. "With

seeing and hearing one is not misled to assign a wrong place to feeling from experience.... we therefore place feelings

in the mind where they really exist because of this,

sight and sound experiences are considered to be more spiri­ tual than experience derived from tasting, touching and

smelling.

The eye and the ear are above the other senses because

they bring more dignity to the individual, provide laudable

entertainment and promote individual dignity and spiritual

elevation. The eye and the ear have the singular capacity

to enjoy both organic and intellectual pleasures and they

serve to check and balance each other.

Kames's argument on the superiority of the senses of

seeing and hearing was not particularly unique. One would

find difficulty in isolating those forms of artistic endea­

vor and aesthetic pleasure which are not experienced in

some way through those two senses. In a very general way

one can attribute the enjoyment derived from a wide variety

of experiences as partially related to their visionary or

acoustical appeals.

Kames took his argument one step further and specifi­

cally listed three different media in the fine arts which 58 are highly capable of producing aesthetic pleasure because they are experienced through the superior senses of sight and sound. Those media are: theatre, discourse and paint­ ing. According to Kames, these media are capable of evoking passions and inducing pleasure because they rely on mental and not physical means of stimulation. It is from these broad premises that Kames proceeded to talk about presence and the means by which it might be created in oratorical and literary works. Kames discussed "ideal presence" and "real presence" with care.

"Ideal presence" is that which arises from an act of memory and is something of a 'walking dream'. When one is a spectator at an event one has a real conviction of the existence of the persons engaged in the event. One hears their words, one sees their actions. We rely on our senses

Q to tell us what we see or hear is 'true' or 'real'. When we have a recollection of that thing, we think of the cir­ cumstance in the way it happened first. When one recalls something therefore, it has neither past nor future. "A thing recalled to the mind with the accuracy I have been describing, is perceived as in our view and consequently presently existing.This kind of recollection is what

Kames labeled 'ideal presence'. As a dream it vanishes upon the first recollection of the present situation. 59 "Real presence", vouched by the eyesight commands one's belief not only during the direct perception, but in reflect­ ing afterward upon the object. "Ideal presence" may lean toward "real presence" or toward reflective remembrance. By speech, writing or painting an object or idea one might never have visualized may be made to seem present but an accurate description usually arouses one's attention and transforms one into a spectator.

Both through memory and through speech, emotions may be produced which are similar to those produced by an immediate view of the object. The ability of speech to lift the emo­ tions depends on the concept of creating the lively and distinct images that have been described here. The ability to create this distinct imagery, move the passions and throw them into reverie, is what Kames calls presence. Because presence depends on lively impressions, painting is subser­ vient to oratory as a means of evoking presence. While painting is limited by a canvas, reading, acting and oratory have the ability to reiterate impressions without end.^^

What Kames says about the capacity of linguistic sym­ bols to evoke sensory images and paint visual pictures can apply appropriately to discourse. Kames held the opinion that when words were used to paint visual images they were not encumbered by any mental or physical barriers and were thus likely to create presence in the fullest measure. 60 According to Kames, spoken language can create presence because it holds the potential for fully utilizing the des­ criptive, dramatic and unrestricted capacity of language to appeal to man's imagination and link ideas to his sensory nature. Kames stated that without presence, the finest speaker's attempts to move our passions would be in vain.

Kames also felt that since language held such a strong in­ fluence over the heart of the individual and society in general, since it moves people, bonds them, attracts them and indeed persuades them, the critic must be aware that it is a means of contributing to human beliefs. In a word,

Kames argued that beliefs can be affected by one who is able to create lively images and ideal presence.

In his second and third volumes Kames proceeded to offer an extensive set of rules for choosing the right words, using the most effective arrangement and for creating the emphasis and naturalness which contribute to presence. He stressed that clarity of language should always be of prime consideration. He contended that grand actions required elevated language while tender sentiments required soft and flowing words. He argued that grave subjects necessitated plain language and he maintained that one sentence should represent one thought. According to Kames, words expressing things related in thought should be placed close to one T 9 another, and that to "give the utmost force to a period. 61 it ought if possible to be closed with that word which makes the strongest impression.

The five figures named by Kames because of their capa­ city to create the clarity, conciseness, emphasis, natural­ ness and appropriateness which bring about presence were personification, hyperbole, apostrophe, simile and metaphor and allegory.

Personification is the attribution of human qualities to an inanimate thing.

"Oh willow tree, when will you sing your song for me?"

Kames calls personification a key figure because he feels

"the mind is prone to bestow sensibility on things inanimate," an effect which seems to gratify passion.

Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration in speaking. At times this figure may be extravagantly used and results in hollow bombast and absurdity. When used skillfully, it may effectively draw attention to the point being made.

"Any Negro who teached Negroes to turn the other cheek in the face of attack is disarming that Negro of his God-given right, of his moral right, of his natural right, of his intelligent right to defend himself. Everything in nature can defend itself, and is right in defending itself, except the American Negro."

Kames feels that hyperbole can also be skillfully used to involve the element of surprise. 62 Apostrophe can bestow a momentary presence on an absent object or person.

"______Fit to govern! No, not to live! O Nation miserable. With an untitled tyrant bloody-sceptered When shalt thou see thy wholesome days again Since that the truest issue of thy throne By his own interdiction stands accurs'd And does blaspheme his breed? Thy royal father Was a most sainted king; the queen that bore thee, Oft'ner upon her knees than on her feet. Died every day she lived. Fare thee well!^°

Simile and metaphor are effective means for drawing com­ parisons. Kames treats the two as one because he feels these

two figures differ more in form than in substance as is

evident in the following examples.

Simile; Richard is as strong as a lion.

Metaphor: Richard is a lion.

An allegory is a story based on a moral or truth which

is accepted by a particular group of people. The story of

'The Dog and It's Shadow' has been told to children for many

years to make them aware that they should safeguard the

things they possess before going after new possessions. In

Karnes's thinking, allegory has a gratifying effect on the

receiver because the representative subject when described,

depends for its effectiveness on the receiver's individual

recongition of that subject. 63 Shortcomings. One particular shortcoming of Kames's work is his neglect of the now common trend of thinking that what people see and hear physically is as much a factor of determining what is real as what the person as an individual

psychologically perceives. In other words, the way a person

interprets an experience is a mixture of what the person

brings to the situation and what the person finds there.

Karnes's approach to discussing the effects and poten­

tialities of language take no real exception to this factor.

Nor does his approach consider the many situational and con­

textual factors which would make the most well-prepared

speaker seem unattractive. The occurrence of unanticipated

events like death or illness can change a typically joyous

audience into a mellow group. In that case, the most drama­

tic and well-chosen speech will not move the audience unless

the speaker is able to address himself to the particular

experience of the audience and empathize with their present

condition.

Senator Robert F. Kennedy's speech on the occasion of

the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. provides an 19 excellent example of the need for this kind of adaptation.

Robert Kennedy was scheduled to address a group of supporters

on the occasion of the opening of a new Kennedy headquarters 64 in Indianapolis. This was to have been a joyous occasion and Kennedy's speech must have been appropriately planned.

However, on his way to Indianapolis, Kennedy received word that Dr. King had been assassinated. Kennedy handled this situation, not by ignoring the issue, but by facing it head on. In a solemn voice, he told his large audience: "I have bad news for you, for all of our fellow citizens and people who love peace all over the world, and that is that Martin

Luther King was shot and killed tonight."^0 As the predom­ inantly Black audience uttered gasps and cries of surprise,

Kennedy shared their grief by comparing this loss to a similar loss in his own family. He urged his hearers to pray for the King family, to pray for peace and to pray for a nation which they all loved.

By completely ignoring the influence of the audience and the situation on the speaker, Kames exemplifies the traditional S-R approach to rhetoric. His disregard of these important features of the rhetorical process, is a serious omission which greatly limits the value of his work.

Summary. Kames made a thorough survey of literary works in his effort to provide examples of what he considered good or poor language use. The opinions he expressed are obviously 65 the end product of the examination of a large body of data.

His survey argues the conviction that man has a strong need to communicate ideas and feelings to each other through the use of language, and that language has superior abilities and potentialities for communicating ideas in a strong and lively manner.

He suggests that lofty words be used to express lofty ideas and slow and smooth words used to express grief and malancholy. He pointed out that there are also differences in language based on sound and signification. Since the sound of the word is heeded before the signification, the speaker must be concerned with choosing those words that are most likely to have a pleasant appeal to the ear.

Kames also attributes much of the appeal of language to the fact that it is a medium of communication which is experienced through the senses of sight and hearing. Kames considered these two senses the superior senses, since in his opinion, they are mentally and not physically exper­

ienced. Kames particularly emphasized the possibility for creating presence in oral face to face settings because such settings particularly appealed to the senses of seeing and hearing.

Kames provided a specific set of rules for using the kind of language which makes the strongest impression and which is 66 capable of creating presence. Such language should be clear, concise, appropriate, emphatic and natural. What Kames referred to as presence is the power of language to arouse the attention of a listener through accurate and expressive description, so as to produce emotion in a receiver of the same kind as would be produced by an actual view of an object or event. Presence is therefore the ability to arouse emo­ tions and attention and transform the listener into a spectator.

Presence in the Works of Kenneth Burke

Of the three writers being reviewed Kenenth Burke seems to show the least outright concern for the concept of presence. Yet, its implications, its relevance and the im­ portance he assigns to it are difficult to miss while study­ ing his theory. Burke's ideas on presence are closely bound to his ideas on the nature of man. Burke views man primarily as a linguistic animal; one who is capable of using linguis­ tic symbols to create either unity or division, Burke cites the human linguistic system as responsible for creating hierarchies which lead to imminent societal division. These same symbols, however, have the capacity to induce identifi­ ai cation and produce cooperation and unity among men.

Burke establishes a strong relationship between the nature of rhetoric, the nature of language and the nature of 67 presence» In this study, his views on language and rhetoric precede his views on presence; the latter being, in Burke's discussion, a function of language use.

Burke views rhetoric in terms of function rather than

form. Rhetoric^ he claims, functions on every sphere of human endeavor, "For rhetoric as such is not rooted in any particular condition of human society, it is rooted in an

essential function of language itself, a function that is wholly realistic and is continually born anew; the use of

language as a symbolic means of inducing cooperation in

beings, who by nature, respond to symbols.

The ability of people to use symbols and respond to

symbols in the process of communication bears with it the

implication that symbol-using creatures can utilize their

symbols as a means of persuading each other. All language

therefore holds the potential for persuasion. This inher­

ently persuasive ability of language derives its strength

from the possibility for creating the "most correct" symbol.

The key to selecting the most correct symbol lies in the

ability of communicators to seek those identifications which

enhance the possibility for creating a consubstantiality

among men. 68 Even this notion of identification has its limitations.

If one talks of selecting 'perfect symbols', one also has to take into account the notion of 'perfect audiences', for whom those symbols are relevant.^3 The suggestion that there is a need for a system of 'full employment' in the United

States, whereby every able-bodied person who desires a job is potentially able to find one, might be interpreted differently by two different audiences.

An audience of Americans who all hold one or more jobs and have a stable and predictable income, could conceivably view the suggestion as superfluous. Their thinking could be:

"don't all people who desire jobs get them? Surely people without jobs are just lazy!" An audience of Americans who are largely unemployed or who have suffered frequent bouts of retrenchment from their jobs might think that at last someone really understood their unstable positions and was willing to do something to help alleviate the situation.

Burke himself recognizes that no set of symbols is perfect for an indefinite number of audiences. He points out that there are friendly audiences and there are hostile audiences and a rhetor must estalish one of these audiences as a point of reference. A communicator can use the same set of words ( symbols), to create identification or division in an audience depending on how he uses those symbols. 69 Burke reminds us therefore that any work which is

perfectly adapted in one situation, may by that very fact

be eliminated as perfect for another situation. Still,

Burke feels that a doctrine of consubstantiality, either

explicitly or implicitly, may be necessary to any way of

life. "For substance in the old philosophies was an act

and a way of life is an acting together; in acting together men have common sensations, concepts, images, ideas and

attitudes that make them consubstantial.Acknowledging

that consubstantiality is fostered through identification

admits an awareness that division and imperfection exist.

In a perfect world there would be no need for identification,

or communication, or rhetoric, for rhetoric functions to

improve the lives of men. A perfect society subsumes the

absence of a need for improvement.

In Burke's view, rhetoric therefore serves the realistic

linguistic function of providing ways of identification.

Rhetoric provides a means by which a society torn by divi­

sion and compartmentalization, may seek social cohesion.

A cursory look at Burke's publications shows the development

of this awareness of societal division. In this book

Permanence and Change (1932), Burke speaks of communication

in terms of ideal cooperation. Five years later in

Attitudes Toward History (1937), Burke characterized tactics

and patterns of conflict as typical of human associations. 70 By the time he wrote A Rhetoric of Motives (1948), human

society was blatantly referred to as a "barnyard with its 25 addiction to the scramble".

By this time Burke had also developed a means of deal­

ing with this divisiveness. In A Rhetoric of Motives he

asserts that identification must be compensatory to division

and subsequently his words focused on identification as a means of transcending differences, while still reminding the

reader of the scramble and the wrangle of which people are

a part. Identification, through a process of selecting the

best symbol became so fully a part of Burke's work, he con­

cluded that whereas persuasion was the key concept of the

old rhetoric, identification had become the key concept of 2 6 the new rhetoric.

Burke of course does not simply substitute identifica­

tion for persuasion. He sees identification as a crucial

concept encompassing persuasion. When Lee Buice comments on

this premise in her review of Burke she quotes him as saying

that linguistic symbols must communicate more than just

information. They must also communicate form and eloquence.

The latter term embodies emotion and tone, the former shows

patterns and realtionships.^8 71 Burke feels form is particularly important because it is the means of developing those patterns and relationships upon which human expectations depend. When human expecta­ tions are met, clarity of meaning is facilitated and a feeling of mutual sharing is promoted. Burke dwells heavily on the psychology of selecting the best form. He insists that form in language must do more than provide informa­ tion. Language must be able to utilize qualities such as speed and suspense to enhance its particular effect. Burke cites eloquence, meaning emotion and tone, as the perfect counterpart of form because it is capable of endowing common knowledge with elements of surprise and suspense.

Through eloquence, whether in prose or oratory, "a work may bristle with disclosures, contrasts, restatements with a difference, ellipses, images, aphorism, volume, sound-values, in short, all that complex wealth of minutiae which in their line for line aspect we call style, and 2 9 in their broader outlines we call form." Eloquence is

Burke's idea of reaching the highest point of one's emotions;

"it is a desire to make a work perfect by adapting it in every minute detail to racial appetites."^0 Burke therefore couples form and eloquence and makes them crucial contri­ butors to effective communication. These two concepts will be further elaborated to show the relationship Burke develops between form, eloquence and presence. 72 In Burke's writings, form, which is the means of developing clear patterns and meeting human expectations, has the ability to arouse the collaborative expectations of an audience and enhance the effectiveness of rhetoric.

Through a rhetor's knowledge of an audience and his subse­ quent uses of a form appropriate to that group, the opportunity exists for arousing expectations which members of that audience share or which are shared between speaker and audience. The example on 'full employment for all

Americans', which was mentioned earlier in this chapter can be again referred to, in order to clarify this statement.

The speaker who knows he is addressing an audience of fully employed and economically stable persons would utilize statistical data and quotations about the employment situa­ tion, made by sources whom that audience is likely to accept as credible. By making these adaptations, the speaker promotes a sense of participation in a shared idea. When people experience a feeling of participation in an idea, they tend to internalize the message received and attribute

it to their own thinking.

Burke equates this symbolic participation in a shared

idea with the workings of presence and he makes form a

crucial aspect of the principle of creating presence. Form

is the means of developing the patterns upon which human

expectations depend and is a medium through which presence 73 might be created. Form is that specific course of action a speaker takes to meet the needs of the situation with which he is faced. It is the special framework the speaker uses for building an argument, based on his assessment of the nature of the physical and psychological environment facing him. In the above example form consists of the use of relevant statistics and quotations which will create feelings of identification and engender the spirit of presence.

Although form and eloquence must be considered com­ plimentary to each other, form enhances eloquence because it promotes the use of those factors which foster identifi­ cation and arouse receptivity to ideas. While form provides the super-structure on which the argument is built, elo­ quence embellishes the argument with the spirit, movement, vivacity, tone and emotion which enhance the purpose of winning audience adherence.

This ability to enhance ideas is presence? the force which makes language real or true to its listeners and the means by which form, order, patterns, relationships and

identifications are meaningfully transmitted to audiences.

Some rhetorical features related to form and eloquence which promote the creation of presence are: imagery, concreteness,

synecdoche, metaphor and motonymy. Burke refers to these

figures as representational figures, because they are an 74 ideal means of serving man’s interests, and of perpetuating things which are representative of the truths and values people hold. Some of the special qualities of these three figures come from the ability of imagery to create identi­ fication, the ability of metaphor to stimulate the percep­ tion and the ability of synecdoche to have a strong potential for approximating reality.

A few interesting examples of the use of imagery, metaphor and synecdoche have been extracted from Theodore

Roosevelt's 1901 speech, "The Man with the Muck-Rake,"

"Over a century ago Washington laid the corner-stone of the Capitol in what was then little more than a tract of wooded wilderness here beside the Potomac.

This use of imagery may stimulate listeners to recall things they have personally experienced through the senses of sight, touch, hearing or smelling.

The term ’muck-rake' as used in this famous speech is itself a metaphor. It is used profusely in the following paragraph.

"In Bunyan’s Pilgrim's Progress, you may recall the description of the man with the muck-rake, the man who could look no way but downward, withthe muck-rake in his hand; who was offered a celestial crown for his muck-rake, but who would neither look up nor regard the crown he was offered, but continued to rake to himself the filth of the floor.^

The use of metaphor tends to make a message interesting and stimulates the listener to perceive those relationships which 75 the speaker desires. The development of an association here between muck-rakers and negative lowly persons is difficult to miss.33

Roosevelt's use of 'celestial crown' for heavens and

'fortunes' for wealth, represents the use of synecdoche in an effort to create a sense of reality.

"It is important to these people to grapple with the problems connected with the amassing of enormous fortunes, and the use of those fortunes, both corporate and individual, in business.

In the writer's own thinking, a hierarchy which cul­ minates in the concept of presence can also be traced in

Burke's work. That hierarchy may be presented as follows;

SYMBOLS

LANGUAGE

FORM

IDENTIFICATION

ELOQUENCE

PRESENCE

Symbols appear at the top of the hierarchy because Burke views man's symbol-using ability as that quality which distinguishes man from lower animals. While it is a means through which division is created it also holds the poten­ tial for promoting unity. Language is that specific set of rules man has developed for using symbols in a particular manner. Form refers to the manner in which language is 76 elaborated. In any one language, there is probably a variety of forms available for elaborating any one idea.

The need for identification, which is the means for promot­ ing unity, assists the individual in selecting the form which he considers most appropriate for a particular occasion. While identification strengthens form, eloquence dresses language with the necessary force emotion and vitality which fortifies an argument, wins the attention of the audience and engenders their participation in the ideas being expressed. This end result is presence.

The possibility exists that through negligence, lack of awareness or misperception a communicator makes errors in selecting the appropriate form and means of identifica­ tion for reaching an audience. This by no means suggests a weakness in the hierarchy itself. Rather, it suggests that speakers who wish to have a strong impact on an audience must devote some effort to studying that audience and, based on this study, choosing the best methods of reaching their goals. The hierarchy presented is not for the purpose of

showing clear distinctions between symbols, language, form,

identification, eloquence and presence. If strict divisions

are formed this hierarchy will become only a meaningless

1st. The purpose here is primarily to propose and present

the winter's interpreation of relationships in the develop­ ment of presence in Burke's writings. 77 Summary. While the concept of presence is not explicitly stated in Burke's work, it figures in an implicit way in that author's view of man, society and language. Linguistically, presence is the force that enables symbols to approximate reality. Presence is also the force for bringing about consubstantiality among men. Consubstantiality is brought about when a rhetor uses those forms and patterns to which his audience can relate. The form a rhetor selects is en­ hanced through the kind of eloquence which stirs the emotions of the audience. In short, a rhetor's proper choice of symbols is central to bringing about mutuality

among people and creating presence.

Burke emphasizes verbal style (form) much more than he

does non-verbal style (eloquence). Even so, he does not

underestimate the importance of non-verbal style as an

important contributor to the creation of presence. Form

and eloquence play an important role in Burke's discussion

of presence, for it is through these channels that a rhetor

selects the "perfect symbol", identifies with his audience

and creates presence. According to Burke, it is through

man's "proper use of symbols", through the perfecting of his

symbol-using abilities that unity and social harmony are

brought about. Any such state of perfection, temporary

though it may be, depends on using the kinds of symbols with 78 which one's receivers can identify. In Burke's work, identification is the principal medium through which presence might be achieved. However, identification encom­ passes the use of all formal stylistic features and non­ verbal characteristics which can promote a feeling of mutuality between speaker and audience.

Unlike Kames, Burke does not ignore the audience. In­ stead, he regards audiences as entities of great importance in the process of identifying, selecting perfect symbols and creating presence. Presence in Burke's work, is the force by means of which imagery, concreteness and identifi­ cation are used to move an audience, fulfill their expecta­ tions and elicit their participation in a shared rhetorical event.

Presence in the Work of Chaim Perelman

Of the three authors reviewed here, Perelman provides the most holistic view of the concept of presence. In

The New Rhetoric, Perelman strongly and carefully details the function and role presence may serve in the rhetorical process. He also discusses the relevance of presence to his perspective on philosophy, rhetorical reasoning, argu­ mentation and language. Perelman, in subtitling The New

Rhetoric, "A Treatise on Argumentation", is expressing his 79 concern with the way arguments are formulated, and the effects different kinds of arguments might have on listeners.

Perelman's work includes a focus on both oral and written rhetoric because he feels that in our contemporary world, people are exposed not only to oral messages, but to a preponderance of written works as well.^^ Since written and oral messages are both addressed to audiences, both types of messages deserve consideration in a study of rhetoric. Since audiences are the receivers and processors of written and oral messages, attention should also be paid to audiences.

A major concern of Perelman*s work is this audience- centered approach which stresses that the creation of presence is contingent upon the particular interaction of rhetor and receiver. Nowhere does he imply that presence can be created in abstraction. In fact, Perelman insists that "it is not enough indeed that a thing exist for a person to feel its p r e s e n c e . "36 Rather he posits that presence is created through a rhetor's conscious or sub­

conscious application of those principles and techniques which will make the subject matter of rhetoric seem real to

the receiver. If the rhetor's purpose is to gain the ad­ herence of minds he must adapt himself to the audience he

addresses in order to fulfill this purpose. An important

part of the rhetor's role then, is to devise the kinds of

arguments for which he thinks he will win audience adherence, 80 Before proceeding, some important aspects of Perelman's discussion must be restated here, to clarify the ensuing dis­ cussion. Perelman views rhetoric as a process which aims to gain the adherence of minds to its proposed theses.

According to Perelman, a rhetor may gain the adherence of minds through the use of arguments which are relevant to that audience ?nd which might move that audience. Presence is central to rhetoric and argumentation because it is the means by which the argumentative purpose of gaining adher­ ence is achieved.37 This discussion of Perelman's ideas includes a discussion of the importance of audiences, a discussion of argumentation and a discussion of factors which may in particular circumstances create presence.

Perelman's treatise is mainly concerned with the dis­ cursive factors which lead to the creation of presence.

Because of this, much attention is paid to language as a means of persuading and convincing. Since a theory of argument is a theory of the means by which discourse might act on the minds of men and some degree of persuasion must take place before there is "action on minds", Perelman is also concerned with the argumentative schemes which come 3 8 into play in the process of persuading. His treatise on argument is not concerned with forming strict categories and rules to which rhetors must adhere, but with "the things which move men, whatever those things are."^^ 81 Perelman notes that traditional epistemologies do not have the capacity to affirm much of what human beings hold to be

'true' or 'real'. What is true and what is real to human beings is based upon those opinions, appearances and impres­ sions which individuals perceive to be most likely. Such perceptions and observations are not easily subject to the quantitative verification which forms the substance of these traditional epistemologies.

Perelman feels that the burden rests on rhetorical arguments to validate such beliefs, perceptions and observa­ tions. Presence is that quality in rhetorical argumentation which holds the capacity to fulfill the need of making the subject matter of discourse seem near at hand. To engage in successful argumentation a person must therefore attach some importance to gaining the adherence of his interloctuor and receiving his assent and mental cooperation. Although by listening, people display a willingness to eventually accept a point of view, the notion that "facts speak for themselves" is a fallacy. For argumentation to develop, validity must be given it by those to whom it is directed.

If the ideas expressed have little relevance for an audience, those ideas will largely be ignored. Poor people for instance will show little interest in an arguemnt based on the taxa­ tion problems of the wealthy. 82 Argument in Perelman's terms in not just the reasons offered for or against something. Argument is the means by which one wins the adherence of minds. To achieve this end, one must know one's audience, one must be able to relate to the audience one wishes to influence and one must be aware of the particular social and cultural factors which distinguish an audience. Knowledge of an audience is

also knowledge of how to influence that audience.What

the speaker regards as true or important is not nearly as

important as knowledge of the views of those being

addressed.

Although Perelman emphasizes the importance of the

audience in argument and the necessity for communicators

to adapt to audiences, he also raises the question of the

possible clash between the necessity of adapting and the

value of expressing one's own inner feelings. In dealing

with this ambivalence Perelman indicates that audiences

play a major role in determining the quality of argument

which is addressed to them. He proposed that communicators

are not free to delude audiences or engage in deceptive,

dishonest communication at their own whim and fancy.

Audiences, through their continuous processing of the infor­

mation received, act as a check and balance system against

both self deception and audience deception. 83 The common adage: "You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time" epitomizes the essence of this statement. When the subject of the break-in at Democratic Headquarters in the Watergate Hotel first came to the attention of the

American public in 1972 via the news media, President

Nixon's efforts to vindicate himself of any involvement in that event were accepted by approximately 60% of all

Americans.As the issue became more pronounced and

investigations led to the uncovering of new data which conflicted with President Nixon's statements, the degree

of public trust in the President gradually eroded. When

the President announced his resignation on August 9, 1974,

only 28% of the American public believed that he had no

knowledge of the events associated with the "Watergate

break-in".43

Audiences are not passive sponges waiting to soak up

information they receive. Audience members process infor­

mation and make choices about which messages are acceptable

or not acceptable to them. This is not to deny that people

typically prefer to hear things which reinforce the beliefs

they already hold. Examples in this chapter uphold that

position and even suggest that orators who wish to achieve

a good rapport with an audience, should, and do use these

points of agreements to bring about a positive result. 84 Drawing on the teaching of Demosthenes/ Perelman informs that orators never make audiences good or bad, but audiences make orators whichever they choose. People do not typically aim at what orators wish, but orators and communicators in general aim at what people wish. The argument presented earlier in the review of Burke, that identification has precedence over persuasion, strongly expresses this point of view.

George Wallace, in his numerous appearances on the

American political scene has typically addressed "friendly" audiences. He chooses to preach his doctrines of fear and racial segregation to audiences who are partial to those ideas. Wallace's 1964 speech in Lake County, Hammond

Indiana is one such example.To this all-White audience of blue collar workers, George Wallace was a champion. They cheered wildly as he gave his own erroneous interpretation to the 1964 Civil Rights Act and promised to put the nation 45 "back on the road to sanity." The fifty Black pickets who quietly marched outside the hall with signs which denounced Wallace's presence, were largely ignored.

In the 1960's Stokely Carmichael was known to deliver one kind of address to "White Liberal audiences" and another kind of address to "Black audiences". In Carmichael's speech to the Black students at Morgan State College on

January 16, 1967, he urged his audience to be more 85 responsible, to read more and stop immitating the White 46 man. Here, Carmichael even used some contemporary Black

jargon which strengthened his bond with this younger

audience, and he hurled a few insults in the direction of

the White press.

In his speech to the Episcopal Theological School of

Boston Massachusetts in 1966, Carmichael used no objection­

able language or contemporary slang. His mission here was neither to exhort nor to elevate. As he said to a group of

Black Muslims; "When I speak to White universities they are

paid engagements. We need money to operate, brothers and

sisters. These are the hard facts of life."^?

The audience therefore plays a major role in determin­

ing the quality of the argument and the behavior of orators.

Perelman also states that a communicator is always at

liberty to relinquish the persuasive attempt if he feels

it can only be achieved through methods which are repugnant 4 8 to him. Perelman has established that the nature of the

audience to which an argument is addressed determines both

the direction the arguments will take and the character and

significance which will be attributed to those arguments.

Thus far, adaptation by the speaker to the audience has

been stressed as an important factor in bringing about the 86 'adherence of minds'. Yet, because argument is selective,

Perelman claims that some means of communication are more effective than others in bringing about presence and win ning the adherence of minds. Perelman suggests, that in the process of seeking agreements a rhetor must choose those elements and methods which would make the argument

'present' to the receivers and bring about agreement.

Perelman cites several factors which are influential in making argument present. The use of facts and truths, values, interpretation and repetition are some of these.

Perelman lays particular emphasis on repetition and suggests that the use of repetition, either by dwelling on the subject for a lengthy period of time; by going into great detail through telling myths and legends which recount and repeat the cultural values of the community addressed; or through the use of rhetorical figures which use repetition

as their basic technique, fosters the creation of the spirit _ 49 of presence.^

The prominent idea here seems to be that those who

speak briefly enter only a little into the heart of the

listener.50 The notion of a courtship through which a lover

endears himself to the object of his affection is perhaps a

favorable analogy for demonstrating that repetition seems

to have some effectiveness. 87 Through successful research in the field of speech communication the notion that persuasion, adherence or action rarely result from an innoculation process in which one message brings about one effect, has become more acceptable. The notion that a long term campaign which systematically and continuously rises above the numerous distractions the listener faces, now has greater acceptabil­ ity. Wallace Fotheringham speaks of messages which have to

"stimulate the sensory system in order to arouse meaning," and eventually bring about action.Repetition is useful in facilitating this goal of arousing the sensory system.

The mass media daily exemplify this theory by exposing their benumbed audiences to daily doses of aspirin, coke, tooth­ paste and beer. The skillful use of repetition turns out to be an excellent strategy for any communicator. When clothed in the garments of appropriate rhetorical figures, repetition can function well in stimulating awareness, encouraging participation and creating presence.

According to Perelman, several other linguistic fea­

tures influence the interpretation that is given to data

and facilitate the creation of presence. The mention of

specific times, places and persons is important here. The

use of a natural or ordinary speaking style may enhance

credibility and promote agreement on ideas.52 Conjunctions,

the imperative, the interrogative, the present 88 tense, the first person, the singular rather than the plural, demonstrative adjectives over the definite article

and the use of rhetorical figures are all important because of their potential capacity to create presence. Examples of how these grammatical and linguistic forms might function in discourse to bring about presence were provided in chapter one.

Rhetorical figures feature strongly in Perelman's whole discussion of factors which may contribute to effective argumentation. Perelman even isolates those figures which are important because they are ideal for creating presence

and communion. They are; anaphora, which is the repetition of the first two words in two successive sentences; aggre­ gation, which is the amplification of a theme through enumeration; and interpretation, which refers to the elabora­ tion of an idea through further explanation. Examples of how these figures might function to create presence were

also given in chapter one.

The inclusion of figures in the expression of a rhetorical point of view is by no means novel or exclusive to

Perelman. Perelman, however, does express a unique point of

view on the use and potential of the rhetorical figure.

Perelman suggests that a given figure does not always produce

the same effect in argumentation. It has been stated that

figures which reflect repetition have a great likelihood of 89 creating presence. Yet, a figure may have the form of repetition but its purpose might be to suggest a distinction.

In this case the effect of presence is subordinated to another purpose. One such example quoted in Perelman's own work is, "Corydon ever since has for me always been

Corydon."53 The use of repetition here is more for the pur­ pose of creating a distinction then for creating presence.

Perelman is clearly trying to show the critic that the creation of presence is not simply contingent upon the number of times that connective words, specific names or figures employing repetition are used by a speaker. The particular function a given figure or linguistic device serves in its particular context is a more important factor in determining presence.

In Perelman's view rhetorical figures do not always create presence. At times they may create communion, at other times they may function to impose a choice.While quotations, maxims, proverbs and the oratorical question may frequently function to create presence, when their primary purpose is to emphasize common cultural orientations and common values which the audience shares, their purpose is merely one of creating communion. Two examples are offered;

"Are we not all of one being with the Father who sent us?"

"Are we not all Roman citizens?" 90 Perelman suggests that the above two quotations are more likely to create communion than presence. This point of view makes the subject of rhetorical figures, as treated by

Perelman, a very complex one. Whether a critic can make clear distinctions between figures which create presence and those which create communion is a question which is raised and discussed in the ensuing pages.

Perelman's distinctions between rhetorical figures based on the various roles they may serve in argumentation raises an important question about the relation of these new categories to some earlier statements he has made about the importance of adapting messages to audiences to achieve communion, create presence and gain the 'adherence of minds'.

By sharply distinguishing figures according to their capacity to either bring about the effect of presence or the effect of communion, he implies that presence and communion have to be distinguished as separate rhetorical effects. On the contrary, the writer sees presence and communion as intermediary steps in the rhetorical process. While the purpose of rhetoric is to gain the adherence of minds through the use of argument, the purpose of presence is to vivify and energize argument; to make argument so real that receivers experience an active and participative role in the discourse and come to accept the premises of the argument. 91 Communion, or "identification", as Kenneth Burke terms the concept is not unrelated to presence, but is an intricate part of the purpose of 'making argument real'. Audiences have to be able to relate the statements of communicators to their own frame of reference and to their own particular situations before they can be moved by those arguments. An assured way of doing this is through their ability to share ideas and orientations with a source, in the spirit of communion.

In all likelihood, an audience's ability to establish communion with a source could take place prior to and at the same time as that argument is made to seem real to them and is internalized by them. The writer finds it difficult to accept the position that communion and presence take place

at different times and are brought about by completely

different effects.

The importance of communion or identification as a

feature which is central to the creation of presence has

been suggested by Lord Kames and has received central impor­

tance in the works of Kenneth Burke. For these resons, even

though a rhetorical figure might seem to be more effective

in creating communion it will not on that account, be viewed

as being incapable of also creating presence. 92 Perelman's work has included a large amount of infor­ mation on how particular presentational techniques may

function in argument to create a sense of presence. His work, however, does not fall into the prescriptive formulae

evident in Kames's, Elements of Criticism. Perelraan feels

that figures, grammatical forms and any other discursive and

presentational techniques are more important for the effect 55 they are capable of creating, than as verbal appendages.

Perelman points out that many of these forms, although

highly capable of creating presence, may simultaneously or in

other contexts serve other purposes.

Perelman stresses that his emphasis on ways of creating

presence is not an attempt to separate the form of discourse

from its substance. Nor is it an emphasizing of stylistic

structures and figures independently from the purpose they

serve in discourse. Rather, his focus on presence is an

approach to suggesting a means whereby "a particular pre­

sentation of (the) data establishes agreement at a certain

level, impresses it on the consciousness with a certain

intensity, and emphasizes certain of its aspects."^6

Summary. Chaim Perelman defines presence as the ability

of a language-user to make an argument so real that receivers

identify with the message, experience an active and 93 participative role in the discourse and come to accept the premises of the argument presented. In his discussion of presence Perelman pays special attention to audiences since they are the perceivers and processors of messages. To engage in successful argument, Perelman feels that great importance must be attached to gaining the adherence of the receivers and gaining their assent and mental coopera­ tion.

Congruent with the idea that speakers must know their audiences and be constantly aware of them, Perelman promotes the notion of selecting the most appropriate argument for moving a particular audience. To this end he cites several

factors which are influential in fortifying an argument and making that argument 'real' to the audience. Some of these

factors include the use of facts, truths, values, repetition,

figures of speech, conjunctions, the imperative, the

interrogative, the present tense and the first person.

Perelman singles out the role figures of speech may

play in creating presence and stresses the importance of

figures utilizing repetition in the creation of presence.

He also mentions under a separate heading, those figures

which may create a spirit of communion with an audience.

The writer suggested the possibility that since presence

and communion might take place under similar circumstances, 94 that those figures Perelman vies as being more related to communion should be included in the critical analysis.

Chapter Summary

In this chapter, a strong relationship has been developed between the nature of man as a symbol-using animal, the nature

of language, the nature of rhetoric and the nature of presence.

It has been established that rhetoric functions in every

sphere of human activity, because it is a means of using

symbols to bring about cooperation and persuasion among

symbol-using beings. In order for human beings to interact

meaningfully, they must be able to identify with each other

through the use of symbols which are relevant and common.

The works of Lord Karnes, Kenneth Burke and Chaim

Perelman have been discussed because these three men have

done extensive work on the nature of presence. Of the three

authors, Kenneth Burke is the most expressive in the area

of seeking commonalities among people. He calls this idea

"identification", and stresses its importance to effective

rhetoric and in the creation of presence. Yet, both Karnes

and Perelman also subscribe heavily to this point of view.

Karnes proposed the selecting of the most appropriate words

or forms of expression to convey an idea. Perelman stresses

awareness of the audience and the selecting of those symbols

which are perfect for a particular audience. 95 Karnesf Burke and Perelman all seem to think that presence can best be created through a rhetor's attention to the form of his presentation, his naturalness, emphasis, clarity, his eloquence and through identification. However, these char­ acteristics must be used in a manner which appeals to the sen­ sations and emotions of the audience in order for presence to be created. It is the opinion of these authors that spoken language has great potential for creating presence because it can utilize the descriptive, dramatic and unrestricted capacity of language to appeal to man's imagination and link ideas to his sensory nature.

The central idea created in this chapter is that through a particular and effective use of words and actions, human emotions can be aroused, a sense of participation can be established, messages are internalized and receivers can experience a deep sense of involvement in a rhetorical event.

This symbolic participation in a shared idea is called presence. Awareness of one's audience and identification with that audience seem to be primary factors in the crea­ tion of presence.

Some rhetorical characteristics which may be used to create presence include figures of speech such as hyperbole, simile and metaphor, personification, allegory, and 96 synechdoche. These figures all have the capacity to create imagery through identification while still maintaining a level of concreteness which approximates reality. Other linguistic features which may create presence include the use of myths, values, repetition, conjunctions, the imperative, the interrogative, the present tense and the first person.

Presence then, is that quality in rhetorical argument which has the ability to fulfill the need to make the subject matter of discourse seem near at hand. This is accomplished when a speaker, through speech and action arouses in receivers, emotions which are similar to those produced by an immediate view of the object or event being described.

Speech which utilizes lively and distinct images is capable of creating this effect. Footnotes

Perelman, The New Rhetoric, p. 75.

2• Karnes, Elements of Criticism.

3» Kenneth Burke, Counter Statement (Chicago; University of Chicago Press, 1933). Kenneth Burke, Philosophy of Literary Form; Studies in Symbolic Action (New York: Vintage Books, 1947). Kenneth Burke, Permanence and Change (Los Altos, California: Hermes Publications, 1954). Kenneth Burke, A Grammar of Motives (Berkley: University of California Press, 1956). Kenneth Burke, Language As Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature and Method (Berkley: University of California Press, 1966).

James L. Golden and Edward P. J. Corbett, The Rhetoric of Blair, Campbell and Whately (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston Inc., 1968), p. 6.

5. Ibid., p. 7.

6. Kames, Elements of Criticism I, p. 9.

7. Ibid., p. 10.

8. Ibid., pp. 2-7.

9. Ibid., pp. 105-106.

10. Ibid., p. 107.

11. Ibid., p. 118.

12. "Period" in this context means sentence.

13. Kames, Elements of Criticism II, p. 318.

14. Kames, Elements of Criticism III, p. 55.

15. Excerpt from an interview with Malcolm X Clark, in James Golden and Richard Rieke, The Rhetoric of Black Americans, (Ohio: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co. 1971), p. 4l7. 16 Macbeth, Act IV Scene III. lines 103-111. 98 17 Kames, Elements of Criticism, III, pp. 108-111. 18 Ibid., p. 113. 19, Christian Science Monitor, Saturday April 6, 1968, P. B18. 20 Ibid., P. B18.

21 . Burke, A Rhetoric of Motives, pp. 21-22. 22 Ibid., pp. 43-44. 23 Burke, Counter Statement, pp. 179-181. 24, Burke, A Rhetoric of Motives, p. 21. 25, Ibid., p. 60. 26, Burke, "Phetoric, Old and New", Journal of General Education, (1951), p. 64. 27, Burke, A Rhetoric of Motives, p. 55. 28 Buice, "Presence", pp. 121-128. 29, Burke, Counter Statement, p. 38. 30, Ibid., p. 31. 31, The full text of this speech appears in Arnold's Criticism of Oral Rhetoric, pp. 291-297. 32, Carroll C. Arnold, Criticism of Oral Rhetoric, p. 291. 33, Carroll Arnold also provides some valuable insight on how the use of imagery and metaphor can enhance oratory. See Oral Rhetoric, pp. 164-182. 34 Arnold, Oral Rhetoric, p. 295. 35 Chaim Perelman, The New Rhetoric, p. 6. 36, Ibid., p. 117. 37, Ibid., p. 123. 38, Ibid., p. 8. 39 Ibid., p. 13. 40, Ibid., pp. 17-18. Chaim Perelman, The New Rhetoric, pp. 20-23.

42. New York Times, December 12, 1972, p. 20.

43. New York Times, August 11, 1974, p. 25.

44. For an interesting commentary on this speech read, John J. Makay, "George C. Wallace: Southern Spokesman with a Northern Audience" in John J. Makay ed. Exploration in Speech Communication, pp. 340 - 347. 45, Ibid., p. 344.

46 See the full text of Stokley Carmichael's "Speech at Morgan State College", January 16, 1967, in Carroll C. Arnold's Criticism of Oral Rhetoric, pp. 343-355.

47. Pat Jefferson, " 'Stokley's Cool': Style", in Exploration in Speech Communication, p. 351

48. Chaim Perelman, The New Rhetoric, pp. 23-24.

49. Ibid., p. 146.

50. Ibid., p. 144.

51. Wallace Fotheringham, "The Study of Persuasion", in J. J. Makay Ed., Exploration in Speech Communication, p. 153.

52. Chaim Perelman> The New Rhetoric, p. 153.

53. Ibid., p. 175.

54. Ibid., pp. 174-177.

55. Ibid., p. 172.

56. Ibid., p. 143. CHAPTER III

THE BLACK ORAL TRADITION AND MORDECAI JOHNSON

This chapter focuses on two closely related questions.

(1) What features and characteristics typify the Black Oral

Tradition and to what extent do these characteristics hold the potential for creating presence? (2) What experiences in Johnson's life seem to have led to the development of his particular rhetorical style, and to what extent does this speaking style exemplify the influence of the Black Oral

Tradition and hold possibilities for creating presence?

The Black Oral Tradition

It is pertinent here, to provide a brief review of the history and nature of Black Oral Rhetoric, because of its contribution to the larger oral tradition, and because of the possibility it holds for creating presence. It must also be noted, that Mordecai Johnson, by being a Black man, and the son of a Baptist minister, was a direct heir to the Black

Oral Tradition. As a consequence, this section on Black oratory bears dual significance.

100 101 Black oratory is and has always been the "keel of the

Black experience."1 Black oratory has always been a channel

for voicing social ills and injustices against Black peoples

and oppressed peoples and it has always provided the uplift- ment and encouragement which Black people the world over have

needed and sought in their struggle against oppression.

Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Paul Robeson,

W. E. B. Du Bois, Dr Mordecai Wyatt Johnson and Dr. Martin

Luther King Jr., were not merely Black orators who could wield a word wisely and skillfully. They were people who

were renowned for their scholastic achievement, as well as

their abilities to electrify audiences with their vivid

and eloquent speeches. More than either of the aforementioned

reasons, these individuals were important harbingers of

social change and social justice for Black people in the

United States and in the entire world.

One might be tempted to question the preponderance of

oratorical skills among a people who have traditionally

struggled to obtain minimum educational requirements. Alex

Haley reminds us in the foreword to Boulware's book that

orators need not be formally educated and that oratory has

traditionally been considered a natural gift even among

illiterate people. Quoting Carter G. Woodson, Haley writes,

"oratory requires no other equipment than fluency of speech

and self confidence. Although several of the Black orators 102 referred to in this chapter have attained high standards of academic excellence in some of this country's most disting­ uished institutions, these persons represent but a small portion of those who have put their mark on the Black oratorical tradition. There is also a large group of unschooled, unlettered orators to whom Bruce Rosenberg refers as the "American Folk Preacher".^

This latter group and the former group of orators are united by the fact that in their own everyday lives they shared fully their audiences' trials and despairs. Regard­ less of their origins or education, they provided their people with the motivation, the endurance and the hope they have always needed. They could suit word to action and skill­ fully use eye, body, gestures and voice to reach the souls of men.5

Both the lettered and the unlettered group of Black orators have derived their nurturing and their primary oratorical experiences from the Black Church, which has

continuously been one of the most important institutions of

the Black race. For the Black man the church was "his

school, his forum, his political arena, his social club, his

art gallery and his conservatory of music.The church

functioned as a central feature of Black life and the preacher 103 has always enjoyed and still enjoys the status of being a leader in the Black community.

The church therefore is the source of much of the oratory to which Blacks have traditionally been exposed.

The Black church through its preachers have provided the

Black community with specific role models of 'the stuff of which leaders are made.' Successful Black preachers are typically charismatic, good orators and active community leaders. Charisma is vital to their preaching roles, and they are never considered leaders unless they are also 7 stong and effective preachers.

The Black pulpit has been a stage for the unfurling of Black oratory of the highest calibre and it has been a principal source for providing Blacks through the ages with role models of the "effective Black orator." While pulpit oratory is in itself an important aspect of Black oratory, strong characteristics of pulpit oratory are identifiable

in the rhetoric of most personalities in Black American history who have been recognized as symbols of effective

Black oratory.8

The writer proposes that some of the factors which con­

tribute to the creation of effective Black oratory are 104 derived from Black preaching. The study will now identify and describe some of the various characteristics of Black preach­ ing and discuss their potential for creating presence.

Characteristics of Black Preaching

In the previous section two kinds of Black preaching have been identified. That of the academically trained preacher characterized by Howard Thurman (theologian),

Benjamin E. Mays (educator), Mordecai Johnson

(educator/administrator) and Joseph Jackson, president of the

National Baptist Convention which has 5.25 million members.^

These persons were an outstanding mixture of journalist, ora­ tor, preacher, social reformer, theologian and administrator.

They have all achieved national acclaim in their own right, were well known and well respected by members of both the

Black and the White community, had influence beyond their own areas and locales and had completed several years of formal education.

However, it is very likely that the earliest beginnings of Black preaching find their roots in another lesser known, unschooled kind of Black preacher. This is the 'folk preacher' whom Rosenberg described as a 'spiritual' preacher as opposed to a 'manuscript' preacher. The folk preacher 105 represents an extant oral tradition which is vigorous, wide­

spread in the United States and predominantly Black.This

•spiritual' preacher historically marks the beginning of

Black preaching in America.

Rosenberg's findings on the characteristics of this preacher has profound importance to this paper. The charac­

teristics of this style of Black preaching such as its vivacity, its energy, its emotionally, its spontaneity, its

strong audience-centered approach, the many diversions from

its principal theme and the constant and varied forms of

repetition, have also influenced the preaching and speaking

of the 'lettered and schooled' Black orator.

Some of the folk preachers to whom Rosenberg refers

preached from note cards which had a brief sermon outline.

Others read part of their text and recited the rest spon­

taneously. Regardless of the form taken, when the speaker

departed from the text his voice began to take on a natural

rhythm and metrical consistency and the sermon became

'spiritual' or 'oral' or 'spontaneous'.^^

Rosenberg points out there are two types of spiritual

sermons, the chanted and the non-chanted type. In the

chanted sermon, the preacher attempts to fit his sermon into 106 a metrically consistent pattern. The verses have a set formula, there are extended sentences with parallel syntax and the constructions are direct with almost no periodicity.

Chanted sermons have always been very rare and only a few of 12 the spiritual preachers in America chant their sermons.

The non-chanted sermon is much more common and examples of this kind of sermon can be found in many Black churches throughout the country. At such sermons the preaching style is formal, the audience participates, the preacher is very active and he struts on the stage, gesticulates, twists his face into theatrical masks and waves his arms.^^

The non-chanted sermons bear more of the characteristics of conventional oratory and conversational speech. Yet, digression is common and preachers often get completely off their main subject. There is no continuing narrative thread

to force the speaker to stay on the track. Examples, proverbs and parables are very common in these sermons and it is very easy to imagine how speakers who composed so spontaneously

could be easily led astray.

In these sermons there was no pressure for consistency

and the drifting off into unexpected themes did not mar its

effect in reaching and touching the emotionality of the

a u d i e n c e . 14 The audience is actively involved in the unchanted sermon. They hum, sing aloud, yell and join i&f^ the sermon with impeccable timing.This strong rapport between audience and preacher facilitates the preacher's timing, involvement and delivery. Preachers in this kind of setting seem to have great control over the tone, inflection and timbre of their voices. With no electronic power to amplify their voices all of nature's forces are summoned up so the voice would be heard, the emotions raised and the drama continue.

Timing and rhythm are therefore important factors in this style of Black preaching. Timing involves the preachers' awareness of the congregation's emotions and his knowledge of when to express certain ideas and sentiments. Kis aim is to move his congregation, but he must please in order to m o v e . 16 Rhythm and timing are closely related in bringing about the total effect of the unchanted sermon. While timing relates to the movement of the whole sermon, rhythm is an ongoing skill and is "the property of the delivery of the single lines.Through the combination of rhythm timing and verbal skill, the preacher exerts a strong emo­ tional power on the listener.

The characteristics of timing, rhythm, voice timbre and emotional stimulation are not exclusive to the chanted and non-chanted sermons but have become characteristic of most 108 Black preaching and Black public speaking. The strength of

Black preaching in particular, lies in its dependency on distinctively oral characteristics such as timing, rhythm, diction and the emotions of the preacher. These factors take on importance and relevance when they capture the immediate mood of an active and physically present audience. The audience responds to these emotions, catches the enthusiasm and becomes completely involved in the whole rhetorical activity.

Black preaching is so outstandingly audience-centered because its success depends on the ability to involve its audience in a communal form of emotional expression and satisfaction. In Black preaching, pleasing one's audience 18 is a goal which receives high priority. One's success as a preacher is not based on "the ability to preach" as an isolated factor, but more on the ability to move one's audience and brighten their lives through stimulating posi­ tive images of happier times. Success as a preacher is based on the ability to vivify and electrify audiences and develop in them the sense of communion and involvement.

There are also requirements for bringing about the rhetorical effect called 'presence' which forms the focus of this study.

The roots of this style of preaching which emphasizes the importance of the audience, run deeper than and far 109 beyond the chanted and non-chanted sermons and are distinctly oral in nature. Black preaching has its roots embedded in

the African culture which the slaves brought with them to

the New World. The sonorous and musically pleasing voice of

the Black preacher,the use of animal figures to teach 20 truths, and the call and response pattern which emphasizes

audience involvement and which requires a participative

audience can be traced to Black African cultures.

Mitchell writes, "Black preaching has been shaped by

interaction with an audience, hammered out in dialogue with

the Black brothers and sisters. If the Black preaching

tradition is unique, then that uniqueness depends in part

upon the uniqueness of the Black congregation which talks

back to the preacher as a normal part of the pattern of

worship."21

It can be assumed that Johnson as the son of a minister

and a minister himself, might have inherited many of these

skills typical of the Black preaching style. This hypothesis

is discussed in a later section of this chapter. It is

notable that many of the skills which contribute to the suc­

cess of Black preaching, arise from and achieve excellence in

an oral face to face setting. Skills such as rhythm, timing,

tone, voice inflection, voice timbre, the strong audience-

centered approach, the use of imagery, the call and response 110 pattern, examples, allegory, digression and repetition are

characteristics which have already been suggested by Kames,

Burke and Perelman as important contributors to the creation

of presence.

This discussion contends that the Black Oral Tradition,

especially preaching, is particularly characterized by an

audience-centered approach, and that the success of Black

oral rhetoric has historically been based on the ability to win the full participation and involvement of the audience

in the rhetorical event. The Black oral tradition conse­

quently shares with presence a strong concern for the

audience; a concern which may be instrumental in winning the

adherence of that audience and making things seem real and

relevant to them. There is evidence in Johnson's background

to further suggest that this tradition was an influence on

his speaking.

Johnson's Life Experiences: Their Relation to his Potential for Creating Presence

Mordecai Wyatt Johnson was bron on January 12, 1890

in the little town of Paris, Tennessee. His mother was a

freed woman, and in her early twenties at the time of his

birth.22 she was a graceful, beautiful, gentle and intellec­

tual woman. She read to her son famous biblical stories. their favorite being the story of Mordecai, for whom she^named her son. Mordecai was a member of a race depressed, despised and enslaved by the Medes and the Persians. Through his cleverness and charm Mordecai overcame his enemies and raised his people out of slavery. The similarity between this story and the story of Negroes in America is highly evident. It might be said that Johnson's mother nurtured him to be that hero, that deliverer of the people and leader of men.

Mrs. Johnson not only read to her son, but she also fos­ tered his self concept of making him know he was a special person. She fostered his sensitivity by demonstrating her love and tenderness to him. She willingly endured personal sacrifices in order to raise money to send him away to High

School and College when no such opportunities existed in Paris,

Tennessee. She fostered his intellectual growth and developed in him a taste for fine music. Mother and son shared a mutual and frequent delight in listening to Handel's Largo. 2 3

This deep sensitivity and love for people is constantly expressed in Johnson's speaking. His frequent references to parents and mothers in particular, can stir emotions and stim­ ulate the high level of human interest which is instrumental in creating presence. Johnson made two moving references to the 'humble mother' in his 1927 Address which merit citation’^ere.

"When the humble woman in her crude cottage in Mississippi stands by the bedside of her child threatened with death, her heart reaches out with a great desire to conquer the disease about to take away her most precious possession. "24

"She is like some humble mother that washes chothes in a country place while you go out to share the honor and glory of the world. The world will never know much about your mother or respect her, except what you make it do by the character of the life that you live."

These striking statements are an indication of the lasting and loving impression his mother made on him, and the effect she must have had in nurturing his love and sensitivity towards people. These qualities, when expressed through dis­ course can be an effective means of moving the emotions of an audience and creating presence.

Johnson's father provided an interesting and austere contrast to his mother. An ex-slave, he was fifty years old when his son was born. Although his short squat body bore many of the signs of the neglect and abuse of slavery, this man exhibited a high level of vitality. He worked at the town’s mill six days a week, twelve hours a day for fifty years. This schedule was accompanied by an equally rigorous routine of collecting wood, tending his yard, washing, clean­ ing, personal grooming and meditation. The older Johnson studied the Bible for several hours each day, and filled his home with strong feelings of religious fervor and prayerful­ ness. 113 Johnson's father was painstakingly meticulous in all his activities. He worked hard, prayed a great deal and spoke little. When Mordecai did not live up to his expecta­ tions his father did not hesitate to use the 'rod of correc­ tion'. On Sundays, Johnson Sr. preached at the Mount Zion

Baptist Church which he had personally established and helped

to build with his own hands. As a preacher "he spoke with a

resonant voice, a peculiar restraint and a fierce authority,

so that he was known all over the countryside as 'a mighty 2 6 powerful preacher'". Embree notes that the older Johnson's

sense of restraint permitted him to speak no more than thirty

minutes "an unheard-of restraint in the southern rurals, a

restraint his son has never l e a r n e d . "^7

Mordecai Johnson's father demanded no less from others

than he demanded from himself. He was stern and had high

expectations that his son and his congregation would bring

out the best in themselves. This combination of the stern

father and the gentle mother, certainly developed in Johnson

a combination of sensitivity, kindness, love, authoritative­

ness and a sense of dedication which he demonstrated in his

work and in his discourse.

The authoritativeness might have helped to develop the

feeling of competency with which Johnson discussed his topics 114 and approached a speaking situation. The sense of dedica­ tion might have developed that "Messianic Complex' which 2 8 some audiences lauded and others found very disturbing.

The Messianic Complex refers to Johnson's deep feeling of vocation motivation and special committment. This sense of vocation seems to have been a key force in the demands and expectations Johnson placed on his own audiences. His extensive use of the Imperative, Climaxes, Quotations,

Imagery and Repetition to make these expectations real,clear and emphatic to his audience are crucial features in the creation of presence.

Johnson also referred to his father several times in his speeches in obvious indication of the influence his father must have exercised on his life. Always quoting his father, Johnson frequently stated that the purpose of his speech was "as my father used to say when he preached, to stir up your pure minds in order that the cause that is 29 precious to you may come to victory on the highest level."

Johnson's Early Education

While Johnson's parents made a strong impression on him and greatly influenced his growth and development, it will be seen that his teachers also had a direct role in bringing out the oratorical skills with which Johnson has been 115 strongly identified. As a young child Mordecai Johnson was shy, weak and sickly. Because of this, his mother had him begin his schooling with a private tutor rather than in the public schools of Tennessee. When Johnson's tutor moved to the public schools, Johnson moved with her. There he came under the influence of an exciting and dynamic teacher named

Benjamin Sampson. Sampson not only helped Johnson develop his mathematical skills, but more importantly he introduced him to the arts of public speaking and debate.

According to Embree, Sampson drilled Johnson in speaking clearly, rolling out his sentences and driving home points.

He made Johnson focus on accent and emphasis; on the sound of the words rather than on the sight of the word. Sampson's tremendous emphasis on the importance of delivery is summed up in these words of guidance he gave to Mordecai.

"When you speak, pick out one boy in the room and deliver your speech to him. If he is moved, the whole crowd will be moved : if he laughs at your jokes, everybody will be laughing. If he gets bored or looks as if he didn't believe you, stretch out your hand, shake your fist at him, walk down and tower over him. do anything to hold him and make him believe you."^

Sampson urged Johnson to use controversy, wit, anger or any means that would add zest and conviction to his message.

Armed with these debating skills, Johnson went to More­ house College in Atlanta in 1906 at the age of sixteen. Here he again excelled at debating and led his college to many 116 victories across the nation. Johnson graduated from More­ house in 1911 and was offered a teaching position there.

He taught English, Economics and History at Morehouse for

two years and was extremely successful as a teacher.

Tragedy struck in 1913 when Johnson's mother died. His whole world seemed to have stopped. The death of his mother marked a major turning point in the life of young Johnson.

After careful meditation and consideration Mordecai Wyatt

Johnson decided to devote himself to a life of service in

the Ministry of the Lord. He felt the ministry was the

avenue through which he could best dedicate himself to a

life of service to his people. This decision led to further

study in Sociology and Evolution at.the University of Chicago

where he earned a second Bachelor of Arts degree before going

on to Harvard University to earn his Masters Degree. Imme­

diately afterwards Johnson attended The Colgate-Rochester

Seminary where he earned a Masters Degree in Divinity.

Johnson's education at Rochester constituted another

vital aspect of the development of his moral, social and

philosophical outlook and his whole conception of the role

of Chirstianity in the world. At Rochester Johnson came

under the influence of Walter Rauschenbusch who is considered

the "foremost interpreter of contemporary Social Christian-

O 1 ity." Rauschenbush placed his social welfare principles

and propositions firmly on the basis of that practical 32 social Christianity that is taught by Jesus himself.

Rauschenbusch spent eleven years working among German immi­ grants in New York. During this time he suffered a severe illness which resulted in deafness. He later returned to

Rochester as professor of Church History and it is here that

Johnson came in contact with him.

Rauschenbusch loved the Church and held her in high esteem. However he felt that her principal obligation was to help the disadvantaged and promote the causes of equality and justice for all. His sympathies were always with the downtrodden and his life was spent preaching and teaching social justice. He might be called the champion of "true democracy, of the brotherhood of man and of the cooperative commonwealth."^3

It is notable that Johnson vouchsafed these same prin­ ciples in his personal life, his life as a minister and during his tenure as President of Howard. The themes of brotherhood, equality and justice emerge in all of Johnson's speeches.

His interpretation of the social responsibility of the organized Church formed the central thrust of his 1933

Speech at the InterSeminary Conference in Rochester.

Rauschenbusch's influence, in all probability strengthened

Johnson's view of the Church as an organization which is most effective when it makes itself part of the mainstream 118 of life, as opposed to keeping aloof from the real issues and problems of the world.

After a year at Harvard and a brief stay with the

Y.M.C.A., Johnson actively took up his ministry and became pastor of the First Baptist Church of Charleston, West

Virginia in 1917. His estimation of the importance of this mission is clearly expressed in an excerpt from his

Inaugural Address.

"The Negro Church from every point of view is the most powerful and most constructive organization now at work in the Negro race. There is no organi­ zation and no combination of organizations which can at this stage in the history of the Negro race, begin to compare with the fundamental importance of the Negro Church."34

In keeping with his views on the active role of the Church in all spheres of public life, Johnson ministered to his congregation on every level of social and economic activity.

While in Charleston Johnson established a co-operative grocery store, he organized a branch of the N.A.A.C.P. and he put the finances of the Local and State Church on solid ground. In effect, he brought the Kingdom of God to the

Earth and to his people not only by his preaching but by his effort to improve the social conditions of the people with whom he came in contact.

Johnson remained in Charleston for nine years. A possible indication that he was accomplishing and working 119 towards his established goals. At least his work here must have been a positive experience. Johnson is quoted as being

"gloriously happy in the work that he felt was culminative of all his mother and his father and his God wanted him to do."35

While Johnson came to the Church as a strong orator, an ex-debater and a Harvard valedictorian, his stay in the ministry must have given him adequate opportunity to develop, practice and perfect his oratorical skills. After careful study the opinion of the writer is that, quite apart from

Johson's learned oratorical skills, as a minister himself and the son of a minister, he was a direct heir to the Black oral tradition which has some of its roots in Black preaching.

As a Black man addressing a Black congregation, Johnson had every opportunity to develop those particular oratorical skills which Black congregations expect from their ministers; that lively, imaginative, emphatic and positive approach, the sonorous, rhythmic and well-timed delivery, the rising to climaxes, establishing of identification, the creation of high levels of excitement and emotional stimulation, the elevation of the spirits and the creation of a sense of reality. It is not at all coincidental that these features, typical of Black oral rhetoric and Black preaching in particular, are closely associated with the creation of presence. 120 Careful assessment of the findings of this background review imply that Johnson's potential for creating presence can hardly be considered a matter of chance. Johnson seems to have had a long history of nurturing and preparation for being not just an orator, but a particular kind of orator.

The nurturing and influence came from his parents, his teachers, his environment and from his ministry, which specifically provided him a stage and a forum for the kind of oratorical development which is most likely to create presence.

The most interesting aspect of Johnson's background is the extent to which it held distinct possibilities for the development of skills which particularly relate to presence.

These possibilities include:

a. The development of a sensitivity towards people which promotes the building up of a rapport with one's audience.

b. A driving methodical manner which could lead one to seek out the most expedient means for reaching one's audience.

c. The debater's skill which enables one to pick out relevant details and develop them.

d. The use of one's voice and body to express a message in the way which is most expedient for winning the adherence of one's audience. 121 Chapter Summary

In this chapter, the characteristics of the Black Oral

Tradition were discussed, and Black preaching, as a form of oral rhetoric which might have influenced Johnson's style of speaking was reviewed. It was concluded that there are some inherent qualities of Black oratory which contribute to its uniqueness as a rhetorical mode and which make it particularly conducive to creating presence.

Black preaching was identified as one aspect of Black oratory which has particular significance for this study because it is typically oral in nature, is based on an audience-centered approach, and is a tradition to which

Johnson as a Black minister and the son of a minister was an heir. The statement, 'Black preaching is inherently oral in nature' implies that the success of this form of communication is not dependent on its grammatical correctness, the appropriateness of its syntax or any well-organized format. Grammatical deviations and the drifting from its original theme are not uncommon in Black preaching. The success of the Black preacher is based on his sense of timing, his rhythm, voice quality, his charisma, the spontaneousness of his delivery and his use of a call and response pattern derived from African cultures which necessitates a partici­ pating audience. A preacher in this setting must have the 122 ability to study his audience, capture its mood and create an atmosphere for emotional and vocal participation.

It has also been stated that Johnson's parents and teachers played a major role in nurturing in him a sense of service and a pursuit of excellence which exhibited itself in his personal life and in the goals he sought for himself and others. The development of his debating skills and his upbringing in a Black church where his father was minister had particular relevance for the unfolding of Johnson's own oratorical skills. 123

Footnotes

Marcus H. Boulware, The Oratory of Negro Leaders; 1900-1968 (Westport, Conn.: Negro University Press, 1Ô6Ô), p.xi. For a thorough study of Black rhetoric see also James L. Golden and Richard Ricke, The Rhetoric of Black Americans (Ohio: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co., 1971).

Ibid., p. xii.

Ibid., p. xii.

Bruce A. Rosenberg, The Art of the American Folk Preacher (New York: Oxford University Press, I?70).

5. Marcus Boulware, Negro Leaders, p. xiii,

6* Henry H. Mitchell, Black Preaching (New York: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1970), pp. 6-7.

7" Ibid., p. 7.

8» The terms 'pulpit oratory' and 'preaching' are used synonymously in this essay.

8* Marcus Boulware, Negro Leaders, pp. 181-194.

10 , Bruce Rosenberg, Folk Preacher, p. 5.

II* Rosenberg's study involved interviewing preachers and listening to their sermons in many parts of the United States, particularly in the South and the Southwest. The words 'spiritual', 'oral' and 'spontaneous' are the words of the preachers themselves when they described the departure from their texts or their note cards.

12. Bruce Rosenberg, Folk Preacher, p. 33.

13. Ibid., p. 12.

14. Ibid., p. 33.

13• Ibid., p. 35. 124 16. Bruce Rosenberg, Folk Preacher, p. 42

17. Ibid., p. 42.

18* Ibid., p. 20.

1^* Henry Mitchell, Black Preaching, p. 72.

20- Ibid., p. 74

21* Ibid., p. 95.

22. Edwin Embree, Thirteen Against the Odds, p. 176.

23. Ibid., p. 182

24* 1927 Address.

25. Ibid.,

26. Embree, p. 178.

27. Ibid., p. 178.

26. Walter Dyson, Howard University, P. 249.

26. 1959 Address.

30. Embree, p. 180.

31* Anna Singer, Walter Rauschenbusch. and His Contribution to Social Christianity (Boston: Richard D. Badger, publisher. The Gorham Press, 1926), p. 15.

32. Ibid., p. 15.

33. Ibid., p. 18.

3'^* 1927 Inaugural Address.

35. Embree, p. 187. CHAPTER IV

A SEARCH FOR PRESENCE IN THE CONTENT OF

MORDECAI JOHNSON'S SPEECHES

In this chapter the rhetorical methods which Johnson utilized are examined and an assessment is made of the ex­

tent to which these rhetorical methods might have been

instrumental in creating presence. The question to be an­

swered in this chapter is: "To what extent do the verbal

contents of Johnson's speeches reflect the utilization of

rhetorical methods which have the potential for creating

presence?"

The analyses and reviews in the preceding chapters

have made some important assertions about the conditions

which lead to the creation of presence.

1. It is clear, that even though the present chap­ ter focuses on a search for presence in the content of Mordecai Johnson's speeches, it must be admitted that those factors which lead to the creation of presence arise from the combined effectiveness of the verbal content of a message, the presentational techniques which characterize that message and the relationship developed between the speaker and the audience in the process of discourse.

2. It has also been admitted that since presence is the ability to make the subject matter of 125 126 discourse seem near at hand, it can best be accomplished when a communicator, through the medium of oral, face to face communication, expresses an awareness of his audience and uses speech and action to arouse in his listeners, emotions which are similar to those produced by an immediate and actual view of the object or event being described.

3. The consensus of opinion derived from the re­ view of the works of Kames, Burke and Perelman point to four major requirements which must be met if presence is to be created. Those requirements are: clarity, communion/identifica­ tion, emphasis and actuality/reality. The critics proposed that these requirements be met in the area of content, presentation and speaker-audience relationship if presence is to be created.1

The writer will therefore use these criteria as the basis for analyzing Johnson's speeches. The criticism and analysis in this chapter will be approached in topical order, starting with clarity, communion/identification, emphasis and actuality/reality. These four qualities and the rhetorical features which characterize them are now briefly discussed.

Clarity raises the question of whether the message was elaborated in a precise, easily-understood manner, and at a level of sophistication appropriate for the particular audience. The following features are examined under the heading of clarity.

a. the arrangement of the message b. the choice of words c. the structure of the sentences d. the overall style of the message 127 Communion or Identification is the extent to which a sense of oneness, association, participation and con- substantiality might have been developed with an audience.

Some of the features to be examined under this heading are:

a. the use of b. the use of c. the use of d. the use of e. the use of f . the use of g- the use of

Emphasis refers to the amount of verbal and vocal force or stress a speaker uses, and the style and format he chooses in the effort to surmount the inevitable listener distractions and impress his message on the minds of his audience. Factors which may facilitate this purpose include;

a. the use of climaxes as the format for sentence structure and general style (ending sentences with those ideas which give them the most force.)3 b. using strong words to reflect strong thoughts.^ Emphasis may also be achieved by using weak words to reflect weak thoughts. c. the use of the imperative, the singular rather than the plural, demonstrative adjectives over the definite article and the rhetorical question. d. the use of repetition. While any form of repetition skillfully used, may promote emphasis, repetition may also bring about communion and a sense of actuality which lead to the creation o f presence. e. the use of figures; anaphora, aggregation, interpretation, hyperbole, metabole and s ynecdoche. 128 The creation of a sense of actuality or reality is the ability to elevate the mind of the listener to the extent where nothing else seems to be important but what is actually taking place at that very moment. It is the capacity to arouse feelings of immediacy and spectator- ship. Rhetorical characteristics associated with the creation of a sense of actuality are;

a. the use of the present tense b. the use of quotations c. the use of imagery and metaphor

Analysis of Johnson's Six Speeches

Johnson's habit of delivering lengthy speeches has already been mentioned. One-hour and two-hour speeches were more customary than rare in Johnson's repertoire.

Each transcribed speech selected for this study is thoroughly explored in the attempt to identify the rhetorical devices utilized in Johnson's oratory. Those

rhetorical devices are further examined and assessed in

terms of their potential for creating presence. This

approach to critical analysis is strongly suggested by

Arnold who proposes that critics take advantage of the

process which experimenters and other scientists sometimes

call "eyeballing the data". This is simply looking at the

information, using one's observational abilities, and

searching for any systematic characteristics which seem to

be present. 129 This thorough exploration also ensures that any selected samples represent all parts of the speech. While the method itself tells nothing specifically about presence it is an attempt to draw a varied array of rhetorical devices which are representative of the intro­ duction, the body and the conclusion of each speech.

Mervin D. Lynch suggests that since messages are likely to undergo some changes as the source moves from the intro­ duction through the body to the conclusion, data from each of these parts of the message should be selected in order to constitute a valid sample.^

The references made to the multiple functions which

features such as the use of repetition and the use of

specific names may serve, indicate, that any single rhetorical characteristic is capable of conjuring up a wide variety of effects. While a particular excerpt may provide

excellent examples of Johnson's use of repetition, it is

likely that other rhetorical characteristics such as the

use of imagery, metaphor and identification could also be

found within it. The actual role or roles rhetorical

characteristics play in discourse must consequently not

be viewed in isolation.‘

The categories created here are more for the purpose

of facilitating analysis than for the purpose of creating 130 strict and impenetrable distinctions. A certain amount of overlap will take place and should take place. If clarity, identification, emphasis and a sense of actuality are all functioning to achieve the same end, interrelation­ ships among these factors could be perceived as almost inevitable.

Clarity

The authors reviewed here seem to have unanimously agreed that order, organization and the use of some recognizable pattern which the audience can easily follow are important to the process of creating presence. Kames proposes that arrangement elevates language and good organization is important in making things seem close at h and.G The organization and overall style of Johnson's messages are discussed in an effort to assess the extent to which the organization of these messages, the choice of words, the structure of sentences and the overall style of the message might have resulted in an end product which seemed clear to the Johnson audience.

Organization of the Message

Warmth and strength are typical characteristics of

Johnson's introductions to his audiences. Warmth is gen­ erated by Johnson's acknowledgement of the audience and 131 the occasion. Strength and forcefulness are expressed through Johnson's choice of words and his immediate and specific references to the occasion. At the very start of his messages Johnson typically assures his audience that he is delighted to share the moment with them and he immediately states what his theme and focus will be.

Johnson, whose penchant for lengthy speeches has already been mentioned was typically brief and direct in his open­ ing remarks. Excerpts from the six speeches under review serve as examples. In examples (a), (b) and (c), Johnson warmly acknowledges his audience.

(a) "Fellow students: Today begins the fifty-ninth year of instruction in Howard University. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, the faculty, administration and staff of the university, I have come to welcome you into our community - some of you for the con­ tinuation of your studies, and others of you for the first time."7

(b) "Mr. President and ladies and gentlemen of the Con­ gress of Industrial Organizations: I have no words adequate to express the gladness with which I have accepted the invitation to speak to you today. From the very beginning of this organization, it has elicited my esteem and my affection."8

(c) "Your Lordship, Mr. President, distinguished members of the NATO Congress: I am glad beyond measure to be here and to speak to you on behalf of the Fourth Committee, which has to do with the relationship between the NATO countries, the Atlantic Community and the underdeveloped peoples. I suppose one of the reasons why you have been so kindly constrained to invite me is because I am one of those under developed peoples (laughter) and you would like to hear about the world from the way it looks dovm under."9

In examples (d), (e) and (f), Johnson opens his message by 132 referring to the theme on which he plans to focus in the speech. These openings show strength and force.

(d) "Howard University is one among many agencies working for the development of the Negro and for that en­ largement of the life of our country which must inevitably follow every step of that development. I am proud to be a part of these agencies. I am deeply encouraged by the welcome that they are giving me."10

(e) "Organized Christianity stands seriously challenged in the world today. The outstanding challenger is communism - a comprehensive, realistic world-view arising on materialistic grounds and attacking with vigor and confidence the major social problems of our times. The challenge is unequivocally stated: Christianity, like all other religions, is inherently incompetent to function constructively in the modern world with its overwhelming social problems."H

(f) "Romans, the twelfth chapter and the second verse (Romans 12:2): 'Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that you may prove what is the will of God what is good and acceptable and perfect.' This is an old favorite of mine. Every now and then we get a hold of a new translation of the new Testament, it makes it come back fresh again and I would like to read that whole chapter to you out of the new translation of the New Testament which has come to us from the British Church."12

While Johnson's references to the occasion and the

immediate highlighting of his theme facilitated a spirit of warmth and the establishing of a sense of direction with regard to his message, the question of what specific

organization pattern Johnson used also arises. Most speech

text books suggest that a chronological, spatial, topical,

cause-effect or problem-solution pattern are some of the

alternatives which enable listeners to organize the material they receive into meaningful experiences.1 ^ 133 Johnson seemed to employ the topical pattern in his

1926 and 1927 speeches and the problem-solution pattern in his four remaining speeches. These two earlier speeches are more traditionally organized than the later speeches.

While all speeches were delivered on very auspicious occa­ sions, Johnson's first address to the Howard community in

1926 and his Inaugural address of 1927, demonstrate an arrangement of the later speeches.

While no one pattern of organization seems inherently more effective than another and the topical pattern is no better nor worse than the problem-solution pattern, the critic must constantly keep in mind the fact that arrange­ ment, sentence structure, word choice and the use of speci­ fic data all can play an important role in enhancing clarity.

If there is an arrangement which most typifies

Johnson's overall style it is his use of climax. Climax in this context does not refer to the planning of a message which begins in a serene manner and then erupts into an explosive outburst, and climax does not refer to one long message which begins with minor points and then terminates with the major arguments. On the contrary, Johnson's messages bristled with several climaxes throughout.

His messages comprised a whole series of peaks which

one imagines might have left listeners 'on the edge of 134 their chairs'. This is not to say that Johnson's messages were devoid of strong endings, but rather that Johnson's audiences never had to wait till the end of a speech to feel the power of his delivery and the strength of his ideas. They were fed several climactic experiences throughout the speech which represented the development of his main theme and which were likely to keep audiences alert and interested. For example, when speaking of the need for college-trained men and women in the Black community Johnson said:

"In such a time as this the race must depend more than ever upon men who possess the habits of mind which our community seeks to develop - men accus­ tomed to examine opinions and programs with critical intelligence, to arrive at conclusions after a patient examination of facts, to be guided by an imagination disciplined by reason, and who are defended by their wide perspective from their devo­ tion to ill-founded enthusiasms and blind-alley efforts.

Here Johnson began by highlighting a need in simple basic terms and continued by expressing his specific expectations of the way in which that need should be fulfilled in clear, vibrant and grand language. This sense of reaching for the highest form of expression is featured repeatedly through­ out all of Johnson's speeches. Another climactic state­ ment from his 1926 address follows.

"It is decidedly possible that through your labors as individuals, our community may become one of the centers in modern life, from which this new mastery in the field of knowledge and this new wedding of aspiration and intelligence will develop and radiate to bless the w o r l d . "15 135 Here Johnson inspires his audience to believe in their own abilities to master new fields of endeavour and presents them with the possibility that their efforts could have a world wide impact. Johnson's climaxes represent a series of need-reward packages in which an audience is made aware of an existing need, inspired with the belief that they have.the capacity to fulfill that need and are then presented with a hypothetical reward which should

follow as a consequence of fulfilling that need. The

system is a simple one, but is one which has great potential appeal to human emotions. These examples of

Johnson's use of climaxes within the framework of the need-reward system serve to make Johnson's points clear,

and hold tremendous possibility for stimulating the

emotional involvement of an audience and maintaining

their attention. An extensive use of climaxes is a

pattern more typical of Johnson's style of organization,

than any other organizational pattern.

Word Choice and Sentence Structure

In addition to the stylistic arrangement of the

message, word choice and sentence structure may also con­

tribute to promoting the clarity of a message.

Since so much of our symbolic behavior is determined by past experience, words or references which 136 are familiar to us generate recognition and foster the clarity of messages.

No such fortuitous event as the use of familiar words can be said to typify Johnson's oratory. In fact, Johnson employed word combinations which were more unusual than common to typical usage. Examples of these are listed below.

"Our leaders almost unanimously look upon this movement as a diabolical conspiracy of imperialistic design setting out to capture and control the world under a totalitarian organization which sub­ verts and would destroy every liberty we stand for.

When speaking of the quality and purpose of the American military program Johnson said:

"I say our military program is only a fence-building operation to protect the delicacy of our hotbeds and the youth of our plants until they are strong enough to take the fence down."

On the subject of the challenge and the potentialities of organized Christianity in the contemporary world, Johnson commented :

"Christianity is able now to rediscover the social passion of her primitive days, disentangled from the eschatological envelope xn whxch it first came to her and from other-worldly metaphysics inherited from the Graeco-Roman w o r l d . "iw

The question arises as to whether Johnson alienated his audiences through this unusual use of words. Data from questionnaires, testimony from interviewees, a 137 comment from Marcus Boulware that people would travel one hundred miles to hear Johnson speak, indicate the con­ trary.^9

The argument proposed here admits that while Johnson's choice of words was extraordinary, his prolific use of imagery and metaphor is apparent in these examples. Testi­ mony of those who heard Johnson indicates that both this use of imaginative language and the emphasis and forceful­ ness of Johnson's delivery added such life and spark to his oratory that the obscurity of the word itself vanished and must have been superseded by the clarity of the idea.

While it can be admitted that words in themselves don't generally say all that has to be said, some words are more vivid than others and are more likely to

stimulate the emotions and feeling than others. Com- 20 binations such as "weighty seriousness", "words that

sting your mind with its relevancy"and "ludicrous pre-

posterousness"22 which are all examples of combinations

extracted from Johnson's speeches, certainly utilize a measure of imagery and metaphorical language which foster

understanding, clarity and presence. Johnson was a master

at using such picturesque descriptions, at selecting words

which depicted strong ideas and then delivering those

words with the appropriate forcefulness. This use of 138 words enhances the clarity with which a listener can visualize the picture being painted and is therefore very likely to create presence.^3

Overall Style of the Message

While Johnson dared to use unusual words, he reached his audience by drawing up illustrations and using statis­ tics and factual data which made his points clear and rele­ vant to his audience. Johnson's use of factual illustra­ tion and statistics are predominant characteristics of his messages and are factors which tend to foster clarity.

The following excerpt from Johnson's 1950 address in­ corporates the use of both example and specific data to clarify Johnson's point that the major world powers have done nothing to improve the lowly condition of the "under­ developed nations". Johnson cites India as a specific example.

"They are confronted with an impossible economic situation for which we in the West are primarily res­ ponsible. They have 300 million people living on the land. The British Empire broke the backbone of • their textile industries which support their economy, and instead of doing away with the system by which great blocks of land were laid out at exorbitant rents, the British government affirmed it in order to have an easy way to collect taxes. And now these 300 million persons living in several hundred thousand villages are living on a production power of 248 rupees per year, -$48.00, fifty percent of which they pay for taxes and only fifty percent, 120 rupees, or $24.00 a year, that they have left to support a family of five."24 139 Another instance of Johnson's combining specific data such as statistics and illustration to enhance the clarity of his message, is taken from his Inaugural address where

Johnson spoke of the need for Black professionals in the medical field.

"Some three thousand medical men have gone out to serve the health needs of Negroes, and the progress they have made in winning the confidence of their people in the establishing of hospitals, and in pub­ lic health service has been remarkable indeed. But their numbers are very inadequate. There is only one Negro physician to every 3 , 3 0 0 Negroes in the United States as compared to one White physician to every 4 5 0 members of the White race. As important as den­ tistry is today, there is only one Negro dentist for every 2 0 , 0 0 0 needy Negro m o u t h s . " 2 5

This specific citation of numbers which can be easily understood, serves a vital purpose in clarifying the issues

Johnson raised in the above examples and may have helped the speaker achieve his rhetorical goal. The speaker who can make a particular problem or situation clear to his audience by means of citing statistics is providing himself with an effective means for persuading or influencing that audience of the validity of his argument.

As Makay suggests, clarification should preceed proof if a speaker wants to successfully achieve his g o a l s . 26

Johnson's overall style of presenting his ideas is flexible but predictable. At times Johnson's messages thunder with strength and sparkle with vitality. At other times a listener may become lost in a sea of words. Long 140 sentences, climaxes, strong imagery, superlatives and connective words abound. A moralistic theme of Godliness and self improvement can be expected. Biblical quotations are inevitable and the arrangement of the speech is more likely than not to be problem-solution. While styles and speaking formats will always differ, the critic's argument is that the examples provided in this section are an indication that Johnson's arrangement of his messages, his use of climaxes, his imaginative vocabulary, his use of examples and specific data provided the potential for enhancing the clarity of his messages and for creating presence.

Communion/Identification

Perhaps Kenneth Burke, more than any of the other three writers examined in this work, stresses the importance of identification to create presence in messages. Some of the rhetorical features which can pro­ mote identification and stimulate a sense of communion in an audience are personal pronouns, allegory, quotations, specific names, collective nouns, the imperative end wit and ordinary language. 141 Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns can play an important role in creating presence. The use of third person pronouns may reflect indefiniteness, uninvolvement and distance and may highlight disassociation. A speaker using the third per­ son pronoun could be either decreasing his responsibility for what he is saying or emphasizing distinctions. ^7 yet the use of the third person may still contribute to the creation of presence in cases where the sense of dis- association is used for the purpose of making an audience aware of certain distinctions which the speaker chooses to highlight. In his 1959 address to the Atlantic Congress

Johnson's use of the third person seemed to effectively promote this feeling of disassociation. Referring to the faith that Communist Nations seemed to express in the success of their movement, Johnson said;

"These men believe this with a passion that is not exceeded by any movement in the world except early Christianity. They are all responding to it every day and every hour with an enthusiasm which is nothing short of remarkable. On the ground of Russia and on Chinese soil they are making achievements of one kind or another which have astonished us, and they are preaching it now around the world with an evangelistic enthusiasm that is immense. This message they have is very fittingly addressed to the under-developed peoples of the world of whom there are one billion, two hundred million, all of whom have a scale of living which is under a hundred dollars per capita per year, all of whom are living in a primarily agricultural civilization, and a very poor type of agriculture at that, all of whom are living in countries in which there is very little industry to supplement agriculture, all of whom are 142 impoverished in the field of scientific and tech­ nical intelligence, and to most of whom it makes no difference how much money you would give them, they would have no governmental personnel prepared to make a wise and well-coordinated use of scientific and technical plans and projection.”28

The potential effect of this use of the third person could

well foster the creation of identification among an unmen­

tioned "we" group, engendered through a feeling of

separation from an alien "they” group. The impact this

use of the third person might have had in stirring up

feelings of identification may become more apparent when

one examines the language Johnson used in the immediately preceding statement.

"I have a feeling that the bridegroom of our Western civilization is at hand, and that we are now at the parting of the ways; that when we meet this economic offensive we are going to meet the most powerful opposition of ideas, the most vigorously intelligent handling of the economic and spiritual factors of life in a revolutionary way that any group of people in the world has faced, and we are going either to adjust ourselves to meet that onslaught of idea-power and economic organizational power with a vigorous adjustment of our lives, or we are going down and possibly lose any power to control the trend of history for years to come. But if we do meet it bodily, realizing from the beginning that it will in­ volve the use of all our powers to the maximum extent, we may be able to pursue a course of action which will not only lead to victory but which will lift our democratic life to a higher level of functioning than we have ever known before, and give us a radiant power over the lives and affections of men around this world, such as we have not had in five hundred years. Now if this is going to happen to us, I think we need to do two things which are somewhat uncongenial to us. We have got to go back and make a re-estimate of our enemy, and we have got to acquire some humility in the appraisal of ourselves. Up to this 143 time we have been looking at the military side of our enemy, his totalitarian organization and his aggressive subversion and we have been filled with disgust and fear, and we have been facing him primarily with military organization, cohesive and powerful economic organization. We have rather paid little or no attention to the central focus of what he is about in this world. Now we have got to look at the central focus, and if we are wise I think we will not allow our emotions of revulsion to prevent us from appraising him on the level represented by his best and most intelligent pure- hearted devotee."29

In the first example third person pronouns are used purposefully to create distance and disassociation. In that example the use of 'they' served the purpose of dis­ associating the subject 'these men' (the Communists), as a remote and alien entity. By this usage the speaker has separated himself from the 'alien' subject about which he spoke. Yet, disassociation from the alien group seems to be his primary purpose. The speaker in this context used disassociation as a strategy to promote identification among the 'in group'. It is important to note here that personal pronouns may be used to create identification and presence either through communion and association or through separation and disassociation.

In the second example Johnson seemed to prepare for the effect he knew he would create later. He used the first person pronouns 'we and 'our' profusely in this example to establish an atmosphere of oneness, association 144 and responsibility for action. Here, the movement from

'I' to 'We' is one which invites the hearer to imagine himself deeply involved with the proposal.^0 This seeking

for audience approval through a sense of communion and

identification is important in the creation of presence.

When audiences experience a feeling of oneness with the

speaker, his message becomes real or present to them and

they can more readily internalize the message that is

transmitted. Johnson's deliberate juxtaposing of the pro­

nouns 'we' and 'they' in adjoining paragraphs clearly

establishes a dichotomy and induces his audience to exercise

its loyalties. He thereby creates the kind of involvement

and identification which is a prerequisite to establishing

a spirit of presence.

Allegory

One of the outstanding characteristics which easily

identifies Johnson's oratorical style is his use of

allegory. Allegory has a profound usefulness in its

ability to express the values which a society does hold

or should hold. Both Perelman and Burke propose that the

use of values and hierarchies are avenues through which

arguments are made present and agreement achieved.

Perelman emphasizes, that because justification for

hierarchies is derived from values, successful argumentation 145 is particularly reliant on values. Values are therefore strong starting points for effective argumentation. Rhe­ torical practice and methods which have a basic value orientation will consequently have great potential for evoking a sense of reality, moving audiences and creating presence.

Allegory earns its strength from the fact that it is based on common human values. According to Kames,

"allegory" seems to have a most gratifying effect on the receiver because when the representative subject is de­ scribed, it is through the receiver's own recognition of the resemblance between the new subject and the values he already holds, that he is able to apply the illustration to his own frame of reference."^1 People raised in the

American culture are likely to understand the significance of the phrase "The American Dream". The allegory has a recognizable reference point, based on shared values with which the listener can identify. To be effective there­ fore, allegory must be based on values the audience already holds. Allegory dressed in picturesque language, can be a means for making audiences spectators at unseen events painted with words.

The allegories in Johnson's speeches were simple

stories about his life and the lives of persons he felt 146 were worthy of imitation. In his 1959 speech in London when

he addressed the representatives of the NATO countries, he

began his speech with one such allegory which also reflected

his use of satire, his attempt to identify with his audience

and his own joy for telling a story.32

"I suppose one of the reasons you have been so kindly constrained to invite me is because I am one of those underdeveloped peoples (laughter) and you would like to hear about the world from the way it looks down under. I am indeed from among the underdeveloped peoples; I am the child of a slave. My father was a slave for twenty five years before the emancipation; my mother was born in slavery; I have lived practically all my life on the territory of former slave states, so when you hear me talk you are dealing with the real under­ developed thing."33

The above allegory also bears a strong moral overtone,

a feature which tends to enhance the usefulness of allegory

in creating presence. The moral tone is derived from

Johnson's attempt to place a value judgement on the way some

people in the world are and have been treated. It is his

subtle upbraiding of an audience representative of the

wealthier nations of the world for their neglect and

exploitation of poorer peoples and nations. The story is

livid with reality because the audience is physically con­

fronted by an individual who has had personal and first-hand

experience of the neglect and exploitation to which he

indirectly refers. 147 Though masked in irony and wit, Johnson's story is the kind that can jolt an audience out of any reverie or distraction and force them into the present. Not only can the allegory stimulate the audience's awareness of the values its members hold, but coupled with imagery and meta­ phor it strongly develops audience awareness and creates an atmosphere which has great potential for generating the spirit of presence.

The use of allegory is again featured when Johnson attempted to describe the relationship between the Atlantic community and the Soviet U n i o n . ^ 4

"In my humble opinion there is no appraisal of what is going to come to us better than can be found in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew in which it says, 'And at midnight there was a cry made; The bride­ groom is at hand. Go ye out to meet him.' I have a feeling that the bridegroom of our Western civiliza­ tion is at hand, and we are now at the parting of the ways; that when we meet this economic offensive, we are going to meet the most powerful opposition of ideas, the most vigorously intelligent handling of the economic and spiritual factors of life in a revolutionary way that any group of people in the world has faced, and we are going either to adjust ourselves to meet that onslaught of idea-power and economic reorganization with a vigorous readjustment of our lives, or we are going down and will possibly lose any power to control the trend of history for years to c o m e . "35

While this quotation has been used before in another illus­ tration, its appropriateness in the present context has warranted its repeated usage. This allegory began as a biblical quotation which led to the development of the 148 story on which the quotation was based. Johnson often utilized several rhetorical features within the same unit of meaning. Yet, the point is clear. A simple and easily understood story with a specific moral forms the basis for the deeper and more complex explanation which follows, even

if the more detailed explanation was lost on the audience.

The initial allegory remained present and the message was probably clear and real. That message paraphrased from the first two lines of the allegory implied (a) the time is here, and (b) the moment is now. The possibility for creat­

ing presence here seems strong because the message is in­ vested with a moral character shared by the audience which could stimulate that audience to make judgements based on mutually held values. Identification with the audience was probable.

Stress on commonly held values stimulates awareness,

creates a sense of reality, and encourages identification.

Core values are typically an active vibrant part of the

lives of the listeners. Such references are capable of

generating a symbolic participation in a shared idea, which

according to Burke, forms a crucial aspect of the principle

of creating presence.

Allegories seem to abound in Johnson's address at the

Walter Rankin chapel in 1964. The story of the sense of 149 sacrifice and goodwill which led to the establishment of

Howard University was again reiterated. The story was mentioned of the female doctor, an early graduate of

Howard, v;ho had returned to establish a $42,000 scholarship for women in the school of medicine.

The allegories in this speech spanned a range from the

Fall of the Roman Empire to the lives of Mahatma Gandhi and

Albert Einstein to a humorous story about a college student unable to take his college education seriously. Finally, in direct contrast to the former story was the allegory of

Charlie Drew. Here was one who had so steadfastly applied himself to the duty of being a student that he became a pioneer in the life-saving science of storing and trans­ fusing human blood. In several outstanding passages where

Johnson used allegory it can be assumed that he psychologi­ cally changed the listener into a spectator. Following are three such passages which utilized these combined forms.

Referring to the goals Howard University held for its students Johnson said:

" you came here to a place which from the beginning was habituated to encourage young people of the lowest life status, to think on the highest level the human mind was capable of and to plan their lives on that basis. They didn't establish a colored university— there wasn't such a thing. You speak to many people who would like to dispose of this institution mentally— speak of it as a Negro's institution. It never was. These people 150 started out putting their own children in here. They put their daughters and their sons in here with the daughters and sons of slaves, but they weren't scared about what was going to happen to their daughters and sons. They knew that the atmosphere they were going to establish here by what they taught, would breed a quality of heirs that would evoke the highest out of anybody who attended here and would establish and maintain a society that respected itself and commanded respect from all those who came to know it".36

Referring to the need to make changes and adaptations in our lives wherever they appeared necessary Johnson said:

"Be not conformed to this world (Romans 12:2). Don't sit down and worshipfully follow everything around you. See what is in it that can be approved by you. And what is in it that needs to be changed and changed constructively. And what can I do about it. That's why you are here. Makes no difference what field you are working i n " . 37

In his closing remarks at the Walter Rankin Chapel Johnson used the same theme with which he had begun his message.

"I'm through now. 'Be not conformed unto this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you personally may prove what is that good and acceptable will of God'. What was it that man was intended to be in the beginning and socially, not merely to hold it as a theoretical hypothesis but before you die to have done enough about it. To know that you have in your mind and in your heart and in your life something that's precious to every human being that lives in the w o r l d " . ^8

The vivacity, strength, movement and force of these words impress the ideas presented with perhaps a sweeping sense of importance, urgency and interest which can be called presence,

Yet these examples certainly indicate that Johnson's style of speaking involves such a complex use of a variety of rhetorical characteristics that it seems at times impossible 151 to isolate one rhetorical device without simultaneously in­ cluding several others. Allegories tend to inject the audience with a strong sense of reality and a strong sense of what is true and factual in our lives. Allegory can become gratifying to the listener because he puts his own stamp of recognition on the story and it becomes very pre­ sent to him. Because Johnson often used allegory in com­ bination with quotations and highly picturesque language he utilized the great potential of this rhetorical foirm for creating presence.

Quotations

Johnson regularly quoted persons whose lives had been a source of inspiration to him. He quoted Albert Einstein as saying of Gandhi;

" this man Gandhi has met and conquered every enemy that is accustomed to destroy the human soul. It is not to me and men like me that men must look to find what to do with their scientific tools, it is to this man and men like him that we must look to show us what to do."39

This quotation, like many of the others Johnson used, men­ tioned specific names such as Einstein and Gandhi. This usage promotes identification and presence through the audience's recognition of those names. While recognition itself does not promote presence, it awakens in the audience an awareness of things which are familiar and is instrumen­ tal in creating presence. 152

Johnson cited quotations from persons who were well known to his audience. He used those quotations which were

strong, powerful and capable of conjuring up vivid images

in the minds of hearers. The following quotation taken

from Abraham Lincoln was, in addition to its strength,

sufficiently well known to conjure feelings of recognition and identification. Urging his audience to commit itself to the establishment of free human societies, Johnson cited two quotations from Abraham Lincoln who has always been

identified with the cause of freedom. Espousing that free­ dom of which Lincoln so frequently spoke Johnson stated;

"Government of the people, for the people, by the people, dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, all men I have never had a political idea in my life that was not based upon this great proposition, and when I read that pro­ position I not only see the slaves set free, but I see the last tyranny lifted from the back of the last man".40

The quoting of well known sources was a habit not rare in

Johnson and was a means of stimulating communion and

identification with his audience. Familiar quotations was

one of the means Johnson used for making his subject matter

seem close at hand and present to listeners. Still, it is

true to say that no single rhetorical feature used by

Johnson can receive full justice when viewed in isolation.

While quotations which promoted identification and 153 communion can be identified throughout his speeches these features were more frequently seen in combination with imagery and metaphor as was evident in the preceeding examples. Allegory was regularly used with specific names, personification, superlatives and many other rhetorical forms. The principle of admitting this complex interrelationship of rhetorical features has occupied the critic's attention in spite of having to artificially separate different features for the purpose of analysis.

Specific Names

The use of specific names which can create an effect of familiarity may readily take advantage of presence.

Since the mention of these names and places can be related

to something already known, they provide a concrete and definite point of reference. It should be clear at this point that presence is created through an orator's ability

to arouse the emotions of his audience by means of specific

stimuli. Arbitrary, abstract and purely general references

have little effect on the emotions and imagination and play

no particular role in the creation of presence.

Kames has repeatedly stressed that messages which make

the greatest impact and are most likely to create presence

are those which reach the mind "in a high state of 154 elevation".41 The things which are capable of elevating the mind are typically those which recall noteworthy persons and occasions, which engender surprise and which arouse h u m o r . 42 it is generally true that obscure references easily bypass our attention. That while words like

"Christmas" and "Thanksgiving" tend to make a strong impact on North American audiences, words such as "Eid ul Fitr" and "Divali" would completely evade the North American, even though the latter words celebrate feasts which have equal significance in Muslim and Hindu cultures. The mention of specific people, places and times which are relevant to one's particular audience can therefore be instrumental in creating a feeling of presence.

In his speech to the Atlantic Congress in London,

Johnson cited the name of a specific person or place sixty times. In his 1950 C.I.O. address Johnson referred to specific names on approximately one hundred and eighty-five occasions. Johnson might be referred to as the all time name dropper, for he never spared the opportunity to make numerous references to specific people and places. Some excellent examples of his use of specific names to foster identification and promote presence follow.

"Now if the chairman will bear with me for a minute, I will say swiftly what I think we have got to do. The first thing we have got to do is not economic, it is religious. The first step that we must take 155

is to put the colonial system behind us in our minds and renew our allegiance to the Christian world view, regarding the nature of human nature and the possibilities of human nature and the possibilities of a free human society in this world, based on these considerations. The British know what I mean; you great Germans who mediated upon Socialism long before the idea was born among the Russians, you know what I mean. I mean the thing that Abraham Lincoln meant when he said ‘Government of the people, for the people and by the people, dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, all men.' And he said, I have never had a political idea in my life that was not based on that great proposition, and when I read that proposition, I not only see the slaves set free, but I see the last tyranny lifted from the back of the last man."43

The specific references here have the capacity to stir emotions and create presence because the names Johnson used had specific relevance for his audience. They were the

French, Russian, German and British to whom he referred.

The use of specific names could be an incentive for identifying directly with the representatives of these various groups. Yet another statement utilizing specific names was a response Johnson made to the millions of Black

Africans who sought freedom from the Colonial system by which they were governed.

"The next thing we have got to do, and we shall need the help of God in it and the help of each other, we have got to give our consent to the Eternal's veto on the Colonial system and turn all the strength of these Atlantic powers to the liquidation of the remaining remnants of the Colonial system in Africa. We have got to listen to the cries of these 110 million Black Africans who are crying out against political domination, economic exploitation, segregation and humiliation, as if we were listening to the words of our own 156 children, and we have got to say to them as we have never said, 'I tell you my son, this is Britain that hears you, this is France that hears you, this is Portugal that hears you, this is Germany that hears you, this is your Uncle Samuel that hears you, and I'm coming and I am going to do what you want to be done, so help me God, as if I were performing a great act of expiation before God and making a demonstration before the whole world of the purity of my purposes .toward you.' We have got that to do, and if we think that it is at all possible for us to influence the people of Asia in the way that we need to influence them without doing this, we mistake human nature and the order of the u n i v e r s e . "44

Not content with general terms such as "Western World" or "NATO Alliance", Johnson successively pinpointed the persons and places to which he made reference. He seemed to be expressing an awareness that if an audience is to experience a message it must be able to identify closely with the message and to visualize its content.

While Johnson used specific names for clarity, to promote identification and create emphasis in all his speeches, a rather significant example of how such naming could promote awareness and identification comes from

Johnson's 1933 address. Here, Johnson addressed an audience of seminarians and criticized the organized Christian church for its failure to live up to the principles and expectations of its doctrines. His words were as follows;

"Seventy years after the Civil War we still have the Northern and Southern churches, split asunder on the the basis of fundamental differences of opinion re­ garding the way that human beings should be treated. Moreover, in these times when political institutions 157 have succeeded in establishing a segregated status for exploited peoples like Negroes, the Christian institutions have themselves capitulated to the arrangement, and have assumed this form for the body of Christ. So that in addition to our denominational churches, our Southern Churches and Northern Churches in the United States, we have our Black Churches and our White ChurchesT In view of the total world situation, the existence of these divisions, indicating the capitulation of organized Christianity before the depressing forces of economic exploitation, give unfailing indication of her intellectual and moral weakness in the presence of social problems. At precisely that point in Western Civilization where she has her greatest numerical and combined organizational and economic strength, she appears to have lost confidence in her power to maintain a community of the spirit transcending race; which is the nature of the case absolutely necessary for any possible spiritual con­ quest of the world. Let no man think for a moment that I am now making a plea on behalf of my race. I am speaking not as a ^earo. but as a Christian, deeply concerned about the future of the Christian movement in the world, and therefore, unflinchingly confronting the most pessimistic aspects of her historic position."45

What more fitting means of promoting identification than using Christianity as the focal point around which a

Christian audience might rally. A feeling of oneness is promoted by the mention of the word "Christian" because of all the symbolizing that such a term arouses. Of course

Johnson also used climaxes, balances and strong words to enhance his ideas in the foregoing passage. However, when descriptions become as specific as those already cited here, listeners can conjure up sharp images. The concrete super­ sedes the abstract and the speaker has a greater likelihood of creating presence. 158

Collective Nouns

Kames discussed a remarkable exception to the rule of specificity, where the use of general terms which refer to a number of individuals may also contribute to the creation of p r e s e n c e . 46 According to Kames, collective nouns and nouns denoting groups or assemblies of people fall into this category. Terms like kindred, clan and country are examples of collective nouns capable of creating pre­ sence because such words seem to have the means of stirring human emotions. Whenever they are used, "the greatness of the complex object overbalances the obscurity of the image" because the complex image is one with which the audience can easily identify.4? The referent does not seem obscure but familiar.

In Johnson's speeches there are recurring examples of the use of collectives. Some of the more commonly used terms include "human race", "human beings", "human mind",

"human soul", "people", "brethren", "congregation”,

"society", "country", "population". These collectives appear in all of Johnson's speeches. His inaugural address of 1927 provides two striking examples. In references to the personal sacrifices made by the founders of Howard

University Johnson said: 159 "They did these things because they loved a country which has never yet existed on land or sea, a country in which all men are free, all men are intelligent and all men are self directing con­ tributors to the common good. That country has not yet been attained. It is still the goal of the American people. You are to participate in the bringing of that country to pass. You have here enjoyed the fruits of the labors of the founders. You cannot be self-respect­ ing men and women unless you also participate in the spirit of the founders. Their country must be your country."49

When he expressed his positive outlook on the future of the Negro in America the collective word again appeared.

"Amalgamation would be a beggarly solution of a prob­ lem which is essentially moral and which should be settled in a way that would result in the strengthen­ ing of the moral will of both of the peoples engaged in the enterprise. I want my country to conquer all of the inhibitions connected with black­ ness, but I want the original blackness there and I want that blackness to be unashamed and unafraid. That day is far off yet, but the existence of this institution tells something of the intent of the American mind. When I see that in sixty years it has been possible for such an institution as this to come to pass I am encouraged for my country and my hopes are stimulated by a great inspiration."50

Symbols such as people, common good, men, country, American mind and nation are more than just words. They represent some kind of abstract concept with which people can somehow readily identify. Perhaps because people typically gather definite positive or negative attitudes toward these con­ cepts from the groups, organizations and people with whom they interact in society.51 These symbols, used several times within the same thought unit and throughout Johnson's 160 speeches, endow his messages with a strong sense of communion and identification and stimulate the feeling of presence. These words also serve the purpose of high­ lighting a human interest factor. They give the message a personal touch and create a spirit of unity and closeness with the audience. Individual referents such as "person" or "man" are sacrificed for a greater purpose: the foster­ ing of a spirit of community. The opportunity for creating presence through the use of such terminology seems quite real.

The Imperative

The spirit of presence can also be brought about through the use of verb tense and mood. The imperative mood is singled out here because of its capacity to create a sense of involvement and communion. The imperative generates a feeling of intimacy between the person giving the order and the one expected to carry it out. It is this feeling, along with the feeling of participation and in volvement which the imperative generates, which makes it an instrument of identification and a means of creating pre­ sence .

The critic's own search identified a profuse utiliza­ tion of the imperative on Johnson's part. This finding was 161 not totally unexpected since Johnson's messages typically exhibited a hortatory tone. His was a constant demand for personal elevation, personal upliftment, justice, equality and the achievemnt of one's greatest potential. The imperative therefore holds the possibility for creating emphasis, involvement, communion and a feeling of closeness between speaker and spoken to. Some examples which have a great likelihood of creating presence follow.

Referring to the responsibility of Howard graduates in enhancing the image of the university and ultimately the country as a whole, Johnson said:

"You are to participate in the bringing of that country to pass. You have here enjoyed the fruits of the labors of the founders. You cannot be self-respecting men and women unless you also par­ ticipate in the spirit of the founders. Their country must be your country. You must salute it from afar, and, even while you fight with every ounce of energy for those public equalities by which you cannot live, you must take also upon yourself the cross - your proportionate share of the responsibility of bringing that country of intelligent good will to pass. You will have to keep in remembrance that many men of other races who seek to do you injury are men who have not had advantages that you have had...... You must be patient, be just to them while they get wisdom and courage to be just to you. And you must remember that your disposition may be the decisive factor in the changing of their minds. Keep in mind your university, and in all your labors cast no shame upon her. So live out in the real world, that travellers from your city may come to this place because you have been trained here. Your institution is large but still it is little known. She is like some humble mother that washes clothes in a country place while you go out to share the honor and the glory of the world. The world will never 162

know much about your mother or respect her except what you make it do by the character of the life that you live. So live, that when you are done men will eagerly ask where you were born, who were your teachers, where were you trained. And in your prayers, when you strip yourself of all dress parade of any kind, make mention of your university before the God and Father of us all, and make especial mention of your servant who now stands before you, the deans and members of the faculties, the Board of Trustees and all those men of good will in whose hands our destiny lies. And now may the beauty of the Lord our God be upon you. May He establish the work of your hands, yea, the work of your hands may He establish."52

It is perhaps necessary to point out that this distinctive passage does more than demonstrate Johnson's use of the imperative to promote a spirit of togetherness and identification. Incorporated here is an outstanding use of climaxes and imagery to elevate the emotions and promote the spirit of presence. Warmth, imagery and a sense of reality are generated by the statement, "She is like some humble mother that washes clothes in a country place while you go out to share the honor and the glory of the world."

In the last paragraph, two electrifying oratorical climaxes explode to further enhance the potential of the imperative.

"So live, that when you were done men will eagerly ask where you were born, who were your teachers, where were you trained."

"So live out in the real world that travellers from your city may come to this place because you have been trained here."

Finally, words and phrases such as "your country", "your 163 city", "spirit of the founders", and the extensive use of "you" and "your" hold great possibility for developing the feeling of identification which leads to the creation of presence.

The Use of Wit and Ordinary Language

Two interesting and important characteristics which

must have contributed to the creation of presence and

which are unique to Johnson are his use of humor and his

periodic use of ordinary, simple, colloquial language.

Johnson used both himself and others as the brunt of his

jokes. He often joked about his baldheadedness and his

reputation for being long-winded. He would describe the

student with the "stiff upper lip" who was really wasting

away his college education, hut who claimed to know all

that was needed on the subjects of religion, philosophy

and life.

Even in the middle of his very serene message to the

C.I.O. convention, where he indicts the wealthier nations

for the years of negligence towards the countries of

Africa and Asia and refers to the rise of Communism in

the latter countries, Johnson's wit emerged. Poking fun

at the late arrival of the Western powers in the develop­

ing countries, and their untimely offers of friendship,

food and leadership, Johnson says: "And they (the Asians 164 and Africans) looked at us in amazement and they say,

'brother, where have you been? Why if we'd known you was acomin' we'd have baked a c a k e . ' "53 This statement is a mixture of wit and irony for it is a disparagement of an effort which seemed insincere and poorly timed. As a means of stimulating an audience and gaining their involve­ ment, the statement holds great potential for promoting identification.

Johnson could spin a yarn and imitate the voices of the southern Baptist preacher or the president of the

United States in a most amusing way. His reputation as a ranconteur is well known to all who heard him speak. It was his story-telling ability which often gave rise to an interesting mixture of humor, the use of ordinary language and the colloquialisms which brought him emotionally close to his listeners. Johnson's sermon at the Walter Rankin

Chapel includes one such story, told with the wit, charm, imagery, sincerity and simplicity of which Johnson was so highly capable.

"I like what a great old Negro preacher told me one day. I asked him how he happened to be such a pro­ found religious man and didn't have an education. He said, 'I know you've been asking yourself that question.' He said to me, 'you know I was a man that's not educated, you can't associate with me. I've got religion, you know that. All these preachers know it too. How'd I get that kind of religion and I ain't never had no education?' He said, 'now I'm goin' to tell you. You have put me on the 165 program to speak on meditation and you have popped your finger right away. That's what I'm going to talk about. Now where do I get, "he says, "this real powerful personal religion that I have?" He said, "I opened the Bible there and begins to read. And I read on until I come to the place where the Lord expresses his love to somebody in a way that hits me.

"I stopped about three hundred preachers in the room. I said, brothers, I didn't say that I reads on until I come to the place where the Lord expresses his love to somebody.' He said, 'the Lord is expressing his love to somebody all over the Bible. But I read on till its significance hits the man who has this number in his hand. That's me. And then my heart tells me, 'that was meant for you, but you don't yet know what's in there.' And he said, 'I take that signal and I goes off by myself where there ain't nobody but me, and I sets down, and I turn that passage over and over and over in my mind, until the spirit of it goes all through me. Then I shuts the Bible. Then I says to myself, now how do that apply to me? And from my memory and from my know­ ledge of what's going on in my life, I turn that over and over and over. And then I turned over and over what is its relation to my wife and my children and the members of my church, and I gets thoughts just too hot for paper.' Then he turned to the brothers and he said, 'Brothers, all three hundred of you knows I has four churches. You all know that I can't get to them churches but once per month and sometimes I don't get there then. But you all knows that ain't n'er one of you all goin to get one of them churches till I dial(laughter)

"'Now,' he said, 'How come that? How come that? Cause when I gets there I ain't got no essay about Jesus where I goin to take out of my pocket and read.' He says, 'I stands up there in the pulpit and looks out at the people with my heart and mind saturated with the spirit of Jesus, and my mind filled up with thoughts, regarding the needs of their lives and what they should do to make themselves live great lives that are too hot for paper.' And he says, 'I leans over the pulpit — and I don't have to bang the desk nor nothing. I just tells the people them thoughts. And you can see them leaning over the back of the seats trying to reach me 'cross the fella that's sittin' in front of them. He wants to get 166 hold of this food he says, and eat it and live. That's why,' he says, 'they waits for me and that's why they gwan to wait for me till I die.'"

Indeed this is a lengthy story, but one would not expect less of Johnson. He himself can be quoted as asking an audience to bear with him, for "only those who love greatly can talk this way."55 The story is certainly filled with all the love, wit, warmth, compassion, simplicity and familiarity which stimulate identification and promote the creation of presence.

Other instances in which Johnson used ordinary language are sufficiently endearing to warrant citation here. In his Atlantic Congress speech he referred to himself as "...the child of a slave who can give you authentic words from down u n d e r . "56 He used phrases such as "....the next thing we have got to do is...."^^ Describ­ ing his early contacts with White educators he said, "They looked at me when my trousers were not pressed and my face was not clean and said, 'Mr. Johnson, will you read?'

They knew I was no mister, but they knew I could be...."58

Johnson would use an adjective like "puny" as in

"puny vein", rather than adjectives like petit, small or minute.59 Puny typically is a more ordinary and simple word than any of its synonyms. He also used asides 167 in the imperative when he wished to stress a point. This usage of the imperative is typically oral and colloquial and would be quite out of place in written communication.

An example follows;

"We ought in the next place to take this whole business out of the range of benevolence, and put it before us, not as an accessory to our military program but as the greatest of all programs in itself — listen to me — for which the military program as it is is only a fence-building and pro­ tecting operation "60

No systematic tabulation of Johnson's use of wit and simple language has been included here.

The writer believes that the use of examples and discussion is more appropriate for demonstrating these two features. The use of wit as a feature of discourse which might create presence is discussed only by Lord Kames.

Kames referred to wit as a good linguistic strategy which creates interest, elevates the mind without straining, raises mirth without dissoluteness and relaxes while it entertains.

Kames likened wit to play, and stated that just as play is necessary for human beings to refresh them after

labor, human beings can relish a play on words and can

employ words not only for useful purposes, but also for

amusement. Kames who is a strong proponent of the idea

that language must be purposefully manipulated to bring 168 about the best results, cites wit, along with elevation, inversion and arrangement as key principles for enhancing language and creating presence.^2

While neither Burke nor Perelman mention wit as a rhetorical feature, on the subject of using ordinary and simple language Perelman writes;

"The relationship between ordinary language and admitted ideas is not fortuitous : ordinary language is by itself the manifestation of agreement of a community of thought, by the same right as the received ideas. Ordinary language can help to promote agreement on i d e a s . "63

Perelman admits that the use of ordinary speech can create a feeling of concern and closeness, gives an impression of actuality and can certainly promote the possibility for creating presence.

When asked to list adjectives they would use to describe Johnson as a speaker, some persons responding to the questionnaires used words such as homespun, people- oriented, natural and plain. These words certainly demonstrate their awareness of a characteristic this critic calls "the ordinary". This characteristic is strongly recognizable in Johnson's transcribed speeches.

The humorous quality of Johnson's speeches was also mentioned by persons responding to the questionnaires. 169 Having cited these two important characteristics of

Johnson's speaking, the critic wishes to suggest that per­ haps the list of rhetorical features presented in this chapter as contributors to the creation of identification and ultimately presence, need not be limited. The general implication generated by Burke and Perelman in particular is that a wide range of contexts and usages must be examined if a positive and informed level of critical analysis is to emerge.

Emphasis

In this study a large amount of information is shared on the subject of presence and the numerous factors which may foster its occurrence are discussed. The importance of emphasis as a feature essential in creating presence is stressed by Kames who suggests the use of strong words to express strong ideas, and the use of the most forceful ideas to end a sentence. These methods he felt created emphasis, elevated the mind and promoted presence.Burke stresses the importance of emphasis in enabling symbols to transcend the constraints of l a n g u a g e . 65 perelman makes the point that stronger impressions may overcome our normal dis­ tractions and gain fuller access to the mind. He suggests that emphasis may be created both vocally through tone and pitch or verbally, through the forms of expression u s e d .66 170 Some rhetorical features associated with the creation of emphasis include the use of superlatives, the use of repetition, the use of the rhetorical question, the use of the singular over the plural and the use of demonstra­ tive adjectives over the definite article.

Superlatives

Since an earlier discussion of Johnson's style re­ vealed an extensive use of climaxes throughout his speeches, it is perhaps not totally unexpected that his oratory also wallowed in superlatives. For Johnson things were not simply "good" they were "great". People were not merely expected to do "well", they were expected to do their

"utmost" or their "best". Superlatives and words denoting greatness and grandeur appear an average of thirty to thirty-five times in each message. Still, that number in itself says little until one extracts a few excerpts which demonstrate the effectiveness of such word use for creating emphasis, establishing the forcefulness of an idea, enhancing the climaxes in which they occur and ultimately creating the high level of awareness which fosters the spirit of presence. Several brief examples follow.

a. "You give heed at this moment to one who knows the deepest and purest traditions of the Western World."67

b . "We are just now beginning to confront the central 171 and most powerful purposes of the Soviet Union....."by

c. "We see on the shores of Africa instances of the most deliberate and cruel segregation "69

d. "We have a great military program which represents the greatest power of provision planning and co-ordination we are capable of."70

e. "Today we have...... a trustee board composed of men among the most emminent in our country, profoundly believing in the mission of the university and determined to do their utmost to make it an increasing power in American life."71

f. " when I saw you couple with the most intense and intelligent economic activity, the determination to be active politically in the most vigorous sense, I felt then and I feel now that you constitute the most basically hopeful movement in American life."/^

g. "I will go so far as to say that, in my humble judgment we could accumulate that military force until it was unquestionably preponderant that we could engage in a war and defeat Russia and her satellites, and by that very act lose the most precious thing that a nation could hope for in this world, namely, the moral leadership of this world."73

h. "You came here to a place which from the begin­ ning was habituated to encourage young people of the lowest life status to think on the highest level the human mind was capable of and to plan their lives on that b a s i s . "74

Strong words and strong thoughts seem to combine in these examples to create the force and power which challenge the audience to develop a keen awareness of the message. 172 Repetition

Repetition is another one of those rhetorical features which has been overwhelmingly cited by the authors in this review for its great capacity to create presence. Further­ more, repetition was so frequently used in Johnson's messages, that it must be considered another characteristic typical of his speaking style. Repetition has the capacity to lend significance and importance to a particular point of view and thereby promotes the importance of that view­ point in the minds of listeners. The importance of repetition in creating presence is suggested in the follow­ ing statement. "Love is formed by habit which explains why those who speak briefly and concisely enter only a little way into the heart and stir their hearers l e s s . "75

Not only is repetition important to the creation of presence, but according to Perelman it is perhaps the simplest way of creating presence. " accentuation of certain passages either by tone of voice or by pausing be­ fore them has the same purpose. Accumulating stories, even contradictory ones, on a given subject may create the impression that that subject is an important o n e . "75 Kames proposes that what is repeated often enough cannot be ignored and that successive images making deeper and deeper impressions must elevate more than any single image 173 c a n . 77 Repetition is therefore an excellent means of creating emphasis and developing the spirit of presence.

Johnson's speeches are replete with repetition of every kind. He referred to Mahatma Gandhi several times in his 1950 and 1964 speeches. Series and lists abound; ana­ phora is common; one story is frequently explained by citing another story and one almost expects Johnson to elaborate and explain further any statement he makes. The story of the establishment of Howard University and its growth and development is repeated in four of the six speeches examined here. In some speeches it is repeated more than once. The themes of self improvement, brother­ hood and the practice of Christian principles recurred several times in each one of the speeches reviewed here.

One of these themes might be used in the beginning of the message, repeated with a slightly different approach in the middle of the speech and again reiterated towards the end.

Perhaps the most representative example of this par­ ticular kind of repetition comes from Johnson's 1964 address. This speech began with a quotation which formed the theme of the entire speech and which was repeated with some variations on two other occasions during the speech. 174 The example follows.

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be trans­ formed by the renewal of your mind that you may know what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and p e r f e c t . "78

At about the middle of his sermon Johnson remarked:

"Now I am going to give you from a book nearly two thousand years old a very good prescription as to how to get a first class university education. Be not conformed unto this world. That's the first thing not to do. Be not conformed unto this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your minds. That's the second thing. In order that you may prove, tell you why you do all this, that you may prove for yourself what it is that's good and that's acceptable and the perfect will of God. He's telling you, you don't have but one life to live; if you'll try to conform to the world that's already in existence and be ready with all the deeds and things that it will give you, that's where you will end up and you will condemn yourself when you get through, because you've found out nothing. For this world passeth a w a y . "79

Johnson used this theme a third time and ended his sermon as follows:

"I'm through now. Be not conformed unto this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you personally may prove what is that good and acceptable will of God. What was it that was intended to be in the beginning and socially, not merely to hold it as a theoretical hypothesis, but before you die to have done enough about it. To know that you have in your mind and in your heart and in your life, something that is precious to every human being that lives in the w o r l d . " 8 0

Johnson used repetition in every way possible.

Seventy five percent of the persons responding to the

mailed questionnaire admitted that Johnson used repetition

in his speeches, and they were among the eighty one 175 percent who rated Johnson as a very strong speaker.®^ This seems to be an indication that Johnson's use of repetition may not have been disadvantageous to the effect he created as a speaker. The implication seems to be that repetition was employed skillfully and probably contributed to an overall positive effect.

Johnson's insistence on the responsibility of wealthier nations in assisting in the development of poorer nations was a theme which was repeatedly raised in

Johnson's 1933, 1950 and 1964 speeches. That same topic was raised six times in Johnson's 1959 address to the

Atlantic Community. Following are three excellent examples from that speech.

"Let me say again - I told you you must watch me and bear with me — only those who love greatly can talk this way. I say to you that as I look at this great economic programme it seems to me to be on the peri­ phery of our interest, almost an afterthought; it has never sat in the chair directly in front of us and grasped the central focus of our hearts. We have a great military programme which represents the greatest powers of provision planning and co-ordina tion that we are capable of. In the Marshall Plan and other great projects we have had great programmes of development protective of and stimulative of each other, which is one cause for admiration among men. But our programme of economic helpfulness is a puny vein and comes into our minds as an afterthought, never having received prolonged thought from us, prolonged affection and robust attention. Moreover — I am trying to be hard, and my purpose is, as my father used to say, to stir up your pure minds — that programme is dependent today too largely upon little droplets of annual appropriations which expire on June 30th, and which no sensible and thoughtful 176 man with great purpose in his heart can make any plans about."82

Raising the topic of moral and economic responsibility of the richer nations a second time, Johnson said:

"Again, there is no central organization in existence, of our making which plans to use and to co-ordinate all the economic powers that we have for this purpose and to see that they work. I tell you, ladies and gentlemen, we are going into the fight of a determina­ tive lifetime and we are not prepared. We are not prepared. We are not purely prepared in our hearts and in their orientation towards the thing that we want to do for these people. We are not committing ourselves to any long-range purpose when we know that is may take years and years to develop the economics of these people. We have no great central organization for talking with them, for listening to their ideas or exchanging ideas with them, for approach in cooperation with them, for applying a fit measure to them.

Johnson's third reference to that topic in his address also involved an outstanding use of aggregation in the final paragraph, to fully emphasize the problem of which he spoke.

"We ought in the next place to take this whole business out of the range of benevolence, put it before us, not as an accessory to our military programme but as the greatest of all programmes in itself — listen to me — for which the military programme, as big as it is is only a fence-building and protecting operation, to handle the programme in the central focus of our being, to accept it as an obligation not to be done with our cigar money nor with our chewing-gum money nor our cigarette money, but to be done if necessary with our very blood, because we cannot live in our hearts and see them suffer impoverishment the way they suffer, and hold what we have and eat the bread we have in peace. We must cease to think of little benevolent annual drops of money. We are no mere jugglers of money, we are the greatest producers of scientific and technical intelligence in the world, of the most diversified scientific and technical intelligence; we know more about the multiplication of agricultural products than any group of human beings in the world. 177 We know more about building up great dairy herds and pure milk supplies than any group of people in the world. We know more about lending money, borrowing money, the effective use of money. We know more about trade, and all these things that have to do with the building up of a great economic order."84

These passages also incorporate Johnson's use of the super­ lative, imagery, metaphor, ordinary language, personal pro­ nouns and aggregation. The combined effect of these factors working together, not only can create emphasis, but also they can stimulate a vitality and strength which . typically promotes presence.

In the text of his 1964 sermon, Johnson again used repetitions to impress upon his audience the fragility and transiency of worldly things. He used the Roman Empire as his example. Introducing Rome as the capital of the most powerful empire that existed in the ancient world, he developed his theme as follows :

"Caesar's Rome, the Rome of the Roman senators; the Rome of Pompeii, the Rome with the greatest military geniuses at the head of armies in the world, the Rome with road builders so great that you can go today in many parts of the world and put your foot on the very spot that they put for their soldiers to walk on some 2,000 years ago. And yet Rome d i e d . "85

The imagery, strength and power of this use of repetition is inescapable. Repetition in the foregoing example acts directly to accentuate a point of view and break up a com­ plex event into separate easily distinguishable episodes.

While the country "Rome" might be geographically and 178 spiritually alien to this audience, when specific references with which people are familiar are made, Roman roads,

Roman armies and Rome's Pompeii no longer seem very distant.

The sense of familiarity engendered through this use of repetition is ideal for promoting the impression of presence.86

As suggested earlier, Johnson did not limit himself to selected forms of repetition such as aggregation, ana­ phora or enumeration. He could extend a theme to its farthest limits and use whatever forms might best fulfill his purpose. It was not only common for him to use the same theme more than once within one speech, but he would also persevere with an idea till he had explored every inch of its potential, before passing on to another.

Elaborating further on the subject of the fall of Rome, one notices that it is not the Johnson style of speaking to simply say "Rome died". Combining metaphor and repetition,

Johnson referred to Rome as having "committed suicide".87

"And she fell, not because anybody whipped her, but because she "wrought it down. Wrought it down. Wrought it d o w n . " 8 8

Of course in this example the effect of repetition is even more complex than just creating presence. Perelman points out that many figures relating to presence may at 179 the same time or in other contexts serve other functions.

In this case, the forthright duplication of terms,

"wrought it down. Wrought it down. Wrought it down," gives emphasis to each successive statement, making it more weighty than the previous one. Not only is the like­

lihood for the creation of presence great, but this form

repetition adds a kind of value orientation and a

judgemental slant to the statements. 89

Repetition is therefore capable of creating presence because it is a means of emphasizing a point and bringing

it to the listener's attention. It may also provide

information on the speaker's particular bias on the issue being discussed. Audiences are likely to attach importance

to those messages or themes which recur consistently.

Successive images seem to make deeper and deeper

impressions, and a feeling of grandeur and importance can be created by reiterated impressions.80 As used by

Johnson, repetition had the capacity for creating presence

because it was used to bring his opinions to the attention

of his audience by a process of continuous reinforcement.

Johnson's use of repetition seemed to be a means of em­

phasizing those things he believed were important and

ensuring himself that he had made his way into the

consciousness of his hearers. 180 Rhetorical Questions

"Language will have no power if confined to the natural order of ideas.This quotation is an indication of the value of novelty and innovation in highlighting messages and bringing them to the attention of an audience.

Kames suggests the use of elevation, arrangement, wit and inversion to bring about this occurrence. 92 % e rhetorical question, a type of inversion actually falls into this category of rhetorical devices which transcends the

"natural order of things". It has been skillfully used by

Johnson to create emphasis, novelty and identification.93

The rhetorical questions here emanate from Johnson's attempt to raise the consciousness of his audience to the humanitarian role they could play in improving the quality of life of people around the world. Two examples follow.

"Do you leaders of the economic life and the political life of America really believe in the unity of the human race? And do you intend to use the enormous productive genius at your disposal to do away with the colonial system and set the people of Asia and Africa economically and politically free, and to deliver them from the segregation and racial discrimination and humiliation which your European allies have thrust upon them for hundreds of years? Do you intend to do that or do you not?"94

"Secondly, do you accept the moral responsibility that goes with your enormous scientific, technical organizational and productive genius, to go into the United Nations and lay down a program for the economic reconstruction of this earth in such a way that the working men of this world as well as the working men of America can have a reasonable 181 expectancy in this generation of overcoming the struggle for existence, and being able to feed, clothe, and house their children, without killing one another? Or do you intend to use this enor­ mous power to dominate and control the earth and confirm the subordination and anxiety and bitter­ ness through which your allies have led the world through the last two hundred y e a r s ? " 95

The use of rhetorical questions is representative of a form which has great capacity for emphasis, for winning atten­ tion and for displaying the elements on which the orator wishes to center attention. Through the use of the rhetorical question the problem is clearly presented and easily identifiable. To paraphrase, that problem is:

There is a need for the development of a spirit of brother­ hood, moral leadership and economic assistance between the richer and poorer nations of the world.

The Singular

The singular may be instrumental in creating presence when it is used instead of the plural to change the group

into the person and the conglomerate into the thing. This

focusing directs the listener towards one specific unit and

a point of unification which creates special emphasis and

which promotes presence emerges. Two examples from

Johnson's 1933 speech appear below. In the first example

Johnson expresses the potential success of the Christian

missionary who respects the culture and the customs of

others. 182 "The proponent of such a Christianity is able therefore, to approach any given culture, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, African - not as one who comes to impart that which is alien, but as one who comes to salute those who live within that culture with reverence, and there, with patience and love and intelligence, to help them build that spirit, inbred in civilization which is best in keeping with the historic roots and particular configuration of that culture. Such a man would be welcome in any community on earth, and having been welcomed ^ will judge his success, not by the extent to which ^ has been able to detach groups from the historical roots by which they have come to know God, and to build them into overt, declared and organized allegiance to the name of Jesus, but to the extent to which he has been able to discover, to encourage and to bring into full and active consciousness whatsoever in that culture, by whatsoever name, is in keeping with the spirit of Jesus."9°

In the second example, Johnson expressed his faith in the positive aspects of the Christian religion.

"Wherever such a proponent of Christianity may live - in the United States or Asia or Africa - he will find himself in conflict with whatsoever individual and organized practices tend to repress and to cheapen human existence. I am afraid that not the least of these organized activities may sometimes be the organized Church itself. He^ will know disappointment, suffering and often defeat. But ^ will be conscious of being engaged in per­ haps the greatest of all adventures. And again and again he will be lifted into the highest joy as ^ realizes from experience, ^ is working with a movement which is capable of imparting one degree of blessing after another to every division of life, private and public, and over the entire range of human existence."97

Johnson has employed this movement from the plural to

the singular to create the effects of personal emphasis,

unification and presence in other instances as well. Two

examples follow. 183 "We are interested in having each individual of you discover his own p o w e r s . "98

"They decided that the education the children of slaves needed was the same kind of education that anybody anywhere needed. And that ^ needed everything that the university had to offer. And he needed to have opened up in his mind every pathway of advancement that any human being could have in the world."99

Demonstrative Adjectives

The use of demonstrative adjectives in place of the definite article or the indefinite article may create emphasis. When the demonstrative adjective is used in this manner, it forcefully draws attention to the noun it qualifies and the potential for creating presence arises.

This potential of the demonstrative adjective for stimulat­ ing attention, force, vividness and presence is exhibited in the following examples.

"....I'm living a great life, discovering something significant for the whole human race. By the way, that's what this man is talking about...... "IDO

"You do not understand human nature unless you understand that this faith corresponds to one of the deepest hungers of humanity...... down at the bottom of the human heart there is a hunger that goes even deeper than that. That hunger is expressed in the Lord's Prayer, when this Jewish young man prayed...... "101

"Dear brothers, what on earth are you getting ready to do? Are you going to throw yourselves into the hands of this diabolical conspiracy under the false notion they can bring you f r e e d o m ? "^82 184 Perelman points out that the communicator who wishes to create a spirit of presence must have the capacity to display those elements on which he wishes to center attention.103 The effectiveness of this approach to creating emphasis and awareness depends both on the par­ ticular features which have been selected and the manner in which those ideas are presented. This statement is a reminder that although certain stylistic features such as the rhetorical question, repetition, the singular and demonstrative adjectives have been selected for examination here in terms of their potential for creating emphasis and presence, they in themselves hold no magic formula.

Their effectiveness in creating presence depends largely on the particular manner in which they are used and the form in which they are presented.

Actuality/Reality

Presence has been unanimously referred to by the authors reviewed here as the ability to make the subject matter of discourse seem "real" or "true" to an audience.

This assumption led the writer to look for those rhetorical

features in Johnson's oratory which might have been

instrumental in creating a sense of reality, and analyze

their potential effectiveness for achieving the end of making things seem real or true. The features to be 185 examined here are the present tense, imagery, metaphor and personification.

The Present Tense

The atmosphere of closeness, involvement, immediacy and reality which promote a spirit of presence is facilit­ ated through a communicator's use of the present tense.

The present tense expresses the universal, the law, the normal. It is the tense of maxims and proverbial sayings.

It is the tense which best expresses that which is timely and never out of date. Because the present tense may pro­ mote a feeling of the everlasting and the eternal, when it is used, listeners are forced to deal with the here and now. They are forced to deal with the issue presented because it is made to seem immediate and pressing. The present tense therefore has the property of readily convey­ ing the feeling of presence.

The present tense has been used extensively by Johnson in all his speeches. This persistent use of the present tense might have been anticipated because Johnson addressed his audiences in face to face situations, and the present tense is typically used in direct face to face discussion.

This recurrence of the present tense did not however dimin­ ish its effectiveness. The 1926 Opening Address at the 186 beginning of Autumn Quarter was almost entirely given in the present tense. A typical example is this excerpt;

"In the center of our university life is that small community of men and women whom we call the faculty The members of the faculty and the entire university community are interested in you as individuals...... The university com­ munity is interested in you also because of your representative character.... The members of the faculty and the university community in general are interested in you as individuals because they think that there are some among you who, during your studies here and in subsequent years are capable of making an original and creative contribution to the knowledge and organization of human life as a whole....Mankind is still very young. It is capable of growth far beyond its present stage of development....We greet you therefore as younger comrades in a great enter­ prise We callupon you to put your best habits into your work and to make your human relations here as beautiful as you know h o w . "106

Since the present tense expresses what is timely and what is the norm, it is reasonable to assume that speeches which make full use of the present tense would be highly capable of creating presence because they capture the human affinity for dealing with those things which seem most pressing or immediate. Although this captivation may be fleeting, this momentary sensation of being impervious to all but the "here and now" exemplifies the workings of presence.

Another excerpt from Johnson's Inaugural address makes extensive use of the present tense to describe the story of the establishment and development of Howard University. 187 "Howard University the first mature university organization to come to pass among Negroes in the modern civilized world. Its growth from the humblest beginnings one of the greatest romances of American education. During all the early years while the founder and his associates worked, pseudo-scientific men were busily engaged in giving various reasons why serious education of the kind here undertaken should never be attempted among Negroes. History has answered these arguments. Howard University, with its high-calibred fruitfulness is a justifying monument to the faith of the founder and to all his hardworking fellow laborers. It a monument also to the farsighted Federal Govern­ ment, which ever since the emancipation of the slaves, has not ceased to manifest an interest in their educational growth. Howard University has been made possible in its present efficiency very largely, because for a period of nearly fifty years it has had the discriminating, judicious and far­ sighted helpfulness of a sympathetic and understand­ ing government. Howard University also a monument to the capacity of the Negro himself. The coming of Negroes from two hundred and fifty years of slavery in which by far the most of them did not know even how to write their names, in a period of sixty years to constitute the majority of the members of the faculty of a full- fledged university and to have their names recorded as original and creative contributors to the knowledge of the world certainly an indication, that the human mind, whatever its color, and whatever serious embarassments it may have worked under, essentially a dignified thing, and that all that Christianity and other great religions have dared to believe about it can possibly be t r u e . "107

Even though the present tense is here interspersed with other tenses, it gives a predominant feeling of importance, timelessness and reality to the passage. 188 Imagery and Metaphor

The importance of imagery and metaphor in elevating the mind, stimulating the emotions and establishing a sense of actuality can hardly be overstated. Kames, Burke and

Perelman have placed great emphasis on the importance of this feature in creating presence. Kames stresses that the ability of speech to lift the emotions depends largely on the creation of lively and distinct images. Imagery and metaphor ideally represent the ability of the spoken word to utilize the descriptive, dramatic and unrestricted capacity of language to appeal to man's sensory nature and emotions. Burke views any type of gesture, tone, order or imagery not as mere linguistic embellishments but as cru­ cial aspects of identification and instruments of creating presence. In this vein, he refers to figures such as imagery and metaphor as representational figures. Figures are an ideal means of serving man's interests, and of perpetuating things which are representative of the truths and values human beings hold. Burke particularly mentions the ability of imagery to create identification through the stimulation of personally experienced sensa­ tions, and the ability of metaphor to stimulate the per­ ception. 189 Perelman provides an entirely unprescriptive view of the nature of presence and states that an almost in­ definite number of linguistic features could, in a par­ ticular instance promote the sense of reality associated with presence. Even so, he admits that opinions, appear­ ances and impressions are an important means of achieving a sense of reality and that metaphor does have the capacity to force us to see those relationships, similarities and conncetions which might make things seem more r e a l . 1 ^ 8

When Perelman refers to instruments which presence uses to create a sense of actuality he includes conditions of time, place, relation and personal i n t e r e s t . ^^9 Condi­ tions of relation would undoubtedly include the metaphor.

Conditions of personal interest certainly imply the use of imagery.

Carroll Arnold also makes some important statements about the role metaphor and imagery may play in dis­ c o u r s e . According to Arnold, metaphors, unless confus­ ing or distasteful, tend to make communication seem inter­ esting and colorful. Metaphors are a means of establishing the relationships which are relevant for a particular group. They can argue in favor of those interrelationships and can be a means of promoting a sense of actuality. 190 As far as images are concerned, Arnold feels they may be either sensory intellectual or commonplace. "Sensory images tend to stimulate listeners to experience vicarious­ ly; to that extent, the linguistic form invites them to become experientially involved with what is said. In­ tellectual images and implications tend to make listeners

'work' to process and use the ideas referred to. This is more laborious than experiencing vicariously, and it may suggest that human concerns are not strongly valued by a speaker who leans heavily on intellectualisation. Common­ place images, although they may generate important feelings of warmth and identification, do not typically demonstrate rhetorical strength."

Arnold's description certainly expresses the value of imagery in accentuating human interest factors, making people reflect and refer to things of which they have first hand experience and in essence, portraying a sense of actuality. Johnson's use of imagery and metaphor are care­ fully examined and analyzed in terms of their potential for developing a sense of actuality and ultimately creating presence. 191 Imagery

Johnson's speeches are replete with imagery and meta­ phorical language. While the two forms are frequently used in conjunction with each other an effort is made here to analyze the two features separately. Some of the imagery

Johnson used could be considered intellectual, as depicted in the two following examples.

"The world is not yet made. Mankind is still very young. It is capable of growth far beyond its present stage of development. And that too, not merely in the sphere of external circumstances. Not merely in mastery over nature and in the accumula­ tion of wealth. It is capable of a great develop­ ment of intellectual and aesthetic powers and of richness and beauty in human relationships. It is quite possible that some of you will be creative contributors to this development and that some of you may be pioneers in it."ill

"There is no organization or combination of organ­ izations which can, at this stage in the history of the Negro race, begin to compare with the fundamental importance of the Negro Church. And yet, we can see what is going to happen to that church if only sixty college men are preparing to enter the Negro pulpit. The simple, unsophisticated, mystical religion of the Negro cannot continue to endure unless it is over and over reinterpreted to him by men who have a funda­ mental and far-reaching understanding of the sig­ nificance of religion in relation to the complexities of modern civilized life.”ll2

These intellectual images, because they are sharp and emotionally elevating, force audience members to work harder at processing them. Their significance could perhaps be missed if the audience is not totally alert or if they are momentarily distracted from the message. Extensive use of intellectual imagery may become so demanding on an 192 audience that their attention becomes diverted and the potential effectiveness of this type of imagery is under­ mined. In Johnson's oratory, intellectual images occurred far less frequently than either commonplace or sensory images. When intellectual images were used they were intertwined with the sensory, the commonplace and meta­ phorical language, and thereby created an effect which pro­ vided the audience with a comfortable balance between mental challenge and me tal stimulation. This blend is evident in the foregoing examples.

Johnson's affinity for the commonplace and the ordi­ nary as a means of "reaching the simplest and smallest person in the audience is demonstrated in the commonplace images which punctuated his speeches.Two vivid examples are contained in the following example.

"Do you realize what that means, that a nation which is in such command of scientific and technical and organizational genius that is has a productive capacity of two hundred and fifty billion dollars a year, moving onto three hundred billion dollars a year, would be able to appropriate only fifteen million dollars a year for the economic life of a billion people of Asia and South America? It is so ludicrous it is a wonder we don't get behind closed doors in Chicago. and horse-laugh ourselves into non-existence. By the very ludicrous preposterousness of that gesture we yield a moral leadership to Rusia and make it impossible for any system of life that has a genuine interest in these people to supersede us in their affections and leadership. It has been hard for me to ask you to look at ourselves that way, but as the little boy said, 'That's who we i s . '"1^4 193 A message which has too many commonplace images tends to lack much rhetorical force and leans towards banality.

While the commonplace and the ordinary may promote identi­ fication and develop a sense of warmth and closeness between speaker and audience, this kind of imagery in isolation lacks that "magical" quality of elevating the mind of the hearer. The commonplace images Johnson used in the previous example were appropriately combined with intellectual images (we yield a moral leadership to Russia) and sensory images (three hundred billion dollars, fifteen million dollars). This combination helped to create a balance which brought out the unique value commonplace images hold for approximating reality and rendering the important service of contributing to the creation of presence.

Sensory images tended to be the kind most frequently used by Johnson. One example in which Johnson makes wide­ spread use of imagery to tell the story of the principle on which Howard University was founded follows.

"You are the inheritors of that radically different way of thinking that took place in this little town. It was a little town at that time — not the capital of the free world. Not the capital of a city with over six hundred million dollars per year ofpro­ ductive power. Not the nation which has the most powerful Army, Navy and Air Force. Just a little one-horse country, as it was, that had been dragged down for a hundred or more years by the slave system. These people had not been dragged down to the level of conforming to the world. They didn't conform to 194 the habits of the churches in this town. They didn't conform to the habits of thought that was in the Supreme Court. They didn't conform to the habits of thought that were in the Congress. They didn't conform to the habit of thought that was in the Presidency. They looked way back and re- newed their minds by reflection on the nature and possibilities of human nature that they saw in Jesus of Nazareth and they decide that the children of slaves were the children of God and no man could tell what they might be if they had teachers who respected the dignity and high possibilities of their personalities and gave them the kind of teaching that would give them a great vision of the possibilities of their own lives."115

These sensory images are the kind which must have readily evoked memories of things which were actually known, seen or experienced. For the many persons who could claim such recognition this message must have seemed very important and very real. Sensory images are the strong emotional images which have a capacity to evoke vicarious experiences in the listener. People are stimulated to hear, experience and picture the message presented to them. This intimate experiencing of the message fosters the creation of a sense of actuality which promotes the spirit of presence.

Metaphor

The foregoing examples bear evidence that the metaphor appeared in many areas of Johnson's speeches. Excerpts of allegory, imagery and quotation all bear strong indica­ tions of the full use which was made of this rhetorical form. Johnson used metaphors not just as a means of 195 drawing comparisons and establishing relationships but also to vivify his messages and to give life to typically life­ less objects. It is the force and vividness of these meta­ phors which helped to enhance Johnson's speeches and enabled them to hold such great potential for approximating reality and creating presence. An outstanding example of the use of metaphor is extracted for Johnson's 1926 Address where he expresses optimism about his new position and the

future of Howard University.

"As I greet you today, I am glad to express the hopefulness and confidence which seem to characterize every element in our university community. We are sure of our mission, and we feel like a vigorous and eager young man stripped to run a race."life

Addressing himself to one of the ethical problems of modern

Christianity Johnson said:

"When endeavor was made to array the Christian spirit against slavery the Church was obliged to witness large sections of her parishoners and even her minis­ try justifying the evil institution and supporting it with quotations from the scriptures. The ethical force of the Church was broken. Her body was rent asunder into Northern and Southern divisions and the nation was obliged to settle the slavery problem not by constructive measure under the inspiration of religion but with blood."117

An extended metaphor comes from Johnson's 1950 Address

where he cautions against the danger of wealthier nations

ignoring the problems of poorer countries.

" and sometimes men who arise from minorities that have hurt, have had their eyes opened, so they can see more clearly than the people who are sitting on the grandstand that is falling. When the broken beam of the grandstand is on a man's back he knows that it is falling and where it has 196 fallen; but the man who is sitting on the seat tacked to that beam may still be fairly comfort­ able and may not know what catastrophe awaits him."118

It is notable that the metaphors cited have something to do with physiological experiences and physical actions and conditions.119 For example, "...a vigorous and eager young man stripped to run a race",1^0 "...with blood"121 and

"when the broken beam of the grandstand is on a man's back

he knows that it is f a l l i n g . .."122 in addition to vivify­

ing and enlivening the message, these metaphors touch on

physical conditions and relate to physiological actions which may hold vital personal meanings for listeners. This

ability to experience discourse on a personal and intimate

level arises from the ability to establish a relationship

with things experienced in the past. This is an essential

ingredient in stimulating a sense of reality.

Personification

Personification may be an important figure in creating

clarity, emphasis and naturalness. It may also serve a

positive purpose in creating a sense of actuality because

it encourages the mind to bestow sensibility on inanimate

things. This stimulation may elevate the emotions and

stimulate listeners to experience a feeling of reality with

regard to the situation being described. It is notable 197 that Johnson made extensive use of personification in his

1933 address to the Inter-Seminary Conference. This address, though briefer and more traditionally organized than the other five speeches, was perhaps the most specialized of the speeches examined.

The speech was delivered to an audience of persons who were either potential Christian missionaries or closely affiliated with the organized Christian Church. Johnson's language was particularly geared to this audience which would be familiar with his particular choice of words and the religious principles, policies and doctrines to which he referred. Though brilliantly spiced with imagery, climaxes, strong words, picturesque phrases and interesting illustration, the speech was decidedly more intellectual and specialized than any other reviewed here. Personifies^ tion might have been used here to stimulate human interest factors and promote feelings of actuality which would make the message less remote and more real and vivid to the audience. In Johnson's 1933 message he told his audience:

"When endeavor was made to array the Christian religion against slavery the Church was obliged to witness large sections of her parishioners and even her ministry justifying the evil institution and supporting it with quotations from the scriptures. The ethical force of the Church was broken. Her body was rent asunder into Northern and Southern divisions and the nation was obliged to settle the slavery problem, not by constructive measures under the inspiration of religion but with b l o o d . "123 198 "Throughout the modern era, the vast majority of a devoted ministry have been obliged to interpret the gospel, on the one hand, in light of an extremely authoritative Church and, on the other hand, in light of an externally authoritative book. Both these external authorities have placed the ministry in a position of being expert pointers to the work of God in past history, but poor declarers of his living will. Both have led her into con­ flict with the very modern thought with which she has need to wed. The one has overtly divided the realm of the secular from the sacred and the other has exalted so many things to the level of equal or proximate importance to ethical action and there­ by so divided her forces that she has seldom, if ever, been able to muster her full spiritual power to inspire or support a great constructive movement in the sphere of economic or political l i f e . "124

"Christianity is now placed in position for the first time to appraise her position in the world. On this basis she knows that her strength is not in her numbers, not in the effectiveness of her organization, not in her economic resourcefulness, as important as these may be, but in the extent to which her individual members thoughtfully and radically embody reverence for life in individual and social action designed to enhance the value of life in the world. Christianity is able now to rediscover the social passion of her primitive days, disentangled from the eschatological envelope in which it first cam to her and from other-worldly metaphysics inherited from the Graeco-Roman w o r l d . "1 2 5

"Here for the first time, Christianity is able to make flexible and powerful wedding with modern thought. Having once come to see with clarity that it is her primary function in the world to embody, to enrich and to beget increasing reverence for life, Christianity is in position to seek the cooperation of modern scientific, social and technological intell­ igence...... These thinkers now become her allies in implementing her active good w i l l . "126

The frequent use of personification in this complex, intellectual and specialized message can create emphasis and promote a human interest factor which personalizes the 199 message, enlivens it and makes it more interesting to listeners. The use of personification here, seems to bring the inanimate object to life and make it seem more real.

Also, the Church has traditionally been referred to as

"she" so this usage tends to promote familiarity, identifi­ cation and the sense of reality which comes from recogni­ tion of the familiar. It is very likely that Johnson's use of personification was very important in creating a sense of reality and promoting presence.

Summary

In this chapter the contents of six of Mordecai

Johnson's speeches were examined in an attempt to determine the extent to which the content of these speeches reflected the use of methods which had potential for creating presence. Johnson's speeches were examined under four large headings; clarity, emphasis, identification and actuality. The literature survey conducted in connection with this study indicated that speeches which were clear, emphatic, utilized identification with the audience and created a sense of reality were very likely to create presence.

This analysis shows that Johnson used statistics, quo­

tations, the imperative mood, superlatives, allegory. 200 climaxes and imagery to bring about the clarity, emphasis, identification and sense of actuality which promote pre­ sence. Johnson's style of speaking has been described as flexible, vivid, warm and one in which the speaker seemed to have made special efforts to reach out directly to his audience and make them a meaningful part of the rhetorical situation. The use of climaxes, simple language, person­ ification, personal pronouns, allegory, imagery and repet­ ition featured strongly throughout Johnson's speeches.

The content examined designates Johnson a master of the spoken word. This survey unearthed a man who moved with facility from the most complex structures and the most uncommon words to a level of simplicity which could perhaps reach the smallest person in the audience. Johnson was proud to sport the intellectual development and sophis­ tication he treasured in himself and which he espoused for all people. Yet, when necessary he determined to be un­ sophisticated enough to reach the least complex mind.

Two important comments must be made about this chapter.

First, the separation of rhetorical features to facilitate analysis is no indication that these features were effective

in isolation. Throughout Johnson's speeches imagery, meta­ phor, quotation and vivid language were some of the features which worked together to create the strong impact Johnson's 201 content demonstrates. Acknowledgement of the strong interrelationships between and among these features is crucial to understanding the probable impact of Johnson’s content.

Secondly, while the emphasis in this chapter was on content, the testimony, interviews and data from Johnson's recorded sermon indicated that what this author has called the "Johnson effect" is not merely limited to the brilliant, vivid and imaginative content uncovered in the analysis.

The "Johnson effect" has a direct relationship to the dramatic delivery which characterized this man's speaking and which forms the focus of the following chapter. What the review of the content of Johnson's speeches most strongly implies, is that within that content lay the precious raw material which, in the hands of an orator with a strong presentational style, had vast possibilities for creating presence. 202 Notes

1. The terms communion (Names and Perelman) and identification (Burke), have been used synonymously to mean the creating of a sense of oneness and unity between speaker and audience. The terms have similar connotations, but for the sake of clarity only the term identification will be used in the analysis. Similarly, the terms reality (Burke and Perelman) and actuality (Names) have also been used synonymously. For the sake of clarity only the term actuality will be used in future references.

2. The use of specific names may create emphasis and a sense of actuality while also creating communion. These other possibilities further enhance the ultimate effectiveness of specific names in bringing about presence.

3. Names, Elements of Criticism, 11, p. 318.

4. Using words typically associated with strength to denote the idea of force and power, e.g., substituting hurled for threw.

5. Mervin D, Lynch, "Stylistic Analysis", in Methods of Research in Communication, Phillip E-met and William D. Brooks, eds. (Boston; Houghton-Mifflin Co., 1970), pp. 315-318.

6. Names, Elements of Criticism, Vol.I, p.217.

7. In this speech Johnson talked about the founding and growth of Howard and the role of the faculty, staff, administration and Board of Trustees in enhancing the growth and esteem of the organization, and the role students must play in the growth and development of the university. 1926 Address.

8. Johnson expressed in this message, the pleasure he felt with the effort of the C.I.O. to improve the conditions of Black and White workers in America. 1950 C.I.O. Convention Address.

9. Here Johnson emphasized the deprived condition of the large number of "under-developed" Countries in the world, and urged the NATO countries to liberate those people politically and economically and provide them with the assistance and guidance that would enhance their growth. 1959 Atlantic Congress Address. 203 10. In this speech Johnson emphasized the need for a strong and stable organization which could further the goal of Negro education. He expressed his thanks to the organizations that had supported that goal and pledged to give his all in the effort to keep it alive. 1927 Inaugural Address.

11. This opening is notable because of the strength and forthrightness with which Johnson attached his subject. Johnson proceeded to outline the challenge Christianity faced from the spread of Communism and proposed some solutions. 1933 Inter-Seminary Conference Address.

12. Johnson began this message with a biblical quotation which formed the thrust of a message in which he urged his listeners to be the very best person they could, regardless of their station in life. 1964 Sermon, Walter Rankin Chapel.

13. Cal M. Logue, Dwight L. Freshley, Charles R. Gruner and Richard C. Huseman, Speaking, Back to the Fundamentals (Boston: Allyn and Bacon Inc., 1969), pp. 61-64. John J. Makay, Speech Communication Now, pp. 150-155.

14. 1926 Address.

15. Ibid.

16. 1950 Address.

17. Ibid.

18. 1933 Address.

19. Marcus Boulware, The Oratory of Negro Leaders, p. 73.

20. 1950 Address.

21. Ibid.

22. Ibid.

23. Kames, Vol.l, p. 318. 204 24. 1950 Address.

25. 1927 Address.

26. John J. Makay, Speaking With An Audience, p. 85.

27. Perelman, The New Rhetoric, p. 61.

28. 1959 Address.

29. Ibid.

30. Perelman, p.178.

31. Lord Kames, Elements of Criticism, Vol. 11, p. 113.

32. One of the reasons this particular conference had been called was to enable some of the major world powers to discuss their relationship with the countries of Asia and Africa.

33. 1959 Address.

34. Another important reason this conference was called was to discuss the spread of Communism to the develop­ ing countries and to find ways of curtailing its rampage.

35. 1959 Address.

36. 1964 Address

37. Ibid.

38. Ibid.

39. Ibid.

40. Ibid.

41. Kames, Elements of Criticism, Vol. 1, p.241.

42. Kames notes that our delight in stories of heroes and conquerors are universally favored because they hold the potential for elevating the mind. Ibid., p.248.

43. 1959 Address.

44. Ibid. 205 45. 1922 Address.

46. Lord Kames, Elements of Criticism, Vol. 1, p. 238.

47. Ibid., p. 239

48. The word "men" in this context is included as a collective noun, because traditionally it has been used to refer to human beings in general. The traditional interpretation would have been appro­ priate in 1926.

49. 1927 Address.

50. Ibid.

51. This assumption is developed from Hovland and Sherif's "Social Judgement Theory" discussed in detail in Carl Hovland and M. Sherif, Social Judgement Assimilation and Contrast Effects in Communication and Attitude Change (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1961).

52. 1927 Address.

53. 1950 Address.

54. 1964 Address.

55. 1959 Address.

56. Ibid.

57. 1950 Address.

58. Ibid.

59. 1964 Address.

60. 1950 Address.

61. Lord Kames, Elements of Criticism, Vol. 11, pp.381-392

62. Ibid., p.53.

63. Chaim Perelman, The New Rhetoric, p. 161.

64. Kames, Elements of Criticism, 1, pp. 71-72.

65. Kenneth Burke, Grammar Of Motives, p.46. 206 66. Perelman, The New Rhetoric, p.144.

67. 1959 Address.

68. Ibid.

69. Ibid.

70. Ibid.

71. Ibid.

72. 1950 Address.

73. Ibid.

74. 1964 Address.

75. Perelman, The New Rhetoric, p. 144.

76. Ibid.

77. Kames, Elements of Criticism, 1, p. 241.

78. 1964 Address.

79. Ibid.

80. Ibid.

81. The categories and response pattern for the question: "Circle the adjective which you think best describes Johnson as a speaker," were; Very Strong: 81%, Strong: 15%, Fairly Strong: 4%, Not Strong at All: 0%.

82. 1959 Address.

83. Ibid.

84. Ibid.

85. 1964 Address.

86. Perelman, The New Rhetoric, p. 175.

87. 1964 Address.

88. Perelman, The New Rhetoric, p. 175.

89. Kames, Elements of Criticism, 1, pp. 239-241. 207 90. Kames, Elements of Criticism, 1, pp.239-241.

91. Ibid., p. 53.

92. Ibid., p. 53.

93. The extensive use of "you", and the conversational format of the oratorical question create a feeling of involvement and identification similar to that which is fostered by the use of the imperative.

94. 1950 Address.

95. Ibid.

96. 1933 Address.

97. Ibid.

98. 1964 Address.

99. Ibid.

100. Ibid.

101. Ibid.

102. 1950 Address.

103. Perelman, The New Rhetoric, p. 142.

104. These two terms will be used interchangeably in this paper.

105. Perelman, The New Rhetoric, p. 160.

106. 1926 Address.

107. 1927 Address.

108. Perelman, The New Rhetoric, pp. 399-400.

109. Ibid., pp. 117-118.

110. Arnold, Criticism of Oral Rhetoric, pp. 168-169.

111. 1926 Address.

112. 1927 Address. 208 113. These are Johnson's own words extracted from an interview with the author on April 17, 1976.

114. 1950 Address.

115. 1964 Address.

116. 1926 Address.

117. 1933 Address.

118. 1950 Address.

119. According to . physiological for listeners

120. 1926 Address.

121. 1933 Address.

122. 1950 Address.

123. 1933 Address.

124. Ibid.

125. Ibid.

126. Ibid. CHAPTER V

JOHNSON'S PRESENTATIONAL STYLE

AND THE SPEAKER-AUDIENCE RELATIONSHIP

In this chapter the non-verbal features which typified

Johnson's mode of presentation are analyzed and their potential for creating presence is assessed. The question to be answered here is; "To what extent do the non-verbal aspects of Johnson's rhetorical style reflect the potential for creating presence, and to what extent is Johnson's relationship with his audience enhanced through these non­ verbal cues?"l

Answering this question requires a detailed examination of both Johnson's presentational style and the relationship he probably established with his audience. A review is made of those non-verbal features which Johnson used during the delivery of his messages. Oral style audibility of the message, clarity of speech, vocal variety and gestures which might have served a rhetorical function are examined.

Johnson's credibility as a person and as a speaker are also examined in light of its contribution to presence.

209 210 Data on these subjects are obtained from five sources: questionnaires administered to Howard University graduates, recorded interviews with persons who had heard Johnson speak on several occasions, an interview conducted with Johnson himself, a two-hour recording of a sermon Johnson delivered at the Walter Rankin Chapel in 1964, and biographical com­ ments on Johnson collected from books and magazines.^

The questionnaires issued in connection with this study have provided considerable information on the way audience members perceived Johnson as an orator. Fifty nine persons completed and returned the questionnaires. These fifty nine persons included thirty seven males and twenty two females who altogether had heard Johnson speak a total of 982

times.3 The reactions to Johnson’s rhetoric expressed in

these questionnaires are derived from a group of people who have had considerable exposure to Johnson's speaking and thus

are satisfactory for this study. It must be noted that the

inherent limitations of relying upon recollections as a

source of data have not been overlooked by the critic. Aware­

ness of this limitation has led the critic to place only

partial reliance on the questionnaire data. Information and

conclusions on Johnson’s non-verbal style are also derived

from the transcribed contents of his speeches, from a recorded

sermon, from the testimony of persons who have been inter­

viewed, as well as from the questionnaires. 211 Analysis and Discussion of Questionnaire Responses

In this section the questions which appeared in the mail­ ed questionnaire are listed, their significance discussed and the findings are analyzed and reported. Questions are listed in order of their appearance on the questionnaire.

Question One; How many times have you been part of an audience which Dr. Johnson was addressing? (Give an appro­ ximate number) This question was asked primarily to get some assurance that the listener had heard Johnson speak.

It has been stated in the first chapter of this work, that the sample of persons selected from the Howard Directory was a random one. Selection was based on the assumption that people who had been at Howard between the years 1930 and 1950 would have heard Johnson speak at least once.

Johnson, as President of Howard (1926-1960), addressed the student body at the start of each quarter, spoke at gradua­ tion ceremonies and frequently delivered sermons in the

Walter Rankin Chapel at Howard, on Sundays. With no assur­ ance that the initial assumption might be true, the question was asked as a means of obtaining definite verification.

This question was also asked for another reason.

Accepting the fact that recollection is an unstable method for collecting data, the critic assumed that a group of 212 persons who had heard Johnson several times could conceiv­ ably be more likely to have a stronger recollection of his speaking. Persons responding to the questionnaire had heard

Johnson speak a total of 982 times and an average of seven­ teen times per person. The fewest number of times mentioned was four, the largest number was thirty.

Even though this group of questionnaire respondents had heard Johnson several times, the number itself is no absolute indication of their ability to recall. The follow­ ing example seems to infer that listeners might recall just as well from having heard a speaker once as from hearing him several times. Anne Biddle Stirling, writing in Opportunity, quotes a woman who was aprt of an audience Johnson had just addressed as saying; "I have never heard an address to match it! These people will never forget what they heard to­ night. For years to come, some phrase will suddenly grip them."^

The message implied by this comment is, that after having heard Johnson once, a listener might never forget the

impression that was made. It is no guarantee that all of Johnson's listeners will be equally able to clearly recall

that impression. 213 Question two; "Circle the adjective which you think best describes Johnson as a speaker."

Choices : VERY STRONG STRONG FAIRLY STRONG

NOT STRONG AT ALL

This question was asked in order to acquire information on the group's perception of Johnson as a speaker. The answer to thie question could lead to an assumption about how much emphasis was created when Johnson spoke, since strength is often equated with emphasis. The question could also in­ directly give an impression of whether Johnson as a speaker was perceived in a positive or negative light. When we think of a strong speaker, we typically think of one who makes a positive impression. Similarly, a speaker who is described as not strong at all may typically be considered as one who makes a poor impression. Responses ; Seventy-nine per cent of respondents described Johnson as a "very strong" speaker, sixteen per cent described him as a "strong" speaker, five per cent described him as "fairly strong". No respondent described Johnson as "not strong at all".

The knowledge that JOhnson was perceived as a very strong speaker by seventy-nine per cent of respondents is very important to this analysis. While the literature on presence does not explicitly state that one must be a very strong speaker in order to create presence, the implicit relationship between strong speakers and presence is clear. 214 The speaker's awareness of his audience and that audience's

awareness of the speaker are at the basis of the concept

called presence. The speaker who is able to make a strong

impression on his audience is in all probability one who is

developing the rapport which promotes the spirit of presence.

The spirit of presence is most likely to be developed

by one who is aware of his audience, acknowledges that

audience, is able to clearly express his thoughts to them,

identify with them, make them aware of the important aspects

of the discourse and make things seem vibrant and real to

them. A speaker who develops all these facets of discourse

is likely to be perceived by his audience as either a

'strong' or a 'very strong' speaker. In all likelihood that

speaker did create presence which is viewed in this study

as the end result of the speaker's efforts to reach his

audience and that audience's impression that the speaker is

the source through whom some momentary magic is created.

Question three: "List at least five words of your own

choosing which you would use to describe Johnson as a speaker."

This question was raised to give the respondents an oppor­

tunity to express their ovm. original 'gut reactions' to

Johnson as a speaker. This was a risky question which could

have elicited such a wide variety of responses as to be

completely useless. This however was not the case. As is 215 indicated below the answers fell into two categories ; One group of words implied a high degree of audience involvement and the other group of words described the presentational aspects of Johnson's oratory. Question three was also in­ cluded to serve as a basis for comparison with questions seven, eleven and twelve where people are asked to describe

Johnson's effect as a speaker in terms of his content and presentation. In these later questions lists are provided with target words from which choices can be made.

Responses Over sixty five per cent of the respondents used these words to describe Johnson.

(a) Dynamic Powerful Convincing Dramatic Inspiring Relevant Overwhelming Humorous Religious Provocative

(b) Colorful Demonstrative Varied tone Eloquent Clear Emphatic

The words in group (a) are expressive of a high degree of audience involvement and relate directly to concepts des­ cribed in the literature as conducive to creating presence.

While the words in group (b) also have strong implications for creating presence they appear separately because they seem to be more descriptive of Johnson's style of delivery.

Varied tone, eloquent, clear and emphatic in particular, are words more related to content than to delivery. 216 Questions four and five hold similar implications for presence, and the interpretation of the responses to those questions is considered together.

Question four: "Did Johnson seem to be making a special effort to communicate with his audience?"

Choices: YES NO MAYBE

Responses : YES-94% NO-4% MAYBE-2%

Question five: "Did Johnson seem to be making a special effort to reach you as an individual?"

Choices : YES NO MAYBE

Responses : YES-95% NO-5% MAYBE-0%

Questions four and five aimed to assess the extent to which Johnson exhibited that audience-centered approach to speaking which is an essential part of the process of creat­ ing presence. The purpose here is to determine whether

Johnson made an effort to identify with his audience and whether audience members as groups and as individuals exper­ ienced that intimate attempt to establish communion with them

and make them participants in a shared event. The responses to these questions indicated that a large number of persons viewed Johnson as a strongly audience-oriented speaker.

Ninety-four per cent of respondents felt that Johnson made a 217 special effort to reach the audience as a whole and ninety- five per cent felt he made a special effort to reach them as individuals.

Questions six; "In describing the effect Johnson as a speaker had on his audience, which one of these factors would you say was of most importance?"

Choices: WHAT HE SAID HOW HE SAID IT BOTH WERE EQUALLY IMPORTANT

Question six was extremely valuable as a test of one of the important assumptions of the discussion of presence, that both the content and the delivery of the message are of equal

importance in the creation of Presence. Burke gives this

assumption an interesting twist by inferring that choice of words and grammatical style as well as tone, pitch and pauses

are all identification strategies to be utilized positively

in the goal of creating presence. Kames and Perelman have

always stressed the dual importance of content and delivery

in creating presence. Kames focused on the relationship between sound and signification. Perelman stated that the

mere existence of a thing was never enough to guarantee its

ability to create presence. This question is an attempt to

test these theorists' assumption that presence must include

words as well as actions.

Responses: WHAT HE SAID-5% HOW HE SAID IT-11% BOTH WERE EQUALLY IMPORTANT-84%

These responses provided essential information on how

Johnson's style of presentation was perceived by the majority 218 of questionnaire respondents. These data imply that the majority of respondents perceived both the content and the presentational style of Johnson's messages to be harmonious and complementary and mutually beneficial in creating a particular effect. The upholding of this theoretical assump­ tion is important in assessing the 'Johnson effect' and is of extreme importance to the views expressed on presence herein.

In the literature review on presence Kames, Burke and

Perelman all agreed that a complementary relationship bet­ ween oral style and the content of discourse made a strong contribution to the creation of presence. Kames made a careful case for the power of language and presentational techniques in the creation of presence. He felt that the force injected into words could endow them with the power to create presence. In Karnes's view, both the words them­ selves and the force with which they were used functioned to create presence.^

Burke's strong statement on the importance of both content and presentation is summed up in the following:

"You persuade a man only insofar as you can talk his language by speech, gesture, tonality, order, image, attitude, idea, identifying your way with his."^ Perelman expresses this same idea as follows: "Effective argumentation is not only 219 dependent on the selection of the elements to be used but n also on the technique for their presentation."

Question seven; "Circle the words which best describe the effect Johnson as a speaker had on his audience."

Choices; COMMUNION CLOSENESS ACTIVE VIVID REJECTION ISOLATION IMAGINATIVE DISTANCE REALITY TRUTH WELL-PLANNED ORGANIZED DISORGANIZED ALIVE INCLUSION ORDINARY UPLIFTING PICTURESQUE IDENTIFICATION EQUALITY BORING INTERESTING UNINTERESTING ABSTRACT

In question seven, words which have direct relevance for the concept of presence were selected and randomly presented in combination with a variety of words which are unrelated to presence. The goal was to have people identify their choices, with the hope that these choices would create a cluster of words which described Johnson's effect in terms of the con­ cept of presence. While the entire questionnaire is aimed at having people describe a concept called presence, this question is one of the more specific attempts in that direction.

Responses Over 50% of questionnaire respondents iso­ lated words such as reality, uplifting, truthful, alive, picturesque, interesting, imaginative, well-planned, vivid and organized, as descriptive of the effect Johnson as a speaker had on his audience. The largest responses were to the words interesting, 83%; uplifting, 74%; well-planned,

72%; imaginative, 64%; and vivid, 64%. 220 Less than 50% of questionnaire respondents isolated words such as communion^ closeness, active, inclusion, iden­ tification and equality as descriptive of Johnson's effect as a speaker. Forty-four percent of the respondents described

Johnson as an active speaker who created a spirit of communion with his audience. Thirty-five percent felt he created a feeling of closeness with his audience and 20% felt Johnson engendered a feeling of equality with his audience. A complete tabulation of the responses to question seven appears below.

Table 1

Tabulation of Responses to Question Seven

Target Word Percentage Responding

Interesting 83% Uplifting 75% Well-planned 73% Imaginative 66% Vivid 66% Truth 63% Reality 61% Alive 60% Organized 56% Picturesque 49% Active 44% Communion 44% 221 Target Word Percentage Re

Closeness 36% Identification 32% Equality 20% Inclusion 19% Abstract 2% Ordinary 2% Distance 2% Uninteresting 2% Isolation 2% Disorganization 0% Rejection 0%

Many of the words used in response to question seven had been used earlier in this chapter to describe Johnson's rhetorical effect. The consistency occurring in these responses is in keeping with the definition of presence given in chapter two. The central idea in that chapter was that through a particular and effective use of words and actions, human emotions can be aroused, a sense of participation can be established, messages are internalized and receivers can

experience a deep sense of involvement in a rhetorical event.

That symbolic participation in a shared idea was called presence. The questionnaire responses seem to be pointing

to the fact that perhaps for_ this representative audience,

the effect Johnson created can be explained in terms of the

concept of presence.

Question eight: "Was your response to Johnson similar

on each occasion you heard him speak?"

Choices : YES NO 222 The purpose of this question was to determine the degree of consistency with which Johnson created the effect which listeners have been describing. The question could have been confusing to some respondents and the interpretion given it is likely to have varied strongly from person to person.

Johnson has been described by many writers as a controversial personality who seemed to evoke one of two strongly opposed reactions from those who come in contact with him. "They

Q are either fervent admirers or bitter critics." It is

feasible that in answering these questions some persons might have been responding on a purely emotional level while others might have been responding (as was intended) largely on the basis of Johnson's speaking style. With full awareness of

the difficulty of separating the emotional and intellectual

assessments of any event, the critic wishes to acknowledge

these particular limitations of the question.

Response; YES 78% NO 10% NO RESPONSE 12%

These responses indicate a high degree of consistency (78%)

with the way these particular respondents perceived Johnson's

effect as a speaker.

Question nine: "Rate your perception of Johnson's credi­

bility as an individual."

Choices: VERY HIGH HIGH FAIR POOR 223 Questions nine and ten represent an effort to establish credibility as a factor which may play a role in the creation of presence and which could be an accessory in the business of creating presence. These questions infer an acknowledge­ ment of the role credibility must play in any communication situation and an awareness of its distinctiveness as a unique rhetorical feature.

Responses; VERY HIGH-81% HIGH-16% FAIR-3% POOR-0%

Credibility can neither be classified as exclusively verbal or exclusively non-verbal. Elements of both factors, in addition to a person's known reputation bring about high or low credibility. Since credibility plays a part in the relationship every speaker has with his audience, it is to a speaker's advantage to have eighty-one percent of his audience rate him as having a very high credibility. Yet, because this paper is about a phenomenon called presence the critic must be careful to assess whether Johnson's perceived effect­ iveness arose from this perceived high credibility or whether his credibility was perceived to be high on account of his effectiveness in the rhetorical arena.

This question is much more complex than it might appear to be and it seems futile for the critic to attempt to explain the relationship between credibility and presence in simple cause and effect terms. Johnson's perceived high 224 credibility could have come from a variety of areas includ­ ing his educational achievements, the string of success he had achieved as President of Howard University, the many honors and awards he received and his own physical attract­ iveness; he was a moderately tall man of great stature and regal bearing, he dressed smartly, had a marvelous sense of humor and enjoyed a national reputation as an outstanding orator.^ While this high credibility must have probably enhanced the audience's esteem for Johnson, there is definite evidence derived from questionnaire-respondents that

Johnson's effectiveness could definitely be related to features associated with the concept of presence.

Johnson's great ability to identify with his audience and make them feel involved in the rhetorical situation, the convincing, colorful, clear, eloquent and emphatic quality of his speaking, his use of facts, allegory and repetition to clarify his messages and his interesting vocal variety were important aspects of his speaking effectiveness. Identi­

fying the features of Johnson's speaking which related to presence is the emphasis of this study. Acknowledging that

somehow, credibility featured in the audience's perception of the speaker's effectiveness, while not the focal point

of the study is accepted by the critic as an inevitable

aspect of the situation. A thorough discussion of credibility

follows in the section on the speaker-audience relationship 225 and an attempt is made at that point, to assess the role credibility might have played in furthering or detracting from the progress of presence.

Question ten; "How did your perception of Johnson's credibility affect your response to his speaking?

Choices ; POSITIVELY NEGATIVELY NOT AT ALL

Responses ; POSITIVELY-93% NEGATIVELY-2% NOT AT ALL-5%

In question nine, eighty-one per cent of questionnaire respondents rated Johnson's credibility as "very high". In question ten, ninety-three per cent of questionnaire respon­ dents stated that their perception of Johnson's credibility positively affected their response to his speaking. The reader might perhaps wonder whether this evidence gives further support to the question on credibility raised earlier,

A ninety-three per cent positive response as obtained above, could lend credulity to the issue that perhaps Johnson's success as an orator could just as validly be attributable to his credibility as it could be to "presence". There is indeed a vast amount of research to support the finding that speakers who are accepted as highly credible sources, are virtually not in need of evidence, eloquence or any other extraneous factors to enhance the audience's perception of them. 226 Other data obtained from this same questionnaire has isolated specific rhetorical features used by Johnson which have a direct bearing on presence. Truth, Communion, Organi­ zation, Dynamism, Audience involvement. Identification,

Picturesque language and the Creating of a sense of reality are some of these. These features appear to be typical of

Johnson's rhetoric and according to questionnaire respond­ ents, seem to be largely responsible for Johnson's speaking effectiveness. While a speaker's high credibility tends to enhance any situation in which he is involved, it seems

likely that perhaps much more than credibility would be needed to get audiences to repeatedly listen to and enjoy

the ninety and one hundred and eighty-minute speeches

Johnson typically delivered.

Question eleven; Judging from the content of Johnson's

speaking circle all the verbal stylistic features mentioned

below which you think he used to accomplish his particular

effect.

Choices ; MYTH ALLEGORY FACTS TRUTHS THE SINGULAR REPETITION NAMES OF PEOPLE AGGREGATION NAMES OF PLACES ONOMATOPOEIA PARABLE VALUES ANTITHESIS BALANCES PLURAL COLLECTIVE NOUNS AMPLIFICATION DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES IMPERATIVE PERSONAL PRONOUNS 227 This question was asked in order to assess the extent to which content-oriented features associated with the creation of presence were perceived by the audience to have been used by Johnson to accomplish his rhetorical effect. The figures below indicate the percentage of persons attesting that the particular characteristic used in the content of Johnson's speech contributed towards his effect as a speaker.

Table 2

Tabulation of Responses to Question Eleven

Rhetorical Percentage Responding

Facts 97% Parable 79% Values 78% Demonstrative Adjectives 69% Names of Places 52% Names of People 50% Allegory 48% Amplification 47% Repetition 36% Balances 28% Collective Nouns 24% Imperative 21% Antithesis 19% Plural 16% Onomatopoeia 16% Personal Pronouns 10% Aggregation 7% Myth 9% The Singular 5%

It is notable that more than two thirds of the respondents cited facts, parable, values and demonstrative adjectives as contributing to Johnson's effectiveness. The findings derived from a search of the content of Johnson's speeches uphold the 228 view that Johnson used a large number of facts and statistics in presenting his ideas. This could suggest and support

Johnson's use of detail for clarifying and emphasizing his points, a usage which is important in creating presence, and which must have contributed to the clarity of his messages and to his total effect. While parable tends to enliven and personalize messages, values are an important instrument for creating identification and promoting agreements. Demonstra­ tive adjectives, because they typically point to and highlight relationships, are important in establishing the degree of emphasis which could lead to presence. These features were recognized by more than two thirds of persons responding.

Specific names may promote identification, allegory may bring clarity and a sense of reality. Amplification and repetition may be instruments for bringing about emphasis, clarity and a sense of reality.

Attention is focused on these factors because they were cited by more than thirty three percent of all respondents.

This large amount of agreement bears the implication that a certain amount of congruity resulted on the subject of which rhetorical features used by Johnson played the major roles in creating the greatest effect. 229 Question twelve: "Judging from the manner in which

Johnson delivered his speeches, circle all the non-verbal stylistic features listed below which you think he used to accomplish his particular effect."

Choices

ETHOS CLARITY VARIED PITCH NGN-VARIED PITCH HESITANT ABSTRACTNESS MONOTONE HAND GESTURES BODY MOVEMENT CRESCENDO ENERGETIC SLOW CREDIBILITY INTELLIGIBILITY CHEERFULNESS EMPATHIC CONCRETENESS QUICKNESS VARIED TONE FACE GESTURES SHRIEKS GLOOMINESS INTROVERSION EXTROVERSION

This question bears a rationale similar to question eleven and seeks to assess the extent to which presentational features associated with the creation of presence were per­ ceived by the audience to have been used by Johnson to accomplish his rhetorical effect.

Responses ; Starting with those features which elicited the more numerous responses and ending with those features which received fewer responses the non-verbal characteristics selected by questionnaire respondents were as follows :

Clarity, Emphasis, Hand gestures. Varied Pitch, Intelligibil­ ity, Energy, Crescendo, Varied Tone, Concreteness, Facial

Gestures, Extroversion, Slowness, Quickness, Hesitancy and

Shrieks. The following table indicates the percentage of persons citing each characteristic. 230 Table 3

Tabulation of Responses to Question Twelve

Characteristic Percentage of Respondents

Clarity 82% Emphasis 81% Hand Gestures 67% Varied Pitch 65% Intelligibility 65% Energy 65% Crescendo 58% Varied Tone 47% Concreteness 46% Facial Gestures 35% Extroversion 26% Slowness 19% Quickness 18% Hesitancy 14% Shrieks 4%

Since less than twenty per cent of respondents selected

Slowness, Quickness, Hesitancy and Shrieks, the writer esti­ mates that the respondents as a whole may not have perceived these variables as having any significant impact on Johnson's style of presentation.

The eleven different non-verbal variables cited by two thirds of the respondents as contributing to Johnson's speak­ ing style were clarity, emphasis, hand gestures, varied pitch, intelligibility, energy, crescendo, varied tone, concreteness, facial gestures and extroversion. The percentage of responses to these different characteristics varied greatly. Yet, there was a kind of unanimity of opinion expressed, since a large 231 majority indicated that characteristics such as emphasis,

clarity, hand gestures and varied pitch were the features which most contributed to Johnson's presentational style.

Clarity of speech, emphasis, concreteness, hand gestures and

face gestues have been cited in the literature as strong

features in the creation of presence. The use of crescendo,

varied pitch, energy and variations in rate also received

strong citation by respondents as characteristics of

Johnson's presentation. These data is helpful in labelling

the effect Johnson had on his audience because vocal varia­

tion and an energetic manner heighten audience awareness and

promote the involvement and participation intrinsic to the

creation of presence.

Question thirteen; "Would you describe the effect

Johnson created when he spoke as :"

Choices: POSITIVE NEGATIVE NEITHER POSITIVE NOR NEGATIVE

This question is a final and indirect evaluation of the

effect respondents perceived Johnson to have created. Sup­

posedly this effect might be presence and this is an attempt

to assess its reception by people who were part of the

rhetorical experience. Presence has been described as a

positive effect throughout this study. Hopefully the respond­

ents will endorse that projection in question thirteen. 232 Responses ; POSITIVE-95% NEGATIVE-0%

NEITHER POSITIVE NOR NEGATIVE-4%

NO RESPONSE-1%

The overwhelmingly positive response to Johnson as speaker was among the very valuable information gleaned from this

questionnaire. Ninety-five per cent of all respondents

claimed that Johnson had a positive effect on them as a

speaker. These were among the seventy-eight per cent who

felt their response to Johnson was similar on each occasion

they heard him speak, the 79% who described Johnson as a

very strong speaker, the 95% who felt he made a special

effort to identify with them, the 84% who felt his content

and his delivery were equally important to his total effect,

the 83% who described him as interesting, the 81% who per­

ceived him to have a high credibility, the 93% who felt his

perceived high credibility fostered a positive response to

the speaker, the 97% who felt his use of facts and specific

data enhanced the clarity of his messages and the 82% who

cited clarity as the most important characteristic of his

style of presentation.

This finding leads the critic to state that respondents

to this questionnaire have described the effect

Mordecai Wyatt Johnson created on his audience as overwhelm­

ingly positive and by and large their feeling is that this

positive effect was consistently created every time Johnson

spoke. 233 Many unsolicited comments about Johnson which respond­

ents scribbled at the end of a page described him as a dyna­ mic, direct speaker who was 'ordinary' only in the sense that he lacked artificiality. One person claimed that Johnson won

the admiration and love for all whom he touched and he spread hope, joy and love everywhere he moved. The information

gathered from questionnaires was important in providing data

on those variables which affected and influenced Johnson's

speaking. Along with the data on the content of Johnson's messages, and the information gathered from interviewees,

this information has provided valuable insights into the writer's assessment of the rhetorical effect of

Mordecai Wyatt Johnson.

Opinions of Interviewees

The opinions expressed by six persons interviewed at

Howard University in April 1976 provided additional infor­

mation about the non-verbal behaviors in Johnson's reper­

toire. A brief biographical sketch is done on each of these

persons prior to embarking on a discussion of the informa­

tion they shared with the writer about Johnson.

Mr. James Clark was treasurer of Howard University for

15 years during Johnson's administration. At that time the

treasurer and the president shared a very close relationship.

They had to corroborate to present information to the Budget 234 Committee in Congress in order to gain the annual appropria­ tion for the University. The Budget Hearings presented a vast number of opportunities for Clark to hear Johnson speak in public. In addition to this, both Johnson and Clark had their residences on the Howard Campus until 1961. Besides having a close working relationship they were also neighbors.

After obtaining his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago

School of Education, Charles Thompson was invited by the

Johnson Administration to join the Faculty of Liberal Arts at Howard University. He later became Dean of the Graduate

School while Johnson was President. Thompson was always credited by Johnson for his outspokenness and independence of spirit. Thompson holds the distinction of being the only

interviewee who described Johnson as "longwinded", as one whose "banging on the desk keeps me awake during those long

talks" and one who "intoxicates himself with his own ideas.

Dr. Inabel Lindsay was an undergraduate at Howard during

the early years of Johnson's administration. Always a strong- willed and independent woman, she was among that group of

students who spoke out against the "compulsory attendance at

chapel" which Johnson required of all students in those

days.During Johnson's administration she was a member of 235 the Faculty at Howard for many years and later became Dean of the School of Social Work. Her opportunities for hearing

Johnson were myriad.

Dr. Carroll Miller was a graduate student at Howard

University during the Johnson administration. After receiv­ ing his Ph.D. from Columbia University he returned to Howard and served on the Faculty of Liberal Arts for several years while Johnson was still President.

The Reverend Dr. Evans E. Crawford, Dean of the Andrew

Rankin Memorial Chapel came to Howard University as Acting

Dean in 1958. In 1960 Johnson appointed him to the position of Dean of the Chapel. Since Johnson was a very religious man he always had a close relationship with the Deans of the

Chapel and frequently addressed the Howard Community during

Sunday services in Rankin Chapel. Although Johnson was a registered member of the Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington

D.C., because he lived on the university campus where Rankin

Chapel is located he and his family actually developed a close association with whomever became the minister there.

Evans Crawford therefore came into an already determined role. He was a personal minister to the Johnson family. He visited the Johnsons frequently. He prayed with the family during times of mirth and sadness. He consoled Johnson after the death of his first wife and prayed with him on his own deathbed.He had a large amount of public and private 236 exposure to Johnson's rhetoric. As a student or rhetoric, philosophy and religion and a teacher of homiletics,

Crawford was an extremely articulate interviewee in terms of his ability to describe and assess Johnson's style of presentation.

Dr. Michael Winston came to Howard University after

Johnson had resigned the Presidency of that institution but his interest in the university runs deep. Winston's father was a graduate of Howard and he had instilled in his son a sense of interest in the history and development of Howard.

Since Johnson spoke frequently at Howard after his retire­ ment, Winston still had many opportunities to hear the ex-

President and became well acquainted with him. Winston's interest in Howard is of a more personal and historical nature,

As Director of the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, accumu­ lating and preserving Johnson memorabilia, would fall under his jurisdiction.

The six interviewees talked at length about Johnson.

While their comments and opinions were profuse and varied, some important generalizations can be made of their percep­ tions of Johnson as a speaker. The interviewees were able to isolate five important characteristics which they estimate contributed to Johnson's effectiveness as a speaker. They are; (1) his background (2) his skillful use of the oral mode of expression (3) the duration of his speeches 237 (4) his unique non-verbal style and (5) his strong and positive audience-centered approach. These characteristics are now elaborated on and attention is paid to the individual comments made about each characteristic.

Johnson's Background. The interview with Michael

Winston began with an important statement about Johnson's personal background. Winston said, "Johnson's background as the son of a Baptist preacher has to have had an impor­ tant influence in his life. Historically, the Baptist preacher has used imagery and intonation extensively in his ministry. He was personally involved with the idea of the importance of the spoken word. In the early days of the

Baptist ministry there were no other competing media of communication, so one of the ways to shine in the community, was through speaking." Crawford also cited Johnson's reli­ gious and personal background as positively affecting his speaking. He vehemently refuted the critic's suggestion that Johnson might have perceived himself as some kind of

'performer' by saying: "The genuineness of the movement of his spirit and his moral integrity are important parts of his oratory. His humaneness was injected into his messages.

The intimacy and spontaneity of his extemporaneous presenta­ tions are indications that he was not deliberately per­ forming . "IG 238 Mastery of Oral Expression. James Clark described

Johnson as "a master of the oral mode of expression." He even assumed that Johnson might have subconsciously allowed the written mode of expression to atrophy in his process of perfecting the oral mode. Clark said that "Johnson prepared for his speaking engagements with great thoroughness. He was never known to write more than a few sketchy notes and this very likely accounted for the length of his speeches."1?

Concurring with Clark, Crawford said: "Johnson over-prepared so he could be free to adapt to whatever situation arose.”

Expressing a view that is in opposition to the data gathered from the questionnaire Carroll Miller stated that "Johnson relied more heavily on manner of presenting than on content."^8

He described Johnson as "a firm and outgoing speaker who took speaking seriously.

Duration of Speeches. Interviewees unanimously agreed that Johnson's speeches were lengthy. Their justification

for and explanation of this characteristic varied sharply.

Michael Winston described the important features of Johnson's

communication as "Effect and Action". He referred to a

"Hypnotic Effect" Johnson was capable of imparting to his

audience and he justified Johnson's lengthy speeches by 20 saying "it took a long time to bring about this effect."

Clark expressed thorough amazement at the fact that "Johnson 21 could talk so long and still maintain interest." 239 Charles Thompson who had only a vague recollection of

Johnson's oratory remembered the "loud voice and banging on the desk". Thompson felt that "Johnson spoke too long but he did tell fine stories which were very interesting. When he talked he made things seem real. When he talked about segre­ gation he made it real.Thompson's statement that "Johnson made a topic seem real" thoroughly epitomizes the impression that presence was created.

Crawford's approach to discussing Johnson's lengthy speeches was uniquely different. Crawford assumed that

"Johnson viewed time as something to be manipulated. You used it till you got through." He said "Johnson was known to speak for a very long time, but some of his most moving passages came after he had been speaking forty minutes or more. Johnson had a process of moving onto the speech, relat­ ing to the audience and expressing himself in such a manner till his soul moved into them."

Non-Verbal Style. Respondents had much to say about

Johnson's non-verbal mannerisms. Michael Winston made some insightful comments on Johnson's style of presentation. Des­ cribing this style he said: "Momentum does not build up through a mere exchange of words, but through the style, pattern and content of his (Johnson's) communication. When

Johnson wished to emphasize a point he would raise himself up 240 on his toes, and with arms outstretched in crosslike manner, he would let out a roar. Another coirmon gesture of his was holding on to the lapels of his jacket and pulling himself forward towards the audience." Clark described Johnson as

"something of an actor. His oratory included action, motion, intonation, crescendo and humor. He walked across the stage back and forth and he was very knock-kneed at the time."

Crawford described Johnson as demonstrating "a wealth of facial expression." He said, "Johnson was part of a classical oratorical tradition. His eyes and face spoke.

He would start off speaking softly till the audience had to

lean forward to hear him, and then he would rise to an oratorical flourish." Like Clark and Winston, Crawford stated that movement across the stage, eye motion from side to side, hands on the jacket lapels, just above the chest and the motion of tipping forward towards the audience were typical gestures and motions accompanying Johnson’s speaking. Crawford also described Johnson as having a "face that was very respon­

sive to his feelings. He had quite a sense of humor, and he

laughed deeply and genuinely."

Dr. Inabel Lindsay's comments were specifically related

to Johnson’s voice quality. Her words are quoted verbatim.

"It’s the timbre, so soothing, gentle, melodius; he has a

flow, and the ebb and the flow are pleasing to the ear. 241 He might have worked to create this effect, but there was no overt evidence of pre-planning."

All of those interviewed described mannerisms which were remarkable in terms of their potential for creating presnece. By rising up on his toes Johnson draws his audience's attention to him. Elevation of the arms must have further increased the aura of power and commanded attention.

The sudden roar of a powerful voice, trained in an age when electronic equipment was not available for amplification of the human voice, must have held great potential for creating presence. Referring to another gesture which Johnson always made during a speech Winston said, "he would lean as far forward over the podium as possible and whisper so that people at the farthest end of the hall could hear." That gesture appears to be a non-verbal attempt by the speaker to lessen the physical and psychological distance between himself and the audience. Such a gesture holds good potential for creat­ ing presence.

A Positive Audience-Centered Approach. While many of the foregoing statements clearly highlight Johnson's strong aware­ ness of his audience, there are many specific indications from interviewees that Johnson was not one to take his listeners for granted. Crawford stated that Johnson "always established a personal and intimate relationship with his audience. He 23 242 seemed to speak to you personally." Crawford has already described the sequence in which he thought this was done when he said: "Johnson had a process of moving into the speech, relating to the audience and expressing himself in such a man- mer till his soul moved into them."^^ Although Lindsay’s principal comments were about Johnson’s voice quality she mentioned that "Johnson made an effort to reach every member n c of his audience." Since an audience-centered approach is at the heart of the concept of presence these comments are of great value to this study.

It seems remarkable that after interviewing six persons of varying ages and backgrounds who had heard Johnson speak on different occasions, that the comments about his presentational style should be so similar. Comments by the six interviewees on Johnson's style of presentation might be summarized as follows. There was unanimous agreement that Johnson's speeches were lengthy. However, the non-verbal presentational techni­ ques Johnson used to stimulate the interest and awareness of his audience, the vitality and emphasis with which he delivered his speeches and the effort he made to identify with his audiences seemed to have adequately compensated for the length of his speeches.

An Interview With Mordecai Wyatt Johnson

The writer’s interview with Johnson on April 16,

1976 was simultaneously one of the most pleasurable and 243 painful experiences associated with the writing of this dissertation. Johnson was eighty six years old and unwell at the time of the interview. He was very weak, had undergone cardiac surgery during the past months and was using a pacemaker to facilitate the functioning of the heart. Yet, this renowned orator struggled to heave, pause and labor his way through the interview in true indication that the great voice still held shadows of its former lustre, strength and dramatic variety. Mordecai Johnson died in

October 1976 approximately seven months after the interview.

These conditions made the interview somewhat stressful for the interviewer as well as for the interviewee. Johnson had to depend on his recollection to answer the questions asked, and speaking for any length of time required great physical effort on his part.

One of the important questions asked of Johnson was whether he was aware of the effect he created and whether he could identify some of the things he remembered having done in order to achieve his dynamic effect. Johnson could not recall making any deliberate effort, plan or strategy prior to speak­ ing, and what seems remarkable is that his effect must have been created with no semblance of artificiality or specific preplanning. By his own admission, Johnson claims that he thought carefully about a speech prior to making it, yet he would have no definite idea of what his approach might be 244 until the very moment that he came in contact with the audience. His testimony is that at the moment of contact with the audience, some imaginary spark triggered, things fell into place and he poured out his message.

This kind of admission is very much part of the 'folk preacher' tradition of which Rosenberg spoke in chapter three, and must account for the various characteristics of

Johnson's speaking which are classified in the literature as distinctly oral; the digressions, asides, the use of slang and ordinary language, the repetition, the duration and the euphonic character.

Johnson admitted to making an effort to identify with his audience and thereby reach the greatest as well as the smallest person who was part of it. He did assess the responses he received and he acknowledged these responses. His ability to laugh at himself and as a result arouse laughter in others was an example of a response reaction of which he was well aware. During Johnson's two hour long sermon at the Walter

Rankin Chapel in August 1964, he referred to himself as a

'very brief speaker' and aroused peals of laughter from the audience. His efforts to reach the simplest mind in the audience by any available means was another admission which helped the critic understand the variety of moods created by a 245 Johnson message as it swung from sophisticated language to

commonplace terms.

It is apparent that this interview gives little informa­

tion on what specific features Johnson recognized as character­

istic of his speaking; what features he used in the content

of his speeches; what features he used in his presentation or what was responsible for the positive acceptance he seemed to

receive from his audience. However, Johnson's statement about making an effort to reach all members of his audience and

being motivated through his audience are definite indications

of his efforts to adapt to and identify with the people who

came to hear him speak. That statement confirmed the audience-

centered approach of Johnson's speeches, a concept which forms

the thrust of the theory of creating presence, and is at the

core of the oral tradition in general and the Black oral tra­

dition in particular.

The critic assumes that Johnson's early instruction and

practice in public speaking, debate and in the ministry might

have become so much ingrained in him that he did what he did

naturally and effortlessly. Perhaps the state of Johnson's

health did not allow him to answer in more detail the intri­

cate and indeed intimate questions asked. Yet, one is left

with a clear picture of a speaker who thought a good deal about

the speaking situation, aimed to identify with his audience and 246 thereby exhibited approaches to speaking which have distinct linkages to presence.

The Speaker-Audience Relationship

This section discusses the relationship between Johnson and his audience and explores the question of whether the members of Johnson's audience perceived him to be an orator who was able to develop a rapport with them through his abil­ ity to create presence. A large amount of information about the speaker-audience relationship has already been gathered from questionnaires and interviews. This section largely seeks to draw particular attention to this important relationship and it incorporates some of the findings reported earlier.

In assessing this speaker-audience relationship the personal characteristics which Johnson brought to the speaking situation must be acknowledged as important as well as the distinct effects the orator created after he arrived at the scene, through the use of discursive and presentational techniques. The personal characteristics a speaker brings to a rhetorical situation have traditionally been referred to as that speaker's ethos or credibility. There is documented evidence to indicate that the speaker who is perceived by his audience as a source of high credibility has greater effect and impact on that audience, even though that effect may 27 frequently be only short-lived. 247 One of these studies has referred to "fixed ethos" and

"variable ethos".28 Fixed ethos is that which is derived from the known reputation and prestige of the source.

Variable ethos is derived from the particular conditions of the speaking situation.29

A character sketch of Mordecai Wyatt Johnson is presented here to highlight the features and accomplishments in Johnson's life which may have contributed to the credi­ bility, prestige and awe he brought to a speaking situation.

The special effects created during Johnson's contact with his audience will also be discussed in this chapter.

An Assessment of Johnson's Credibility At the age of thirty-six, Mordecai Wyatt Johnson rose to fill one of the most outstanding and unique academic positions in the United

States. He became the first Black President of Howard

University. Since he was the son of former slaves,

Johnson's appointment simultaneously indicated that humble beginnings are not intrinsically a retardant to educational and cultural progress, while at the same time pointing out

that Mordecai Wyatt Johnson possessed and utilized to the best of his ability, skills which earned him the success, recognition and respect he still proudly bears. 248 Accomplishing goals and overcoming odds seemed to be prime preoccupations from Johnson's earliest days. When he came to Howard he already had behind him a long string of accomplishments. In 1911 he graduated from Morehouse College,

Atlanta, Georgia with a degree of Bachelor of Arts. From

1911 to 1913 he was Professor of Economics and English

History at Morehouse. In 1913 he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Chicago and in 1916, the

Bachelor of Divinity degree from Rochester Theological

Seminary. From 1916 to 19-17 he was Secretary of the Inter­ national committee of the Young Men's Christian Association.

From 1917 to 1926 he was Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Charleston, West Virginia. Three of his noteworthy accomplishments during this nine-year tenure were, the founding of the Rochdale Cooperative Cash Grocery, the es­ tablishing of the Charleston Branch of the National Associa­ tion for the Advancement of Colored People, and the earning of a Masters Degree in Divinity from Harvard University in

1922.^^ Johnson was one of three graduates selected to give valedictory addresses on behalf of the 1922 Harvard graduating class.

Johnson was active in many social, educational, reli­ gious and political bodies. He was well-known for his forthright and open position on the issues of inequality, injustice, academic freedom and communism. 3 2 These were all 249 exteniely controversial issues in Johnson's day and it re­ quired great daring, strength and personal conviction to personally voice an opinion on these issues. This forth­ rightness in discussing controversial topics may have led

Boulware to categorize Johnson a "protest orator", and

Dyson to refer to Johnson as "one of the most fearless critics of American democracy in modern times.

The following passage certainly upholds Johnson's reputation for being undaunted by obstacles and unafraid of controversy. A 1933 Congressional questioning regarding his position on the subject of Communism brought this response.

I am not a Communist. I am always on my guard against any dogmatic panacea for the settlement of the complex difficulties which surround us in the modern world. On the other hand I am not in accord with those who believe that the best way to deal with Communism is to persecute those who believe in it. And I am not of the opinion that patriotism requires any thoughtful man to subscribe to the doctrine that there is nothing good about the Russian experiment. The determination of the leaders of this movement to make use of modern scientific and technical resources to emancipate the masses of the people from poverty and its ills, including the disease of acquisitiveness, is a commanding undertaking which no modern nation can ignore.34

During his lifetime Johnson received ten Honorary

Doctoral degrees and several awards including the Spingarn

Medal in 1929, for having done much to contribute to the „ 250 progress of the Negro during the previous year. ^

Johnson has been credited with securing increased and regular Federal appropriations for Howard University, and in the first five years of his Presidency faculty salaries increased two hundred percent. Something of a "legend in his t i m e " , 36 Johnson changed Howard from a cluster of second rate departments to a system of nationally approved units of distinction. Holmes' careful report on Negro

Colleges in America notes that under Johnson's leadership,

Howard University in certain respects made the greatest advances in its history and in others moved definitely forward.

Without discrediting these fine accomplishments it must be admitted that Johnson's most acknowledged and universal acclaim came from his reputation as an orator. His deep sonorous and moving voice brought a variety of reactions from excitement, laughter, thrills and hushed silences to 3 A tears. People travelled hundreds of miles to hear him.

Few persons who heard him were left unmoved.One listener, driven to tears during a Johnson oration recounts: "Puzzled by my unusual emotion, I interrupted my fascinated gaze to turn appraising eyes on the row behind me. One met my eyes in sympathetic smile, all the other eyes were fixed on the speaker and on their faces was a stricken convicted look... 251 ....Presently, that rich voice, sometimes booming in thunder­ ous denunciation, sometimes persuading in softest sympathy.

....ceased, and vibrant silence covered us.^®

Johnson's reputation as an orator and leader was nationally and internationally known. He has addressed audiences throughout the United States, in Africa, India and the British Isles. It is this reputation as a leader, an orator, a diplomat, a humanitarian and a deeply religious man that endowed his speaking events with a stirring kind of magic to which several persons have attested and yet many more have been unable to explain.41 These characteristics and this outstanding reputation are some of the previously known personal characteristics and accomplishments which have contributed to Johnson's 'fixed ethos'. The perceived credibility established during Johnson's actual contact with the audience is now reviewed.

All projections of how the speaker and the audience might have perceived each other, and how the content and the form of presentation might have blended together to enhance the speaker-audience relationship are discussed within the framework of the concept of presence. Indica­ tions of the rapport which apparently existed between

Johnson and his audience came from Johnson himself as well as from audience members. 252 Johnson claimed that the thing which best prepared him

for a speaking engagement and which enabled him to develop the rapport with an audience, was the audience itself.

"Regardless of the extent of my preparation, I had to get a feel for the audience. I would make extensive mental pre­ paration before giving a speech, but not until the moment

I faced the audience did I know what I was going to say or how I was going to say it"^^ Stories of Johnson's discarded

and windblown notes are myriad and attest to this claim.

One interviewee, James Clark said, "Johnson seemed to be

thinking clearer when he was unbridled". Dean Crawford relates that during one Commencement Address the windblown notes did nothing to deter the fervor, conviction or con­

tinuity of Johnson's speaking and it became apparent that

the notes were never being used in the first place.

Dr. Charles Thompson, although claiming only a vague recol­

lection of Johnson, comments "that Johnson had a deep sense of concern and affiliation with his audience. He tried to

express ideas in a particular way. He thought things out 46 carefully."

Johnson seemed to be able to give audiences, and Black

audiences in particular an opportunity to fulfill certain

basic needs; the need for hope and the need for a sense of

direction.In the process of meeting these needs,

Johnson's audiences may have moved him to an appropriate 253 level of emotion and eloquence, and through these channels he fulfilled their needs and gave balm to their spirits.

Miller offers this explanation as the reason audiences repeatedly returned to hear Johnson.^8 The important idea expressed here is that the audience acted as a catalyst to set Johnson's oratory in motion and this eloquence and ele­ vation in turn satisfied the audience's needs and set in motion a need-reward interplay which must have worked to mutually benefit both speaker and audience and engender a rapport between them.

Ethos inevitably plays a role in the speaker-audience relationship and this role is most interestingly described by Dean Crawford. Crawford describes Johnson's impact on his audiences as "a character factor. The man," said

Crawford, "is the message. His humanity is injected into his messages. Whatever that man is, character, longevity, integrity, in the long run, these factors cause people to love him."^^ It is noteworthy that here Crawford explains

Johnson strictly in terms of source capability and in terms of "fixed ethos". Earlier comments and responses from questionnaires indicate that a feeling of personal involve­ ment, mutuality and identification which Johnson developed at the scene were also of great importance in devleoping the spirit of awareness and receptivity which has been referred to in the literature as presence. 254 Non-Verbal Features in Johnson's Recorded Sermon

There is a richness to the Johnson style of oratory which struck the critic after having listened to Johnson's recorded sermon. Johnson's delivery is personal, prophetic and profound. He is at the same time, teacher, a leader and a provider of motivation. There is style, there is content, there is ebb and flow, crescendo and emotion. There is calm, whispering and shouting. There is enough tonal variation to keep the listener alert. The message is clearly and articulately delivered. The pitch and volume of the message varied appropriately with the intensity of the speaker's emotions. Johnson demonstrates in this speech, an excellent ability to present pictorial visions of his words to his listeners. Words like 'profound' received a deep sonorous ennunciation, 'powerful' was annunciated explosively. "Lowest" was soft and quiet while "highest" soared up to the pinnacle of the crescendo.

The speaker used volume, emphasis and crescendo in complementary manner when he wished to stress an idea.

Johnson would begin to express an idea in a voice that was barely audible. He would proceed to increase the volume and emphasis in proportion as he judged the idea to be important, and a crescendo effect was created. There were numerous crescendos throughout his messages. These all 255 added up to give the speech a strong sense of force, power and presentness. Johnson might amble along on some little allegory and then suddenly shriek out when he reached a point he wished to emphasize. This shriek would invariably be followed by a whisper, a reduced speaking rate and a slow deliberate pace. The drama created by this rise and fall, this outburst followed by the hushed voice is a characteris­ tic which is very typical of Johnson's delivery. When

Johnson spoke of "the living fire that was alive in the soul of Abraham Lincoln." 50 It was all fire, life and soul.

When he urged his listeners, "Be not conformed to this world.

Don't sit down and worshipfully follow everything around you. See what is in it that can be approved by you.

He lay great emphasis on the words 'conformed', 'sit down' and 'you' in such a manner that the 'you' hits the listener directly in the face and there is not a fragment of doubt about the person to whom the message is directed. On such words as 'conformed' and 'sit' Johnson vocally strikes out at the listener with a compulsion to make him listen, change or at least maintain attention. In another instance when

Johnson asked his audience to "Reserve some lowly hours for sitting down in the quest of the great " his voice was low, slow and supplicant.^2 ^ obvious awareness of the relation of sound and signification is demonstrated and the limitless qualities of the human voice is evident. 256 Anne Stirling Biddle who brilliantly captures on paper the experience of hearing Johnson can be quoted here:

"Mentally I see him still, - satorially correct and unaware, leaning forward over the rail, gentle of voice, impeccable of diction, smiling persuasively, - suddenly spring erect, seeming to add inches to his stature, his coaxing eyes blazing widely as he roared his wrath at the harm and wrong done by the creeping coward, who, with his mouth, cried; "LordI Lord!" while in his life he doeth not the will of the Master."53

Summary This chapter discussed the relationship

Johnson might have developed with his audience during speak­ ing engagements and reviewed the presentational aspects of

Johnson's delivery in terms of how they might account for his effectiveness as a speaker and his ability to create presence. This discussion was based on data from question­ naires, interviews, Johnson himself and a recorded sermon.

Johnson's ethos was discussed in terms of its importance as a factor which might have enhanced the speaking situation.

Johnson's reputation and renown were briefly discussed as well as the rapport he usually created during the speaking process. Comments about Johnson's effectiveness as a speaker have been overwhelmingly positive, whether they came from interviewees or form questionnaire respondents.

Data from the questionnaires and interviews provided information on gestural behaviors which were characteristic of Johnson's speaking. Body motion, hand movements, eye 257 contact and facial expressions were some of these. Johnson's leaning over his podium^ his whispering, his clear pictures­ que speech, vocal variation, emphasis and cheerfulness were all cited as effective means of bringing that speaker closer to his audience and promoting presence.

One of the important findings in this chapter was the isolation by questionnaire respondents of factors which described and explained Johnson's effect as a speaker. Over

50% of respondents used words such as real, uplifting, truth­ ful, alive, picturesque, interesting, imaginative, well- planned, vivid and organized to describe Johnson's oratory.

Since the literature review conducted earlier in this study provided a definition of presence as "that ability of an orator to make the subject matter of discourse seem real, true or relevant to receivers, it can be concluded that

Dr. Johnson's oratory had immense potential for creating presence, and that the effects which his listeners recounted can very appropriately be described in terms of presence. 258

Footnotes

1* Because it is virtually impossible to assess and analyze the role of non-verbal cues without con­ sidering the speaker-audience relationship, both these topics are reviewed together here.

2» The writer interveiwed Johnson on April 16, 197 6.

3* The number 982 represents the tabulation of re­ sponses to question one of the administered ques­ tionnaire, which asked the number of times each individual had heard Johnson speak.

4* Anne Biddle Stirling, "Mordecai Johnson: An Im­ pression", Opportunity, March 1927, p. 81.

5. Lord Karnes, Criticism Vol. I , pp. 71-72.

6. Kenneth Burke, Motives, p. 55.

7» Chaim Perelman, The New Rhetoric, p. 120.

8. Walter Dyson, Howard University, p. 249.

9* Anne Biddle Stirling, p. 82.

10. Question ten is an indication of the writer's as­ sumption that the perceived degree of credibility attributed to a speaker may contribute in a strong way to the speaker's perceived effect on the audience. ii" James C. McCroskey, "A Summary of Experimental Research on the Effects of Evidence on Persuasive Communication", in Exploration in Speech Communication, John J. Makay editor, (Ohio: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co., 1973), p. 264.

12. Interview with Dr. Charles Thompson, April 15, 1976, Washington D.C.

13. Interview with Dr. Inabel Lindsay and Dean Crawford, April 17, 1976, Washington D.C. 259 14. Interview with Dean Crawford, April 17, 1976, Washington D.C.

15. Ibid.

15* Interview with Dean Crawford, April 16, 1976, Washington D.C.

17' Interview with James Clark, April 15, 1976, Washington D.C.

18. Responses to question six of the administered questionnaire indicate that 84% of respondents believe that both the content and the delivery contributed equally to the effectiveness of Johnson's speaking.

15* Interview with Carroll Miller, April 17, 1976, Washington D.C.

20* Interview, Ap. 1976.

21* Interview, Ap. 1976.

22. Interview, Ap. 1976.

23* Interview with Dean Crawford, Ap. 197 6.

24. Ibid.

25. Interview with Dr. Inabel Lindsay, Ap. 1976.

26. Bruce Rosenberg, The Art of the American Folk Preacher.

27. a. Kenneth Anderson and Theodore Clevenger Jr. "A Summary of Experimental Research in Ethos", John J. Makay, Exploration in Speech Communication, (Ohio: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co., 1973, pp. 220-242.

b. James C. McCroskey, "A Summary of Experimental Research on the Effects of Evidence in Persuasive Communication:, Exploration in Speech Communica­ tion, pp. 261-27%%

28. Anderson and Clevenger, p. 222.

29. Ibid., p. 224.

30. Education For Freedom, p. 14. 260 31* Johnson's address on that occasion. The Faith of the American Negro", is one of the many well-known Johnson speeches to be found in the Moorland-Spingarn Collection at Howard University.

32. Education For Freedom, p. 10.

33. (a) Boulware, p. 65. (b) Dyson, p. 251.

34. Dyson, p. 437.

35. Russel Adams, Great Negroes Past and Present, (Chicago: Afro-Am Publishing Co., 1963), p. 116.

36. Dwight Oliver Wendell Holmes Ph.D., The Evolution of the Ne^ro College, (New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, 1934), p. 61.

37. Ibid., p. 60.

38. Boulware, p. 73.

39. Dyson, p. 250.

40. Anne Biddle Stirling, p. 81.

41. Comments from interviews and questionnaires discussed in this chapter, and bear out this point.

42. Interview with Dr. Mordecai Wyatt Johnson, April 15, 1976, Washington D.C.

43. Ibid.

44. Interview with James Clarke, April 16, 1976, Washington D.C.

45. Interview with Dean Evans Crawford, April 17, 1976, Washington D.C.

46. Interview with Dr. Charles Thompson, April 17, 1976 Washington D.C.

47. Interview with Dr. Carroll Miller, April 17, 1976, Washington D.C.

48. Ibid. 261 Interview with Dean Evans Crawford, April 18, 1976.

1964 Address

Ibid.

52* Ibid.

Anne Biddle Stirling, p. 81. CHAPTER VI

IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

Summary

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether

Mordecai Wyatt Johnson as an orator successfully developed a rapport with his audience through his capacity to create a rhetorical effect called presence. Toward this end, the concept of presence was defined and discussed in terms of its functions and effects in rhetorical theory and practice.

The works of Lord Names, Kenneth Burke and Chaim Perelman were used theoretically because these three writers completed extensive study on the subject of presence. It was found that presence had a long established but perhaps long neglected place in rhetorical theory but that it played a vital role in enlivening language and making messages relevant to the listener. •

While Names, Burke and Perelman all have a distinctive approach to discussing presence as a rhetorical feature, they all stress the importance of style and language in their

262 263 assessment of the nature of presence. A hierarchical state­ ment of the focus of the work of these authors was arranged as follows :

SYMBOLS

LANGUAGE

RHETORIC

IDENTIFICATION

PRESENCE

The hierarchy implies that man, as a symbol-using animal, utilizes language as a tool for transmitting these symbols to each other and rhetoric as a means for achieving his goals.

However, for rhetoric to be effective, it must utilize those means of identification which minimize the inherent differ­ ences among people and promote unity. The establishing of

identification is an important step in the process of promot­

ing presence.

Karnes's work, which strongly reflects the eighteenth

century focus on rationalism and empiricism, suggests strict

categories and rules for creating presence. Burke's works

lean heavily on utilizing all those forms of identification

which may foster consubstantiality and promote presence.

Perelman suggests that a wide variety of grammatical forms

hold the potential for bringing about presence, but he also

stresses that their actual effectiveness largely depends on

the particular manner in which they are used. While Kames's 264 work reflects the traditional source-receiver approach,

both Burke and Perelman pay great attention to the audience

and make an audience-centered approach a key factor in bring­

ing about presence.

Presence was defined as that quality of rhetoric which

has the ability to make the subject matter of discourse seem

near at hand. This is accomplished when a speaker, through

speech and action arouses in his audi< ce reactions which

are similar to those produced by an immediate view of the

object or event being described.

Clarity, emphasis, identification and the creation of a

sense of actuality were cited as important prerequisites to

creating presence. These features.were given central impor­

tance at both the content and the presentational level of

discourse. Some of the specific content-oriented features

which were likely to enhance a message and promote presence

were; the use of factual data and statistics, allegory,

values, imagery, specific names repetition and picturesque

language. From a presentational point of view, clarity,

emphasis and identification are created through the use of

eye contact, hand and facial gestures, posture, tonal varia­

tion and body movement in general. Burke is singular in

suggesting that presentational techniques are not mere

stylistic embellishments, but are means of lessening the 265 distance between the speaker and the audience and an impor­ tant means of identifying with one's audience.

Another area which received attention in this study is the Black oral tradition which has its roots in the cultures of Black Africa. Black preaching also received focal atten­ tion because Johnson, by being the son of a minister and having been a minister himself was both an heir to and a practitioner of this unique rhetorical form. The Blark oral tradition was seen as holding various qualities which are essential in creating presence. These include: a strong audience-centered approach, a focus on the fulfilling of immediate needs, the use of lively, imaginative, emphatic and positive words; a sonorous, rhythmic and well-timed delivery; the rising to climaxes, establishing of identifi­ cation, the creation of high levels of emotional stimulation, the elevation of the spirits and the creation of a sense of reality.

Johnson's early background and personal experiences were reviewed in order to determine the contribution they might have made in providing him with the means and the potential for creating presence. It was determined that

Johnson's oratorical skills and his potential for creating presence were not just a matter of chance. Johnson had a long history of nurturing and preparation to be a particular 266 kind of orator: one who fearlessly voiced society's ills, one who was a leader of men and one who was fully aware of the effectiveness, variety and the capability of the human voice. Johnson's nurturing came from his parents, his teachers, his environment and his ministry.

Five essential characteristics which greatly predisposed

Johnson to have the ability to create presence were identi­ fied.

a. The development of a sensitivity towards people which promotes the building up of a rapport with one's audience.

b. A driving methodical manner which could lead one to seek out the most expedient means for reaching one's audience.

c. The debater"'s skill which enables one to pick out relevant details and develop them.

d. A profound, prophetic content, designed to encour­ age and to motivate audience members and which also reflected an awareness of the social problems of the time.

e. The use of rhetorical forms such as allegory, repetition, specific data and imagery which hold great potential for creating presence.

The methods used to collect the data for this study included interviews, questionnaires, a recorded sermon and biographical data from newspapers and magazines. Interviews were held with persons who had heard Johnson speak. Ques­ tionnaires with responses from fifty nine graduates of

Howard University who had been among Johnson's audience were 267 analyzed. Since the responses to the questionnaires depended

on the audience's recollections of a person they had not heard for several years, the writer acknowledged the limita­ tion of relying too heavily on this data alone. Question­ naire responses were viewed in conjunction with the testimony

of seven interviewees, including Johnson himself, a recorded

sermon, an examination of the contents of six of Johnson's

speeches and reports in journals and magazines.

This method of assessing Johnson's effect derived its

legitimacy from the fact that it explored a wide variety of

sources and areas. Its weaknesses rest in three areas. The

fact that Johnson was ill and weak at the time of his inter­ view. He was eighty six years old and died six months after

the interview was held. Only one recording of Johnson's

speaking was available for examination. People's recollec­

tions tend to fade as the years go by, and they are likely to

romanticize a 'hero' after his heyday has passed.

Questionnaire respondents overwhelmingly described

Johnson as a very strong speaker who was emphatic, convinc­

ing, inspiring, overwhelming, powerful, dramatic, dynamic,

clear, interesing, uplifting and well-organized.^ Great

tonal variation, clarity of speech and the ability to create 268 interest, emphasis and identification were given as charac­ teristics of Johnson's delivery. These persons also described

Johnson's overall speaking effectiveness as positive.

In like manner, reports from interviewees also upheld this positive response to Johnson. One person proclaimed 2 that "the man is the message", that Johnson's integrity and humanity were all injected into his message to produce a grand result. Interviewees focused heavily on Johnson's pre­ sentational style and felt it involved a great deal of action.

Rising up on the toes, beginning softly and then letting out a thunderous roar, holding onto the lapels of his jacket and tilting forward, leaning over the podium and whispering clearly and distinctly are some of these. Intonation, cres­ cendo, humor, a strong sense of reaching out to the audience and the ability to make things seem "real" were other charac­ teristics interviewees felt added to Johnson's effectiveness,

Johnson's sermon provided the critic a first-hand oppor­ tunity to experience an effect which, until that point, had been gathered only on a second-hand basis from others, and which was barely evident in the transcribed speeches. This sermon gave a final endorsement to the comments gathered through interviews and questionnaires. The sermon reflected a richness of style and a personal, prophetic and profound manner of delivery. The critic recognized ebb and flow. 269 crescendo, emotion, calm, whispers and outbursts, all of which contributed to the meaningfulness and positive impact of the message. Pitch and volume varied appropriately with the intensity of the speaker's projected emotions, style and content strongly complemented each other, skillful use of allegory, imagery, repetition, digression, picturesque language, values, facts and a perfect blending of the sound of a word and the meaning of a word produced an effect which was estimated to have every potential for creating presence.

While Johnson himself provided no specific information on what accounted for his effectiveness as a speaker he expressed a strong awareness of his audience and a great desire to identify with them at all times. These statements reflected a focus on the audience and on the creation of identification, two features which are cited in the litera­ ture review as being of central importance in the creation of presence.

Conclusion

The findings uncovered in this study have led the writer

to admit that Johnson was almost always perceived as an

effective speaker, and that a justified basis can be formed

for the explanation of this probable effect in terms of the

rhetorical concept called presence. The review conducted in 270 this study implies that Johnson seemed to have made full use of presence in his rhetoric. His strong audience-centered approach heads the list of factors which were used by him to create presence. By his own admission, Johnson depended on the mood and manner of the audience to guide him in develop­ ing the approach which would be most appropriate for reaching them. His warm greetings, his efforts to identify with his audience and bridge the speaker-audience gap at the very start of his speech, are evidence of that positive orienta­ tion which promotes presence.

While the effect Johnson created might legitimately be called presence, his means for attaining that effect might be called identification. Johnson used his entire body, his face, his arms, his eyes, his vocal tone and pitch to promote identification and create presence. Body movements such as leaning over the podium can be interpreted as efforts of get­ ting physically closer to his audience. His own display of humor and emotion can be interpreted as efforts to promote warmth. Both the sense of physical closeness which he developed and the establishment of a feeling of warmth

are means of identifying with one's audience.

Johnson also used language to identify with his

audience and create presence. By being sophisticated at

times and simple at other times, by citing high-sounding 271 stories as well as simple folk adages, he appealed to every

spectrum which comprised his audience. In Johnson's own words, he made "a special attempt to reach the smallest person

in the audience."'" In the process of reaching this goal,

Johnson used a wide variety of discursive and presentational

features. His aim was obviously the elevation of his audience; he became involved with them, he identified with them, he made them laugh, made them think, he made them question: he seemed to be tugging at their emotional

susceptibilities. Johnson used superlatives, climaxes, quo­ tations, example, oratorical questions, the imperative, ima­

gery, metaphor, ordinary simple language and humor, as discursive means of bridging the audience-speaker gap and

creating presence. Presentationally, Johnson yelled, he whispered and he created strings of crescendos. He moved, he pointed, he raised his arms, he reached forward towards

the audience and did what he felt was necessary to promote

the momentary magic whereby nothing but his immediate verbal

and vocal interacting with the audience seemed real.

Johnson used language both as a means of creating identi­

fication and also as a means of enlivening his discourse. His

speeches were so descriptive, picturesque and vivid, that his

audiences could visualize pictorial images of the things

being described. Similarly, he used presentational techniques

to enliven his message and develop bonds of identification 272 between himself and his audience. It can certainly be concluded that Johnson was an orator who utilized every available means of making his presence felt at the podium.

These particular findings lead to the conclusion that identification plays an important and major role in the creation of presence. That in spite of the fact the litera­ ture review was more explicit on the subject of presence than on the subject of identification the close connection between these two variables is evident in this study. While Karnes,

Burke and Perelman all spoke theoretically about the concept of identification, this study aligns the theoretical assump­ tions with the perceptions of people in the 'real' world, and is important in furthering the relationship between theory and practice in the field of etoric.

Communication specialists can conclude from this study that orators who wish to create presence, might build up a strong and extensive repertoire of features for bringing about this effect. A wide repertoire provides a greater variety of means from which to choose in order to make one's presence felt. Since audiences come in an infinite number of varieties, an orator may never be quite sure of the nature of the group he will face or the developments which may arise in the process of speaking. While the preparation of a specific message for a specific audience holds some value, the orator 273 who possesses a wide variety of devices for creating presence, is capable of making instantenous adaptations to whatever situations might arise.

Scholars of rhetoric might choose to pay particular attention to the fact that presence aims at achieving an immediate rather than a long-term effect. It aims to create a sense of immediate involvement and spectatorship. The long term effects of presence can be attributed to the strong sense of recollection which it might foster. What presence aims to do is obliterate competing images and thoughts by bringing its own message to the forefront. Piaget tells us that people tend to perceive more strongly the things which seem largest, closest and most immediate. Johnson seemed to have strengthened his effectiveness by having this focus of fulfilling immediate needs.

Johnson had in his oratorical repertoire that host of verbal and presentational features which tend to bring things

closer to people, make them more immediate and more real.

This repertoire of climaxes, superlatives, imperatives, names

and examples combined with a vocal storehouse rich in drama, was fully utilized in Johnson's speeches, and are strong

evidence of the way Mordecai Wyatt Johnson made use of

presence in his rhetoric. 274 The fostering and creating of presence in Mordecai

Johnson's rhetoric was enhanced by three important factors; the fact that his medium of communication was the oral face to face mode; the fact that he was a direct heir to the rich traditions of Black oral rhetoric; his deep religious orien­ tation which generated a personal sense of mission.

The oral mode of communication holds definite advantages for creating presence. It allows the speaker the opportunity to manipulate time as he sees it fit, and it utilizes the human voice which is capable of an infinite variety of modes of expressions which may create interest, effect and drama.

The human voice holds qualities of warmth and persuasiveness which may enhance language. Early in his life Johnson had learned the relation between sound and signification from his teachers. He never seemed to forget the importance of this relationship in his own oratory. It can be concluded that a sound background in speech education creates possi­ bilities for developing an understanding of the way language and rhetoric may function to promote unity among people, stimulate their minds, win their adherence and create a positive effect as an orator.

Because the oral mode of communication is unrestricted by a canvas or a page, it is more free to use time, rate, pauses, volume, slang, asides, humor and tone which may be 275 either inappropriate or impossible in other media. The presence of the human body also generates warmth, promotes speaker-audience interaction and allows for the development of identification between speaker and audience through attire, gestures, body movement, and mannerisms. The oral mode of expression was used to perfection by Johnson in all these ways to enhance the development of presence.

Perhaps to some extent it can be claimed that it is this particular medium of communication which may have con­ tributed to the audience's perception of Johnson as an effec­ tive speaker who created presence, in spite of the fact that 4 Johnson spoke at great length. It can be concluded from this study that the length of a speech as an isolated factor may not necessarily be a deterrent to the creation of presence.

Evidence gathered from this study indicates that it took

Johnson a long time to build up to his famous oratorical flourish and that some of his most moving passages came after 5 he had been speaking forty minutes or more. Johnson seems to have used time as he saw it fit, and this study can make the claim that time is one of the variables an orator might purposefully manipulate in order to create presence.

After hearing Johnson and reviewing his speeches, it becomes strongly apparent that his speeches were meant to be heard and not to be read. This is not to say that his 276 speeches lacked substance, but to uphold the view expressed

in chapter one that Johnson's form of speaking was exclusively oral in nature, and that the oral mode of communication utilizes distinct forms which make it different from written

communication. While Johnson's speeches bear evidence of the use of a variety of rhetorical features which might typically

lead to presence, reading those speeches is relatively dull

for the person not concerned with analysis or who had never heard Johnson speak. Having heard Johnson, it became possible to inject his energy and vitality into the written speeches

and the interpretation is completely different. Johnson's own testimony is, that while he did prepare mentally prior to

giving a speech, he depended on the actual characteristics of

the rhetorical situation to give him the impetus for embarking

on his speech.^ That his speeches can be characterized as

distinctly oral in nature is one of the conclusions of this

study. The position expressed in this paper and also pro­

posed by Carroll C. Arnold is that the oral tradition must be

considered a unique rhetorical genre.

Upholding the uniqueness of the oral tradition is by

no means an indication that oral messages are all presenta­

tion and no substance. The view that Johnson's speeches

were largely devoid of content is, in this writer's opinion, 7 a partisan opinion and an unfair comment. It is indeed

fairer to say that early in life Johnson had the opportunity 277 to develop a keen awareness of what possibilities, potential­ ities and limitations were allowed by the oral situation.

Whether consciously or subconsciously Johnson must have recognized that speech holds many of the qualities of drama.

That a speaker at a podium is much like an actor on a stage.

This hypothetical awareness is one of the possible explana­ tions for Johnson's dramatic, sincere and energetic presenta­ tions which created in his audience the sense of spectatorship associated with presence.

Because this effect seems to have been created both by what Johnson said and how he said it, the critic ponders on the disproportionate amount of testimony on Johnson's speaking which referred to presentational factors rather than to con­ tent. Although 84% of questionnaire respondents claimed that

Johnson's content .and delivery were equally important to his effect as a speaker, the general tendency of audience members was to focus more on Johnson's delivery than on his verbal content, People repeatedly described non-verbal gestures such as his rising up on the toes, his leaning over the podium, his elevated arms, the power of his delivery and the variation in his tone of voice.

Few people reflected on the content of Johnson's messages and two interviewees even implied that Johnson sacrificed

g content in favor of presentation. The critic's own search 278 through the content of Johnson's messages, identified more than just a clever and purposeful use of rhetorical devices.

The critic identified a depth of substance within the content of these speeches. There was a continued assessment of moral values, the role of organized religion, the difference between the theory and practice of American democracy and the social responsibilities of individuals, governments and nations.

There were farsighted and prophetic statements on American foreign policy and world-wide social and economic problems.

Johnson voiced these problems as early as the 1920's in his

Harvard valedictory address, and he became increasingly more vocal on these issues as the years went by. Particular attention can be drawn to the 1933, 1950 and the 1959 addresses included in this study, because they reflect these concerns. One might even argue that the content of these speeches predicts the spread of Communism in the world and the unrest among peoples in the developing countries in Asia and Africa.

The reasons why the content of Johnson's speeches received minor attention from members of his audience, may in part be attributed to the nature of the administered ques­ tionnaire and the kinds of questions raised in the interview.

The deemphasizing of content may also be partly explained by the forcefulness of a presentational style which might have overshadowed the content; particularly, as is the case in 279 this study, when persons were largely relying on recollection.

In recollecting, people seem to remember the speaker's image more easily than they remember his words. Perhaps the very prophetic nature of the content might account for the fact that it was not remembered. Johnson's speeches may be characterized by a certain tendency to admonish, to challenge, to warn and to predict the consequences which might follow as a result of not adhering to his warnings.

It might be true to say that while some people relish prophecy, others despise it. While some prefer to be told what the future holds, others resent the thought of probing into the future, particularly when the probe highlights disturbing predictions. Johnson might have perceived his rhetorical role as that of a Messiah whose task was to help people reach their highest potential. However, while his audience might have accepted the elevation of their spirits, they might have rejected the challenge of his admonitions and suggestions. Consequently, they forgot about them. Euphoria

is probably preferred over reality.

Of course, Johnson saw the world as only Johnson could

see it and his particular perspective had to be shaped by his own experiences of living in a society where he witnessed

racial injustice and ineuqality. His sympathies with the weak and the oppressed must have been shaped by these 280 experiences, and he demonstrated the fearlessness and courage

to speak out on behalf of all who were similarly mistreated whether they were Black, Brown or Yellow. While it is not particularly unique to have great orators rise up from among

an oppressed group to voice their ills, orators with

Johnson's global perspective are a unique brand.

Black orators in North America have long spoken out

against racial injustice against the members of their race.

Johnson however, expresses a prophetic farsightedness in his

ability to see the American problem of racial injustice as

part of a world wide system of oppression. It is this broad

perspective which is expressed within the content of Johnson's

speeches.

While Johnson's perspective properly reflects the con­

cerns of a Black orator, it also encompasses a broader view

on the whole question of human rights. This view might be

summed up by saying that as long as one group of people is

physically or psychologically enslaved by another, the human

rights of all individuals remain in jeopardy.

Johnson's religious committment expressed itself in the

form of a deep sense of service and mission to his people.

Johnson must have perceived himself as a leader or guiding

light for people. When he spok^ all this fervor, sincerity. 281 dedication, energy and conviction filled his message and certainly must have passed on to his audience in some way.

Here again the advantage of oral face to face communication as a mode which is ideally suited to the creation of pre­ sence is apparent. Oral face to face communication holds the advantage of allowing the emotions of the speaker to surface and be reflected among the members of the audience.

The opportunity for this infectious kind of influence pro­ bably arose from Johnson's own religious committments and was evident in his taped sermons as well as in the descrip­ tions which questionnaire respondents spontaneously used to explain Johnson's effect. Some of the most frequently cited descriptions included; confident, interesting dramatic, religious, inspiring, relevant, brilliant and eloquent.

These descriptions can certainly be taken as statements of

Johnson's ability to create the spirit of presence.

The case for explaining Johnson's oratory in terms of presence grew even stronger in light of data gathered from questionnaires. Even though these responses were based on recollection, their implicit value cannot be ignored. These persons not only described Johnson as an effective speaker, but their elaboration of his ability to create clarity, emphasis, identification and a sense of reality has led to the critic's pronouncement that unknowingly they had described the rhetorical effect called presence. 282 Dean Crawford of the Walter Rankin Chapel, used the briefest and at the same time, the most striking statement 9 to describe Johnson. He said, "The source is the message."

He felt that the individual qualities which Johnson person­ ally exuded formed the key to explaining the source (Johnson) in relation to the rhetorical situation and the resultant effect that was created. The findings of this study have established the validity of the following statement.

Johnson's personality, credibility, use of words, use of presentational techniques all worked together to create a technique this writer feels justified in calling presence.

It is interesting, though that when Johnson was asked to account for the effect which he created he said, "I broke every homiletical rule in the book."^® Indeed he did.

Several rhetorical features can be isolated from Johnson's speeches which may in other circumstances detract from rather than contribute to the creation of presence. Johnson's speeches were very lengthy. Apparently God told him when to speak but did not tell him when to' shut up.^^ He often used words which were not common to everyday usage. His sentences were interminable. One sentence might be one paragraph long.

Several different thoughts might have been strung together in this one sentence which was likely to be held together by a host of connective words. Digressions were frequent.

"Asides” to an absent audience were common. Still the magic 283 prevailed, and one un-named Dean is said to have simply 12 described Johnson as "an experience."

It has been the task of this dissertation to undertake the long-neglected task of explaining this rhetoric. The writer proposes that Johnson's tendency to break homiletical rules might even be one of the strengths of his oratory.

This homiletical vagrancy might have contributed to the flexible, unique, personal style which was demonstrative of an individual who, either consciously or sub-consciously was deeply aware of the importance of the receivers and the speaker in the rhetorical situation.

Johnson's early experiences as a debater allowed him to excel at delivering those details that mattered. He made the subject of his messages have relevance for his listeners.

The sound of his words and the meaning of his words combined in mutual harmonic interaction. A sense of drama, imagery and reality were created through the words he used and the way he used those words. In spite of what might appear to be imperfections, Johnson represents the epitome of what

Karnes, Burke and Perelman have expressed throughout their works. There is perhaps no specific formula or combination

of formulae which allow for the creation of presence. It is

rather the particular usage the rhetor makes of the various discursive and presentational devices at his disposal, before 284 and during the rhetorical event. In spite of perceived imperfections, the writer maintains that Johnson can be described as a speaker who was able to create the rhetorical effect called presence.

Proposals for Future Research

This study has raised several important questions which might be a source for future research. A subject which should prove to be extremely interesting is a focus on

Mordecai Wyatt Johnson as an activist for human rights.

Johnson's stand on social, moral and economic issues as they relate to society has been mentioned briefly in this study. 13 Boulware, in classifying Johnson a "protest orator" was indeed making a significant step in acknowledging and identi­ fying Johnson as an advocate of human rights, an issue which has always been the subject of much controversy but which has received tremendous attention in the United States within the last three decades.

Another valuable study would revolve around the subject of studying the results of the conscious suppression of presence. Chaim Perelman proposed that the suppression of presence might be just as noteworthy a phenomenon as the creation of presence. Such a study might attempt to identify those factors which could characterize this hitherto 285 uninvestigated phenomenon. The writer suggests that perhaps

"diplomatic language" might be isolated as a test case for the study of the suppression of presence, because this type of language has been characterized by a vagueness, an ambig­ uity and a complexity which makes it unclear and difficult to understand. The features which typify this ambiguity and vagueness might be examined to determine whether their end result is an effect which can justifiably be described in terms of the "suppression of presence." 286

Footnotes

See Chapter V for a complete breakdown of the responses to the questionnaires.

Interview with Dean Crawford, April 16, 1976.

Interview with Mordecai Wyatt Johnson, April 16, 1976.

4' The lengthiness of Johnson's speeches has been already mentioned in chapter one. Ninety minute or even two hour speeches were the norm for Johnson.

Interview with Michael Winston and Dean Crawford April, 1976.

Interview with Mordecai Johnson; April, 1976

Walter Dyson, p. 250

8' Interview with James Clark and Carroll Miller

Interview with Dean Crawford, April 16, 1976

' Interview with Mordecai Wyatt Johnson, April 16, 1976

11. This statement is quoted from Walter Dyson's book Howard University, p. 250. Johnson is said to have frequently used this statement to explain the duration of his one and two-hour speeches.

12. This statement is taken from an interview with James Clarke, former treasurer of Howard University during the Johnson Presidency. April 17, 1976.

13. Marcus Boulware, p. 65. 287 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adams, Russel, Great Negroes Past and Present. Chicago; Afro-Am Publishing Co., 1963.

Alford, Sterling G., Famous First Blacks. New York: Vantage Books, 1955.

Allen, Harold C., Great Black Americans. New York: Pendelum, 1971.

Arnold, Carroll C ., The Criticism of Oral Rhetoric. Columbus, Ohio: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co., 1974.

Arnold, Carroll C ., Enhinger, Douglas and Gerber, John C., The Speaker's Resource Book. Chicago: Scott Foresman and Co., 1961.

Boulware, Marcus H., The Oratory of Negro Leaders; 1900- 1968. Conn.: Negro University Press, 1969.

Bullock, Ralph W., In Spite of Handicaps; Brief Biographies of Famous Negroes. New York: Associated Press, 1927.

Burke, Kenneth, Counter Statement. Los Altos, California: Hermes Publications, 1931.

______, Permanence and Change. New York: New Republic Inc., 1935.

______, Philosophy of Literary Form; Studies in Symbolic Action. New York: Vintage Books, 1947.

______, A Rhetoric of Motives. Berkley: University of California Press, 1956

, A Grammar of Motives. Berkley: University of California Press, 1956.

, Language As Symbolic Action. Berkley: University of California Press, 1968.

Du Bois, W.E.B., The Souls of Black Folk, New York: Faw­ cett Publications Inc., 1961.

Education For Freedom, The Leadership of Mordecai Wyatt Johnson: Howard University 1926-1960. Washington, D.C.: Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, 1?76. 288

Embree, Edwin P., Thirteen Against The Odds. New York: The Viking Press, 1927.

Emmet, Phillip and Brooks, William, eds. Methods of Research in Communication. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin Co., 1970.

Federal Writers' Project, Cavalcade of the American Negro. Boston: Harvard University Press, 1975.

Golden, James L. and Corbett, Edward P.J., The Rhetoric of Blair, Campbell and Whately. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1^68.

Golden, James L. and Rieke, Richard, The Rhetoric of Black Americans Ohio: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co., 197i.

Glenn, Robert W., Black Rhetoric: A Guide to Afro- American Communication. New Jersey: The Scarecrow Press Inc., 1976.

Holmes, Dwight Oliver Wendell, The Evolution of the Negro College. New York: Teachers College, Columbus University, 1934.

Home, Henry, (Lord Kames), Elements of Criticism Vols. I, II & III, New Yorkl Garland Publication Co., Inc., 1972.

Hamilton, Charles V., The Black Preacher in America. New York: J.B. Lippincott and Co., 1970.

Hovland, Carl and Sherif, M., Social Judgement Assimila­ tion and Contrast Effects in Communication and Attitude Change. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1961.

Innis, Harold, Empire and Communication Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1972.

______, The Bias of Communication. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1972.

Johnson, James P., Sims, Janet L., and Kostinko, Gail A. , Mordecai VI. Johnson, A Bibliography of His Years at Howard University: 192 6-1960. Washington, D.C.: Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, 1976.

Logue, Cal, et al. Speaking; Back to Fundamentals Boston: Allyn and Bacon Inc., 1976. 289

Nakay, John.J., and Brown, William R., The Rhetorical Dialogue; Contemporary Concepts and Cases. Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Co., 1972.

Makay, John J., Editor, Exploration in Speech Communication, Columbus, Ohio: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co., 1973.

______, Speech Communication Now. Columbus, Ohio: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co., 1973.

______, Speaking With An Audience; The Communication of Ideas and Attitudes^ New York: Thomas R. Cromwell Co.,1927

______, Introduction to Rhetorical Communication; A Basic Coursebook. Columbus, Ohio; Collegiate Publishing Co., 1976.

Mitchell, Henry H., Black Preaching. New York: J.B. Lippincott Co., 1970.

Murphy, James J., Editor, A Synoptic History of Classical Rhetoric. New York: Random House, 1972.

Murphy, Robert D., Mass Communication and Human Interaction. Boston; Houghton-Mifflin Co., 1977.

Perelman, Chaim and Olbrechts-Tyteca, L., The New Rhetoric; A Treatise on Argumentation. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1969.

Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual Convention of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, November 20-24, 1950.

Rein, Irving J., The Relevant Rhetoric. New York: The Free Press, 1969

Rogers, J.A., Five Negro Presidents. New York: Springer Publishing Co., 1959.

Rosenberg, Bruce A., The Art of The American Folk Preacher. New York: Oxford University Press, 1970.

Singer, Anna M., Walter Rauschenbusch and His Contribution to Social Christianity. Bostonl Richard D. Badger Pub- lishing Co., 1926.

Stirling, Anne Biddle, "Mordecai Wyatt Johnson: An Impres­ sion", Opportunity. March, 1927. 290

Dissertations

Buice, Lee Rhoads, " The Concept of Presence in Selected Theories of Rhetoric", University of Southern California, 1975.

Hazen, Michael, "Attribution Theory and Persuasion, An Integrated Paradigm", University of Kansas, 1974.

Quigley, Martin S., "A Study of the Political Dimensions of Private Higher Education", Columbia University, 1975.

Silar, Samuel L. , "Role Expectations of Presidents in Predominantly Black State and Privately Supported Colleges and Universities, as Perceived by Trustees, Presidents and Deans", Southern Illinois University, 1974.

Bibliographies

Black List; A Concise Reference Guide to Publications, Film and Broadcasting Media of Black America, Africa and the Caribbean. Panther House, 1974.

Black Rhetoric: A Guide to Afro-American Communication. Robert W. Glenn, Metuchen, Nev; Jersey: The Scarecrow Press Inc., 1976.

A Bibliography of Doctoral Research on the Negro: Supplement 1967-1969. Earl H. West, Ann Arbor, Michigan: Xerox Microfilms, 1975.

Black Americans in Autobiography: An Annotated Bibliography of Autobiographies and Autobiographical Books Written Since the Civil War. Russel C. Duke, 1974.

Cleary and Haberrran's Bibliography of Rhetoric and Public Address: 1947-1961.

Indexes to Special Collections

The Education Index. A cumulative author-subject index to a selected list of educational periodicals, proceedings and year books. New York: The H.W. Wilson Co., 1956. 291

The Fisk University Library Negro Collection. Nashville, Tennessee: Fisk University Press.

The Hallie Q. Brown Index to Periodicals by and about Negroes: 1950-1972. Boston: G.K. Hall and Co. This Collection is generated from the Hallie Q. Brown Library, Central State University, Wilberforce, Ohio.

The Knower Index: 1935-1969. This index covers research generated in the area of Speech which might have been published in either of the following journals: Speech Monographs, The Quarterly Journal of Speech or Speech Teacher.

The National Union Catalog. This is the Library of Con­ gress Catalog of all books ever printed. The collection began in 1950 and is published by Rowman and Littlefield, Totowa, New Jersey.

Reader's Guide to the Periodical Literature; 1929-1972. An author-subject index which lists publications of popular periodicals. New York: The H.W. Wilson Co.

The Schomburg Collection. The Schomburg Collection which is housed in the New York Public Library, is considered the most extensive collection of literature in the United States, by and about Black people.

Vital Speeches of the Day. This is a collection of speeches of persons of recognized authority in their respective fields of endeavour. This collection was founded in October, 1934. New York: The Publishing Co.

INTERVIEWS Dr. Inabel Lindsay, Retired Chairman of the Department of Social Work, Howard University.

Dr. Charles Thompson, Retired Dean of the Graduate School, Howard University.

Dr. Michael Winston, Director of the Moorland Spingarn Research Center, Howard University.

Mr. James Clarke, Retired Treasurer of Howard University.

Reverend Dr. Evans Crawford, Dean of the Walter Rankin Chapel, Howard University. 292

Dr. Carroll Miller, Professor in the School of Liberal Arts, Howard University.

Dr. Mordecai Wyatt Johnson, President of Howard University, 1926-1960. 293 APPENDIX.A

Jennifer' G. Bailey Department of Communication Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio 43210

March 10, 1977

Alumni and friends of Howard University,

Dear recipient,

I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Communication at Ohio State University who is writing my doctoral dissertation on the communication of Dr. Mordecai Wyatt Johnson.

An important part of my study is centered around an analysis of the responses of persons who have heard Dr. Johnson speak on at least one occasion.

As an alumnus or friend of. Howard, I feel it is very likely that you fall into that category.

Please complete the attached form and return it in the stamped, self-addressed envelope at your earliest con­ venience .

Your cooperation is greatly appreciated for returning the questionnaire by April 5, 1977.

Thanks for participating.

Sincerely, 294 PLEASE ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY APPEAR. IT IS IMPORTANT TO THE VALIDITY OF THE QUES­ TIONNAIRE THAT YOU DO SO.

OCCUPATION SEX

How many times have you been part of an audience which Dr. Johnson was addressing? (Give an approximate number)

Circle the adjective which you think best describes Dr. Johnson as a speaker.

VERY STRONG STRONG FAIRLY STRONG NOT STRONG AT ALL

List at least five other words you would use to describe Dr. Johnson as a speaker.

Did Dr. Johnson seem to be making a special effort to communicate with his audience?

YES NOMAYBE

In describing the effect Dr. Johnson as a speaker had on his audience, which one of these factors would you say was of most importance?

WHAT HE SAID HOW HE SAID IT BOTH WERE EQUALLY IMPORTANT

Circle the words which best describe the effect Dr. Johnson as a speaker had on his audience.

COMMUNION CLOSENESS ACTIVE VIVID

REJECTION ISOLATION IMAGINATIVE DISTANCE

REALITY TRUTH WELL-PLANNED ORGANIZED

DISORGANIZED ALIVE INCLUSION ORDINARY

UPLIFTING PICTURESQUE IDENTIFICATION EQUALITY

BORING INTERESTING UNINTERESTING ABSTRACT

Was your response to Dr. Johnson similar on each occasion you heard him speak?

YES NO 295 Rate your perception of Dr. Johnson's credibility as an individual.

VERY HIGH HIGH FAIRPOOR

How did your perception of Dr. Johnson's credibility affect your response to his speaking?

POSITIVELY NEGATIVELY NOT AT ALL

Judging from the content of Dr. Johnson's speeches, circle all the verbal stylistic features mentioned below which you think he used to accomplish his particular effect.

MYTH ALLEGORY PARABLE

FACTS TRUTHS ANTITHESES

THE SINGULAR REPITITION THE PLURAL

NAMES OF PEOPLE AGGREGATION AMPLIFICATION

NAMES OF PLACES ONOMATOPOEIA IMPERATIVE

VALUES BALANCES COLLECTIVE NOUNS

DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES PERSONAL PRONOUNS

Judging from the manner in which Dr. Johnson delivered his speeches, circle all the non-verbal stylistic features listed below which you think he used to accomplish his particular effect as a speaker.

ETHOS CLARITY CREDIBILITY

VARIED P' •’CH NON-VARIED PITCH CHEERFULNESS

HESITANT ABSTRACTNESS CONCRETENESS

MONOTONE HAND GESTURES VARIED TONE

BODY MOVEMENT CRESCENDO SHRIEKS

ENERGETIC SLOW INTROVERSION

EMPHATIC QUICKNESS FACE GESTURES

GLOOMINESS EXTROVERSION INTELLIGIBILITY 296

Would you describe the effect Dr. Johnson created when he spoke as:

POSITIVE NEGATIVE NEITHER POSITIVE NOR NEGATIVE APPENDIX B

OPENING ADDRESS

of Mordecai W. Johnson, first Negro President of Howard University, at the beginning of the Autumn Quarter, Wednesday, September 29, 1926.

Fellow Students: Today begins the fifty-ninth year of instruction in Howard University. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, the faculty and administrative staff of the univer­ sity, I have come to welcome you into our community -some of you for the continuation of your studies, and others of you for the first time.

The Howard University community was established in 1867 by a man who had been a soldier and who was not content to see the four millions of American Negroes physically free from bondage. He desired to see them intellectually and spiritual­ ly emancipated. During the fifty nine years of its existence the Howard community has kept in unswerving view the desires and ideals of this noble man. Little by little our community has grown in students, in faculty, in equipment, in friends, in standards and in power. Today we have 7,016 graduates at work in all states of the Union, in foreign countries and in all departments of life; a faculty of some eight score pro­ fessors, assistants and instructors; a student body of some two thousand young men and young women of university calibre, and a trustee board composed of men among the most emminent in our country, profoundly believing in the mission of the univer­ sity and determined to do their utmost to make it an increas­ ing power in American life. As I greet you today I am gload to express the hopefulness and confidence which seem to charac­ terize every element in our university community. We are sure of our mission, and we feel like a vigorous and eager young man stripped to run a race.

The Faculty

In the center of our university life is that small com­ munity of men and women we call the faculty. These men and women have had their choice of life callings. They have turn­ ed aside from the things which bring the largest pecuniary re­ wards to become teachers of youth and searchers after know­ ledge. They have believed with that ancient wise man that "Wisdom is a defence and money is a defence," but for them­ selves they have decided that there is an excellency in know-

297 298 ledge, for "wisdom giveth life to them that have it." They are here because they love the pathways cf knowledge and be­ cause they enjoy the privilege of working with young and eager minds. They are your elder brothers, your friends and your servants.

The University Purpose

The members of the faculty and the entire university com­ munity are interested in you as individuals. There is much routine and apparent machinery here, but it is not our purpose to beto be an efficient mass producing factory of mediocre minds. We are interested in having each individual of you dis­ cover his ovm powers, and in having you develop them to their uttermost capacity. Many of you have come to prepare your­ selves for definite professions. We are interested in having you become as efficient as possible in these professions, so that in your services the people might be blessed and your friends and your country may take justifiable pride. We are interested in having all of you become as thoroughly acquaint­ ed as possible with the kind of world in which you live, with the rich possibilities of human life, with the direction in which mankind must move to fulfill itself, and with the origin, development and nature of the institutuions with which you have to deal. We are interested in having each one of you become masterfully acquainted with some one field of knowledge, so that in this field you may give the most efficient possible expression to your desire to be of service to the common good. To see this understanding of the world developing in you, to see you more and more discovering your own powers and develop­ ing them with strength, and at last to see you expressing yourself in the world about you with intelligence, economy of effort, and power, is a part of the great gladness of our work. We are interested in you as individuals and as ends in yourselves.

College Trained Men and Women

The university community is interested in you also be­ cause of your representative character. During the long period whcih has elapsed since the emancipation of slaves, only 10,000 young men and women have enjoyed the privileges of a full college education. If to that number there be added all who are now in colleges and universities of the land who are likely to graduate within the next five years, there will not be in excess of 17,000. This means that in the whole Negro race in America there are today less than two college and university men to the 1,000 of population. But the Negro race is in a very critical period of its life. It is rapidly coming to self-consciousness, reaching out in every direction for avenues of self-expression, for the establishment of self- respect, and for the building of a working fellowship between 299 itself and the other elements of American life. All manner of programs and isms already being dangled before its eyes, offering some form of salvation in exchange for servitude of mind and ultimate abortion of effort. In such a time as this the race must depend more than ever upon men who possess the habits of mind which our community seeks to develop -men ac­ customed to examine opinions and programs with critical intel­ ligence, to arrive at conclusions after a patient examination of facts, to be guided by an imagination disciplined by rea­ son, and who are defended by their wide perspective from de­ votion to ill-founded enthusiasms and blind alley efforts.

It is men such as yourselves who must be the vehicles through which the aspirations of the people may come into in­ telligent expression, through whom their habits and programs must be criticized and their energies directed from within. We deeply believe it is under the leadership of men and women like yourselves that this eager people, still poor and still but rudely organized and directed may be transformed into an indispensable constructive element of the American population.

The members of the faculty of the university community in general are interested in you as individuals because they think there are some among you who during your studies here and in the subsequent years are capable of making an original and creative contribution to the knowledge and organization of human life as a whole. We wish that all of you would keep this possibility continually before your minds. The world is not yet made. Mankind is still very young. It is capable of a great development- on intellectual and aesthetic powers and of richness and beauty in human relationships. It is quite possible that some of you will be creative contributors to this development and that some of you may be pioneers in it. The sciences are still young. Some of them, especially those that concern the internal life of the human individual and human organization, are in their swaddling clothes. The whole field of ethics is in a state of confusion. In its enthusi­ astic devotion to the development of industrial and commercial possibilities, growning out of the conquest over nature through the natural sciences, mankind appears to have lost its sense of direction. Everywhere in the western world we are confused about fundamental things. What constitutes self-realization for the individual? What constitutes the goal of organized human life? On these fundamental questions there is increas­ ing confusion of opinion.

Specialized Fields of Knowledge

In the very rapid development of specialized fields of knoweldge we have lost the sense of the unity of knowledge and there has developed a great and alarming chasm between the 300 aspirations of mankind and scientific knowledge and technique whereby these aspirations could be realized in such a world as this. The further progress of mankind depends upon the rapid development of those sciences immediately concerned with the inner life and organization of human beings, with the clarification of our ideas in the field of ethics, and with the establishment of a working relationship between our aspir­ ations and our scientific knowledge. It is decidely possible that through your labors as individuals our community may be­ come one of the centers in modern life, from which this new mastery in the field of knowledge and this new wedding of aspiration and intelligence will develop and radiate to bless the world.

Comrades In A Great Enterprise

We greet you, therefore, as our younger comrades in a great enterprise. In acquaintance with fundamental processes of thinking and with specific fields of inquiry we have pre­ ceded you, and we wait to serve you as you walk along your way, confirming your choice of the best, and warning you, as well as we can concerning the dangers to be avoided. But we expect also to profit much from our companionship with you. The original flash of fire from our minds, the sometimes superior technique of your mental processes and of your hands we expect to stimulate and enrich us.

We expect some of you under our guidance, to become our superiors in the very fields of our specialty. We shall see this come to pass with a great gladness. You must increase. In you and through you we shall find our own.fulfillment.

We are glad to welcome you to such buildings and grounds, equipment and tools as we have. They are by no means all that we need. In many respects we will labor under great handicaps. But we offer you the best we have been ^ble to ac- clumulate over a period of fifty-nine years. Much of it has been contributed by noble-minded and far-seeing givers who for many years have been interested in the objects of our Howard University community here. Some'of them are living. Some of them are dead. Some of it has been contributed by the Federal Government which for a period of thirty-five years has not ceased to be interested in our intellectual and spiritual emancipation and which in recent years has greatly encouraged us by its substantial appropriations.

We call upon you this year to help us make the utmost use of this equipment. What it lacks in adequacy you help us to supply in human energy, and let us give to the government and to all of the interested givers such a demonstration of eco­ nomic and fruitful use of equipment that all of them will be glad to give us increasingly what we need. 301

Conclusion

The new students will observe that there are few pub­ lished conduct regulations in the university and that there is a very limited amoi:nt of faculty watchfulness over your personal conduct. Leu this not betray you into thinking that we are unconcerned about your character. The success of our great family enterprise is heavily dependent upon the character which you put into your work and into your relations with all the other members of our family. But the kind of character which alone is adequate for our enterprise is that which comes from a maximum of freedom with self-disciplined responsibility.

Our understanding is that you already have the basic qualities which prepare you for freedom and it is our hope that your knowledge of the weighty seriousness of our enter­ prise will constitute a balance wheel of well regulated self- discipline. It would grieve us greatly to discover that we had any among you who could not be trusted to be free. We call upon you to put your best habits into your work and to make your human relations here as beautiful as you know how. INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF MORDECAI WYATT JOHNSON, PRESIDENT, HOWARD UNIVERSITY, JUNE TENTH, NINETEEN TWENTY-SEVEN

Mr. Chairman, Members of the Board of Trustees and Fellow-citizens:

I wish first of all to express my very great gratitude to the Secretary of the Interior, to the representative of the faculties of the University, and to the represent­ ative of the sister institutions who have greeted me with welcome today. Howard University is one among many agencies working for the development of the Negro people and for that enlargement of the life of our country which must inevitably follow every step of this development. I am proud to be a part of these agencies. I am deeply en­ couraged by the welcome that they are giving me. And I hope that during my administration Howard University may prove an increasingly worthy cooperator in our great com­ mon undertaking.

Sixty Years of Struggle and Achievement

Howard University was conceived in the prayer meeting of a Congregational church, after the Civil War and the emancipation of the slaves. It was founded by a man who had been a soldier in that war, who rejoiced in the emancipation of the slaves and the preservation of the Union, but who wisely saw that these achievements were only the first and second steps toward a happy adjustment of the black people to the other elements of the American population. He believed that the next and most important step should be a strenuous undertaking to educate both the slaves themselves and the disadvantaged white people who under the slave regime had never had educational opportunity. So, with a broad heart, unembittered by strife, he spent the remainder of his life establishing educational-institutions for the slaves and their chil­ dren and for these disadvantaged whites. This institution was originally planned to train preachers for the freedmen, but the plan was soon expanded to include all the training given by a compre­ hensive university organization. The beginnings of the university were very humble indeed. On May 1, 1867, the normal department was estab­ lished in a little frame building with four students, one teacher and no money. Sixty years have passed since that day. What struggles there were during these years, what heroic sacrifices were made by presidents and faculties, and what joys there came as from time to time new sources of support appeared - these things are all well known to those who know and love the university's history. Today

302 303 we are able to see that original normal department ex­ panded into nine schools and colleges, embracing religion, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, law, liberal arts, applied ■ science, education and music. The four students have grown to two thousand two hundred sixty-eight students from thirty-seven states and ten foreign countries. The teaching force has grown from one to one hundred sixty. The rented frame building has grown to twenty-five buildings and grounds valued at three millions of dollars. The "no money" has grown to an annual income averaging five hundred thousand dollars. And now the university has seven thousand sixteen graduates living in every state of the Union where the Negro lives, and working in every rank of life. Two hundred forty-two graduates go out today to join that number. But growth at Howard University has not been extensive expansion only. There has been intensive development as well. Little by little the curriculum has been concen­ trated and graded upward in quality. When Howard first opened her doors the curriculum was thinly stretched all the way from teaching an illiterate slave how to read a few verses in the Bible to the degrees of Doctor of Medicine and Bachelor of Divinity. As the years have passed the preparatory department has been taken away, and the high school division has been taken away, so that now no courses are given in the university under the freshman year, and every course given is of collegiate and university calibre. The standards of all the schools have been raised continuously, so that today at least six of the schools are rated in Class A by standard rating agencies; a seventh of them gives Class A work of its kind; and the two not yet recognized have come to the place where they can feel courageous to make application for Class A standing within the coming year. There has been also a decided increase in the number of Negro scholars gathered on the several faculties, it being the purpose of the original white founders of the university not merely to train Negro men and women for practical life, but to train educational leaders who par­ ticipate with them on a basis of uncondescending equality in the whole enterprise of Negro education. So that here during the years there has been gathered together the largest body of intelligent and capable Negro scholars to be found connected with any enterprise of its kind in the civilized world. These scholars have been able not only to teach their subjects, but some of them ven­ ture into the field of creative scholarship and to make original contributions to the knowledge of the world. Negro scholars at Howard University have made original and creative contributions in the fields of botany. 304

zoology, sociology and history. Just recently a Negro member of the faculty was invited to share with a number of other scholars in the field of the natural sciences, including several Nobel prize winners, in the prepara­ tion of a volume which they in common believe will be a notable contribution to the world's knowledge of living things.

A Romance and a Monument

Howard University is the first mature university to come to pass among Negroes in the modern civilized world. Its growth from the humblest beginnings is one of the great romances of American education. During all the early years, while the founder and his associates worked, pseudo-scientific men were busily engaged in giving various reasons why serious education of the kind here undertaken should never be attempted among Negroes. History has answered these arguments. Howard University with its high calibred fruitfulness is a justifying mon­ ument to the faith of the founder and to all his hard working fellow-laborers. It is a monument also to the far-sighted wisdom of the Federal Government which, ever since the emancipation of the slaves, has not ceased to manifest an interest in their educational growth. Howard University has been made possible in its present efficiency very largely because for a period of nearly fifty years it has had the discriminating, judicious, far-sighted helpfulness of a sympathetic and under­ standing government. Howard University is also a monument to the capacity of the Negro himself. The coming of the Negroes from two hundred fifty years of slavery in which by far the most of them did not know even how to write their names, in a period of sixty years to constitute.the majority of the members of the faculty of à full-fledged university and to have their names recorded as original and creative contributors to the knowledge of the world is certainly an indication that the human mind, whatever its color and under whatever serious embarrassments it - may have worked, is essentially a dignified thing, and that all that Christianity and other great religions have dared to believe about it can possibly be true.

Preparing Slaves of the People

The development of Howard University has not been, however, an unnatural thing, growing out of a desire to provide a monument. It has been a natural response to the clamant needs of a growing people. The Negro race today has needs that cannot be satisfied except by men 305

trained in the way that Howard University attempts to train them. There are some needs of the people which may be met by servants trained in a brief periods of time. There are other needs of the people which can­ not be met except by slaves who spend one-third of their lives getting ready their powers to place them at the disposal of the people. When the humble woman in her crude cottage in Mississippi stands by the bed­ side of her child threatened with death, her heart reaches out with a great desire to conquer the disease about to take away her most precious possession. But the mind is not able to respond. It takes twenty-five years of training to be able to meet the needs of that simple woman's heart. Howard University exists in order that when the simple and the poor cry out for fundamental things that their hearts must have if they are to reach the goal of a normal and happy life, slaves shall be prepared with competent minds to see that the heart's desire of the people shall not fail. If it be the am­ bition of any institution to prepare servants for the American people, I say that Howard University seeks that preeminent greatness which comes to those who try to make ready themselves and their associates to ije the slaves of the people.

Professional Schools Serve Great Needs

Medicine The professional schools in Howard University have arisen to meet definite needs of the Negro people. Take the matter of health. When the Negro started out from slavery it was freely predicted that physically he would not be able to survive in the midst of civilized life. He has survived, and nobly, but his health standard is far below the general health of the American people. His death rate is higher and his losses from all Causes are greater than among the other sections of the American population. Some three thousand medical men have gone out to serve the health needs of Negroes, and the pro­ gress which they have made in winning the confidence of their people, in the establishment of hospitals, and in the public health service has been remarkable indeed. But their numbers are very inadequate. There is only one Negro physician to every three thousand three hundred Negroes in the United States, as compared with one white physician to every four hundred fifty members of the white race. As important as dentistry is today, there is only one Negro dentist for every twenty thousand needy Negro mouths. There is a great need for an increase in the number of efficient medical men, not 306 only in curative medicine, but in preventive medicine, and for those public scientific measures by which we hope in the long run to prevent the rapid growth of disease among the people. Howard University is dedicated to supplying that need. This year her School of Medicine has been filled and she has had to turn away thirty-two qualified candidates for lack of space in her laboratories.

Law In recent years there has been a decided increase in the accumulation of Negro property and a vast growth in business. There has been manifested also an increasing desire on the part of enlightened communities to have Negroes themselves in the legislative halls, to represent the real interests of their people and to see to it that these real interests are taken account of in the legis­ lative process. There is only one well qualified School of Law at work in the Negro race today. That is at Howard University. That the Negro shall have lawyers who are competent, living up to the highest standards of the legal profession, is the intention and one of the justifiably great measures of Howard University.

Teaching I turn now to the profession of teaching. Howard University has been able to come to the place where it stands today because of the rapid development in the field of fundamental education for Negroes. We have been able to do away with the high school department of Howard because there has been a widespread increase of primary and preparatory education for colored people. The time has come when the system of Negro education itself demands that there shall be a university organiz­ ation specializing in the preparation of teachers. There is today in the United States a deeply recognized need for teachers of a certain calibre of mind and spirit, not only among the high schools, but among the growing colleges themselves. A few years ago, here at Howard University, a number of college presidents met, and, when they were asked to state in brief the one out­ standing need in their institutions, every one of them, without previous conference, put his finger on this point; The greatest need is teachers who know their subjects, who understand the Negro mind and the difficulties under which our colleges labor, and who are willing to work with us, not counting hours or measuring units, but giving us all they have because they love the people. Howard University cannot presume to say at this moment that it is prepared to take care 307

of that teacher need of the growing Negro colleges, but it is justifiable to hope that in this place in the coining years, with the proper class of graduate studies, there may be prepared a type of teacher for high schools and.for the growing colleges whose competence and whose spiritual qualifications cannot be excelled anywhere in the United States.

Religion I come now to the ministry of religion. There are forty-seven thousand Negro churches in the United States and there are in the whole country today less than sixty college graduates getting ready to fill these pulpits. The Negro church from every point of view is the most powerful and the most constructive organization now at work in the Negro race. There is no organization and no combination of organizations which can at this stage in the history of the Negro race, begin to compare with the fundamental importance of the Negro church. And yet, we can see what is going to happen to that church if only sixty college men are preparing to enter the Negro pulpit. The simple, unsophisticated, mystical religion of the Negro cannot continue to endure, unless it is over and over reinterpreted to him by men who have a fundamental and far-reaching understanding of the sig­ nificance of religion in its relation to the complexi­ ties of modern civilized life. Here at Howard University we have the ground-work laid for a great non-sectarian school of religion. It ought to be made a graduate school of religion, seeking the truth about the meaning of life, without bias, endeavoring to deliver the people from superstition and from uncharitable sectarianism, binding them into an understandable cooperation, clarifying their vision, and releasing their energies for constructive service to the common good.

The Work of the Colleges This year there were one thousand seven hundred one students in the colleges of Howard University. That seems to be a large number, and to our hard-working deans and professors it sometimes appears to be too much. But there can be no danger in the next fifty years that there will be too many Negroes applying for college education. In all the days since the Civil War only ten thousand colored people have graduated from a college of any kind. There are today in the colleges of our country approximately eight hundred thousand youths studying for degrees. About ten thousand only of these are Negroes. This means that there are eighty times as many white young men and women studying in the colleges today as Negroes - a far too great 308

disproportion that must be remedied as rapidly as it is possible for us to do so. There may be a danger in num­ bers for Howard University, but only the danger which comes from being overtaxed because of its limited plant, limited faculty, and limited income.

Training in Sympathetic Understanding There can be no danger here of that thing now so greatly feared in many American institutions: that too many of our students will waste their time in a thin, incompetent, too liberal education. There is no leisure class among Negroes today, anxious to come to a univer­ sity to produce a cultured aristocracy. Practically every Negro who comes to a college knows that he must earn his living by the sweat of his brow, and that whatever culture he gets must be in addition to funda­ mental and specific preparation to do one thing by which he may earn his living. The great danger that confronts Howard University and all Negro institutions of learning is not that we shall have too much liberal education, but that we shall have too little of it - that we shall turn out competent physicians, competent lawyers, com­ petent teachers in their several specialties, who are at the same time incompetent, shallow-sympathied men, ignorant of the fundamental human relations and■not knowing how to take their part in the general develop­ ment of a community. So that at Howard University, along with the training of the individual to render specific professional service, it is absolutely necessary that there shall go studies which fit a man sympathetically to understand the kind of country that he is living in, the progress which that country has made, the direction in which it is moving, the nature of the institutions with which he has to deal, and the relations and possibilities of his own people to his government and to the progress of his country. This is what is meant by a liberal education - not the pre­ paration of a leisured aristocracy, simply spending its time in the discussion of things of cultural interest to incompetent men, but the broadening of the sympathies, and that deepening of the understanding which make the experienced physician able to cooperate with the ex­ perienced minister, the lawyer, and the teacher for the public good, together endeavoring to develop a country which shall have a deep sense of community and of brotherly cooperation.

The Common Problems of Negroes Such preparation is all the more necessary by reason of the stage of development which the Negro himself has 309

reached. A few years ago it was customary to assume that the Negro problem was a sectional problem and that the development of the Negro and the development of cooperative race relations were matters to be handed over almost entirely to the Southern States. But there are now two millions of Negroes living outside of the boundaries of the Southern States. It does not appear that there ever again will be a time when the Negro race will have a geographical unity and can be spoken of as involved in a mere sectional interpretation of the meaning of life. And yet these Negroes, distributed all over the country, from California to Maine and from New York to Texas, are more and more realizing that wherever they go they have certain common problems, and they are struggling today as never before to arrive at some unified understanding regarding what shall be their self-expression, what shall be their relation to the other members of the American population, and how they can maintain their creative self-respect in the midst of the communities where they live. These people must find some intelligent interpreter that shall not be sectional, some center of interpretation that shall look at the Negro question in its national aspect, and which is acquainted with the problem of the Negro wherever he goes. Howard University is the one great institution located and prepared by its history and organization to be that national center in which the Negro shall come to full self-consciousness about where he is, where he hopes to go, what difficulties are in the way, and how he can get there with the good will of his fellow-citizens. It is of the utmost importance to the Negro people that whatever studies may contribute to this end shall be developed here on the highest plane of efficiency and as rapidly as possible.

Negro Problem of National and World Significance And this development is a ma tter of concern not alone to the Negro people themselves, but to the nation as a whole, for the Negro question is now a matter of national and of international significance. When Howard University was first established at Washington, this was a capital but recently subjected to attack, just recover­ ing from the awful struggles of a Civil War, and looked upon with patronizing good will by many of the strong nations of the earth. But Washington today is the cen­ tral throbbing heart of the most powerful and most hopeful republic that now exists on the face of the earth. The urgent question that now confronts the world regarding this republic is. What is going to be its relation to the weaker and disadvantaged peoples of the earth? The great nations of Europe for a century have 310

been subordinating the undeveloped countries and the disadvantaged peoples of the world to the economic and political interests of the European powers. The urgent question today is whether the United States is going to follow this European practice or whether there is going to arise in this place a country so deeply convinced of the possibilities of humanity that it is willing to keep its self-control, having no relations with even the weakest of peoples except such as it can justify in the light of its deepest conscience, committed to none but a purely open and above board practice of brotherliness to all men and to all countries of the earth.

America's Great Experiment It is not necessary for the world to wait to see what we are going to do in our foreign relations in order to find out what the trend is going to be, because the United States of America has a barometer within the nation. It has twelve millions of the disadvantaged peoples of the world in its own bosom. What is done as regards the Negro in this country is a signal and un­ failing indication of the temper of the American spirit and of the character and intent of the American mind, and it will resound in the halls of all the world. It is in the interest, therefore, of our nation that it shall be assured from within not only that it is capable of getting along with a high degree of justice and good will in relation to Mexico, for example, but that right here in the experimental crucible where the great race problem of the world is crystalized it shall prove that it has the power publicly to assimilate twelve millions of Negroes, to give them every form of public justice, and to give it to them in ways persuasive of their own free consent and cooperation, making them an intimate part of the national life.

No Panacea Years ago, when we were led by our infantile imagina­ tion, we were accustomed'to suppose that there was some one panacea by which we could achieve this result. We now know that there is no such single panacea. The Negro is now intermixed with all the complex activities of American life. Nothing but the application of intelligence, persistent intelligence in a multitude of complex directions, with one solid good will, can possibly accomplish even in a great length of time the thing which we all desire and which we must have if the destiny of our country is to be fulfilled. Our country, therefore, needs an institution where those studies will be undertaken, in a large and comprehensive way, which will prepare not only the Negro but the nation to 311

understand how the Negro is situated, where we want him to go, what the difficulties are in the way, and how, in spite of all the difficulties, by intelligence and persistent application of good will, he can get there.

Special Fitness of Howard University I call attention to the special preparedness of Howard University to undertake those studies in Sociology, Economics, Social Philosophy, History, Bio­ logy and Anthropology that may give us the facts, inform the public mind, and set forth a light by which both the Negro and the nation may be advanced. Here we have a great university, situated in a southern city so far as practice is concerned. Atlanta, Georgia, Nashville, Tennessee, or Natchez, Mississippi, can make no claim to be more southern in spirit than Washington. And yet in the midst of this southern city you have something which you have nowhere else in the South. You have the continuously throbbing will of the whole American people, expressed in the Executive Government and in the Supreme Court, and a constant stream of noble characters who represent the best sentiment of the nation, inter­ acting continually with the Southern mind, tending to assimilate and to transform it to the measure of the national will. Here we have a university with two thou­ sand two hundred sixty-eight students, nearly one-fourth of all the Negroes in the United States engaged in college and professional education, taught by a bi-racial faculty,the white members of which constitute some of the most eminent minds in the life of America, and the Negro members of which constitute the largest and most competent body of trained Negro minds engaged in educational practice in the United States - Negro mind and white mind working together without condescension, a living example of what intelligent men can do with the race question when they have freedom to undertake it together. There is also a bi-racial Board of Trustees - white men among the most distinguished in America, and Negro products of higher educational institutions, work­ ing together with mutual respect, great capacity for cooperation, and a will to make this a creative, intellectual and spiritual center that shall have not only the patronage but the confidence of the Negro people. Here is an institution partly supported by the United States Congress so that every student who comes here can have daily and continuous evidence of the per­ sistent good will of an enlightened government, and yet such a relationship to the Government as precludes any form of political domination. It is an institution. 312

therefore, in which the teaching can have no suspicion of political supervision by the Government, and which, therefore, can commend itself entirely to the free and spontaneous affection of the Negro people and to the continuous confidence of those men of good will of all races who want to see the Negro problem brought out well. In such an institution, so situated, so manned, so supported, and moreover, so richly blessed in having the resources of the Library of Congress and the other vast educational facilities of the national capital at its disposal, it ,1 s inevitable that far-reaching studies in race relations will be undertaken, and that these studies will be of benefit to Negroes in all parts of the country and to the nation as a whole.

Possible World Fruits of Negro Thought I have high confidence also that these studies will add to the sum total of our knowledge of human life. If the Negro studies the human will, human motive, human organization, the philosophy of social life, in order to discover how he may become free, with the consent of the other elements of the American population, he is sure to discover something about the human will, something about human motives and human organization that may be to the advantage of mankind. The President of the United States has recently said that there is a residual uncon­ quered territory in human nature which prevents us from carrying out in practice the ideals which we know to be the ones to follow. The Negro situation is acute large­ ly because the American population has not yet found the power to carry out its own ideals. If thinkers here can discover ways and means of eliciting that power and of bringing it to bear in race relations, they will make a contribution to the sum total of knowledge and to the ongoing of the human race.

Cultivating Natural Gifts of the Negro As much, however, as the Negro may be interested in the professions and in those studies pointing to the solution of his problem he must not forget to cultivate those natural gifts which have come with him from the days of slavery. Though he does not have health as he should have it, he must continue to sing. Though the social problem may not be solved in his lifetime, he must develop his talent to tell a good story and act out a good part. Though he may not for years be fitted into the texture of American life, he must still keep alive that simple and beautiful faith whereby he has been able to get along and to bear the cross with a gentle and kindly heart. Howard University should be the place 313

where that undeveloped heritage of art in the soul of the Negro may be cultivated, a place where his music, his histrionic talents and his instinctive kindliness of disposition may be brought to its fullest self-conscious­ ness and competency.

The Support of Howard University The support of an institution of this kind should be the common concern of all the American people. I do not hope that Howard University will become rich. I hope that it will always be poor enough to be responsive to the criticism and the stimulus of the current public will. But I do hope that it may be relieved from want. Howard University with its great mission today is in want. Over the heads of the people who work here hangs an accumulated deficit of eighty-seven thousand dollars brought about by an annual current dificity over a period of six years. There has been an increase of one hundred per cent in the student body since 1919-20, yet the faculty has increased not more than twenty-eight per cent in numbers, and increase in equipment and in income has lagged far behind the needs. I should like to see that deficit removed. I should like to see an adequate income for maintenance. Every one of these buildings is in a low state of repair because we have now but a minimum of two per cent for repairs and main­ tenance of buildings and grounds. But above all I'want that Howard University shall have salaries to give teachers a living wage. The work that it must do can­ not be done by men who must be worried every night as to whether they can pay their board bill the first of the month. The highest salary for a professor at Howard University is $2,650 - a salary below those paid in the public high school system in the city of Washington. There are teachers here teaching for $1,000 and $1,400 per year. How the work which we want to do can be done with these small salaries I am not yet able to say. But the gravest danger is not to the teachers themselves; it is to the product of the institution. Poorly paid teachers who must work in the night to supplement their salaries, preaching and selling - even coffins - as some of them have done and are doing, will find it impossible to turn out anything other than a mass product. A mass product in industry is a good thing, but a mass product in education is an abomination unto God and sure to be a disappointment to the public good. What we want to produce in Howard University is a self-conscious, self-directing, independent, respons­ ible human being, who knows how to act, who knows where he is going, and has the courage to do what he believes 314 to be right. Such a product can not be trained in a machine university where the professors are financially strained and are obliged to spend their spare time in earning a living rather than in reflecting upon their studies and in personal conference with individual students. Whence will come this support? For nearly fifty years the major portion of it has come from the fees of students and from the Government of the United States. I hope that during the next ten-year period the Govern­ ment will not cease its support. Howard University can­ not live without that support, and the product already established here is too precious to be allowed to go backward. I hope also that an increased sum will come from student fees. Already we have increased them far beyond the limit of most of our students to endure. Eighty- five per cent of the male students are able to pay these fees only by working while they study. I hope an in­ creased amount will come from the Negro people them selves. The way in which they have responded to the Government's challenge and to the challenge of the General Education Board is a thing which should be pre­ cious to the heart of every American. By far more than two-thirds of all the money now paid in the School of Medicine Endowment Campaign has been paid by the Negro people themselves. (Let me pause to say, to delight the hearts of those that are here, that the Endowment Cam­ paign is now within fifteen thousand dollars of victory. Fifteen thousand dollars more by the first of July will bring us the first half million dollar endowment for the School of Medicine.) I hope that discriminating philanthropy will supple­ ment the gifts of the Government and of the Negro people themselves. I have seen encouraging signs that philan­ thropy intends to do this. Nowhere in America and no­ where else in the world can funds be spent with greater productiveness for the common good than they can now be spent at Howard University. We are so happy to be able to report that under the supervision of the Department of the Interior and by the determined will of the administration, Howard University has a financial system unequivocally honest and open to the inspection of any representative of any organization that desires to make that inspection on any day.

The Destiny of the Negro I am through now. Sixty-five years ago the Negro came from bondage. In so short a time he has come to this place. What is his destiny? I do not know. I hope, and I do not conceal my hope, that his destiny 315

will be entire public equality and entire good-willed cooperative relations with every element of the American population, and that he will be especially understood by those men who have been his former masters and who have been accustomed to make him a slave. I hope that he will be delivered entirely from every form of public servitude and that he will be redelivered spontaneously by his own consent, into a willing slavery to the common good. I hope that this will be a moral accomplishment, not by amalgamation or by any expedient of any kind, even though that expedient should be brought to pass tomorrow morning. Amalgamation would be a beggarly solution of a problem which is essentially moral and which should be settled in a way that will result in the strengthening of the moral will of both of the peoples engaged in the enterprise. I want my country to conquer all of the inhibitions connected with blackness and all of the fears connected with blackness, but I want the original blackness there and I want that blackness to be unashamed and unafraid. That day is far off yet, but the existence of this institution tells something about the intent of the American mind. When I see that in sixty years it has been possible for such an institution as this to come to pass I am ere :uraged for my country and my hopes are stimulated by e great inspiration.

The Responsibility of Howard Graduates Fellow-students of the graduating classes, you are among those who are prepared to take part in a great enterprise. You are going out to work among a people greatly undermanned. You are going to find it hard, most of you, to earn your living. You are going to be tempted to desert the public good and to seek merely your own self-aggrandizement. But I call upon you to keep in remembrance your university. Keep especially in remembrance those noble white men who founded it here. Existing in the form of Anglo-Saxons they thought it not a thing to be grasped after to be on equality with Anglo-Saxons and to enjoy the rights and privileges of Anglo-Saxons, but they humbled themselves, took upon themselves the form of servants, and made themselves obedient to the needs of slaves. They lived with us, ate with us, suffered ostracism and humiliation with us, in order that by their personal contact with us they might teach us the truth and the truth might set us free. They did these things because they loved a country which has never yet existed on land or sea, a country in which all men are free, all men are intelligent and all men are self-directing contributors to the common good. 316

That country has not yet been attained. It is still the goal of the American people. You are to participate in the bringing of that country to pass. You have here enjoyed the fruits of the labors of the founders. You cannot be self-respecting men and women unless you also participate in the spirit of the founders. Their coun­ try must be your country. You must salute it from afar, and, even while you fight with every ounce of energy for those public equalities by which you cannot live, you must also take upon yourself the cross — your proportionate share of the responsibility of bringing that country of intelligent good will to pass. You will have to keep in remembrance that many men of other races who seek to do you injury are men who have not had advantages that you have had. They do so because in their blindness regarding the meaning of life and the purposes of government they think that their welfare consists in the subordination of your own to theirs. But if they be blind in the mind, you cannot afford to strike a blind man. You must be patient to be just to them while they get wisdom and courage to be just to you. And you must remember that your disposition may be the decisive factor in the changing of their minds. Keep in mind your university and in all of your labors cast no shame upon her. So live out in the real world that travellers from your city may come to 'this place because you have been trained here. Your institution is large, but still it is little known. She is like some humble mother that washes clothes in a country place while you go out to share the honor and the glory of the world. The world will never know much about your mother or respect her except what you make it do by the character of the life that you live. So live that when you are done men will eagerly ask where you were born, who were your teachers, where were you trained. And in your prayers, when you strip yourself of all dress parade of every kind, make mention of your university before the God and Father of us all, and make especial mention of your servant who now stands before you, the deans and members of the faculties, the Board of Trustees and all those men of good will in whose hands our destiny lies. And now may the beauty of the Lord our God be upon you. May He establish the work of your hands, yea, the work of your hands may He establish it. Christianity and Occidental Civilization

An Address delivered at the Inter-Seminary Conference, Colgate-Rochester Divinity School, December 8, 1933.

Organized Christianity stands seriously challenged in the world today. The outstanding challenger is communism -a com­ prehensive, realistic world-view arising on materialistic grounds and attacking with vigor and confidence the major social problems of our time. The challenge is unequivocally stated: Christianity, like all other religions, is inherently incompetent to function constructively in the modern world with its overwhelming social problems. Instead of stimulating and organizing human resources against the depressing enemies of life in the economic and political spheres, it works as an opiate. The beginnings of healthy action in any nation is to render it powerless to interfere.

In keeping with this indictment, the communist inspired state in Russia has relegated religion to a rigidly restricted sphere of influence, and has lent sanction to the campaign on behalf of anti-religion.

But if communism is the outstanding challenger of Christianity, it is not the only one. Even facist states, desiring to consolidate them.sleves against internal disin­ tegration, appear to find that organized Christianity is not in a position to be constructive help. They require of her that she desert her basic principle of religious freedom and subordinate herself to a restrictve sphere or make herself a propogandic instrument, of the state.

Small wonder the, that Eastern peoples like Japanese, Chinese and Indians and even Africans, who feel the distressing pressure of Western economic and political agression, are led to wonder whether the Christian religion may not become an alien and disintegrating force, as they endeavour to rally the spiritual resources of their peoples for an adquate life ex­ pression in keeping with the historic roots of their culture. The challenge of communism strengthens all the doubts and fears regarding Christianity that arise from all other quarters. To­ gether they place the church in a precarious historical posit­ ion, threatening to undermine her on all the fronts of the world, as a movement worthy of increasing confidence where questions of the public life are concerned.

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Young men and women entering the ministry today have nothing to gain by underestimating the strength of this chal­ lenge. However unpleasant it may be to do so they must realize that as a matter of fact, this indictment is heavily freighted with truth. The industrial revolution with all of its amazing scientific and technological instrumentalities, came to life and ran its initial course in countires heavily dominated by organized Christanity. Presumably, if Christian­ ity had had the power to project its ethics into the sphere of the economic life and the political institutions working therewith, it would have invaded and controlled this sphere from the very beginning. It is now manifest that it did not do so.

Moreover, when that point came in the development of our Western economic institutuions, at which they began to exploit large groups of working people and to penetrate, corrupt and weaken political structure at home and abroad, Christianity was unable to grasp the significance of what was taking place and to arrest the development. The leaders stood aside and allowed the larger instrumentalities of the public life in­ creasingly to be possessed by a spirit profoundly opposed to the spirit of Jesus. And Western civilization had to depend upon a movement arising out of materialistic grounds for its best critical insight and rallying force against the destruct­ ive influences which soon began to work upon its life.

Not only is it true that organized Christianity has been historically too weak to penetrate and control modern economic institutuions with its ideals, it has been invaded and weak­ ened by economic institutuions in opposition to its ideals. We need but refer to the early days of American history to confirm this. Here was a population that came to a strange land inspired by the Christian religion to seek a new freedom for itself. It had been here but a brief moment before it established a way of living with the institution of slavery. When endeavour was made to array the Christian spirit against slavery the church was obliged to witness large sections of her parishoners and even her ministry justifying the evil institutuion and supporting it with quotations from the scriptures. The ethical force of the church was broken. Her body was rent asunder into Northern and Southern divisions and the nation was obliged to settle the slaver problem, not by constructive measures under the inspiration of religion, but by blood.

Seventy years after the Civil War we still have the Northern and Southern churches, split asunder on the basis of fundamental differences of opinion regarding the way that human beings should be treated. Moreover, in these times when 319 political institutuions have succeeded in establishing a segregated status for expolited peoples like Negroes, the Christian institutuions have themselves capitulated to the arrangement and have assumed this form for the body of Christ. So that in addition to our denominational churches, our Southern churches and Northern churches in the United States, we have our Black churches and our White churches. In view of the total world situation, the existence of these divisions, indicating the capitulation of organized Christianity before the depressing froces of economic exploitation, give unfail­ ing indication of her intellectual and moral weakness in the presence of social problems. At precisely that point in Western civilization when she has her greatest numerical and combined organizational and economic strength, she appears to have lost confidence in her power to maintain a community of the spirit, transcending race, which is the nature of the case absolutely necessary for any possible spiritual conquest of the world.

Let no man think for a moment that I am now making a plea on behalf of my race. I am speaking not as a Negro, but as a Christian, deply concerned with the future of the Christian movement in the world, and therefore unflinchingly confronting the most pessimistic aspects of her historic position.

It is fundamentally necessary for all healthy thinking that we recognize the elements of strength in the current in­ dictment that she is inherently incompetent to work con­ structively in the sphere of social action.

I say these things all the more frankly because of my ultimate optimism. For, however much truth there may be in the indictment that Christianity has not been able to function constructively in relation to modern economic and political problems, I am convinced that her weakness is not inherent. She is not a defeated movement. She needs but to re-orient herself and thereby to lay hold on profound resources at her disposal.

Such a re-orientation Christianity is now in a position to make. Modern historical criticism, which has appeared to many to be the destroyer of the very foundations of Christian faith, is precisely the instrument that has placed her in position to re-orient herself with far-reaching power. For historical criticism has enabled the ministry today to desentangle the essential spirit of Christianity from the heavily encrusted enveloped in which it has come down to us, in such a way as to make a flexible and competent wedding with modern scientific and social intelligence and, therefore, for the first time in her history to be able to project her 320 full spiritual power into the realm of the public life. Throughout the modern era, the vast majority of a devoted ministry have been obliged to interpret the gospel, on the one hand, in the light of an externally authoritative Church and, on the other hand, in the light of an externally authoritative book. Both these external authorities have placed the minis­ try in a position of being expert pointers to the work of God in past history but poor declarers of His living will. Both have led her into conflict with the very modern thought with which she has need to wed. The one has overtly divided the realm of the secular from the sacred, and the other has exalt­ ed so many things to the level of equal of proximate import­ ance to ethical action and thereby so divided her forces that she has seldom if ever, been able to muster her full spiritual power to inspre or support a life. In both direc­ tions growth in membership, economic resources, organizational force and extensity have contributed to an illusion of progress not fundamentally related to access of spiritual power.

Historical criticism has placed the modern ministry in position to be delivered from the dominance of these external and backward looking authorities, to establish the locus of authority in the realm of the spirit, and to declare with living force what is the will of God for today; namely, "Whosoever loveth, God abideth in him," -whosoeve revernces each and all other life and actively exerts himself to enhace the value thereof, God dwelleth in him as an active creative force, working in the world toady. Historical criticism has shown how the whole development of Judaism gradually led up to his central, spiritual-ethical affirmation and how in Jesus, at the culmination of the history it became explicit in its most comprehensive and radical sense. In performing this work, while at the same time destroying the groundwork of every other external authority upon which Christianity may depend for authentication, historical criticism forces sole reliance upon reverence for individual living existence, radically applied throughout the entire extent of life, as the central focus of religious activity, receptivity and salvation. On this basis it becomes clear that there is no reason why any man should claim allegiance to Jesus of Nazareth and expect to gain anything therefrom unless he wishes to experiment radically in his own life with reverence for individual living existence wherever he may find it. The abandonment of this radical reverence for any human being anywhere to say nothing of a continuance of such an abandonment in relation to any considerable number of human beings is to abandon the very central heart of religion and to relinquish all hope of constructive spiritual power in the world.

Christianity is now placed in position for the first time to appraise her position in the world. On this basis she 321

knows that her strength is not in her numbers, nor in the ef­ fectiveness of her organizaton, nor in her economic resource­ fulness, as important as these may be, but in the extent to which her individual members thoughtfully and radically em­ body reverence for life in individual and social action desi^aed to enhance the value of life in the world. Chrisit- anity is able now to rediscover the social passion of her primitive days, disentangled from the eschatological envelope in which it first came to her and from other-wordly metaphysics inherited from the Graeco-Roman world. The passion for the kingdom of God is now seen to be the passion for the concrete realization of the community of living beings in which rever­ ence for life is at its maximum; and all reverence for life expressing itself in individual and social spheres, is now recognized to be the work of God in history, operating with cumulative force.

Here for the first time Christianity is in position to make flexible and powerful wedding with modern thought. Hav­ ing once come to see with clarity that it is her primary function in the world to embody, to enrich and to beget in­ creasing reverence for life, Christianity is in position to seek the cooperation of modern scientific, social and tech­ nological intelligence which, on the basis of experience and reflection determines what it is that reverence for life requires in a particular situation. These thinkers now be­ come her allies in implementing her active goodwill. It now becomes clear that the essential attitude of reverence for life which is the characteristic and primary undertaking of the Church in the world, may allay itself with a succession of experimental answers as to what love should do in a particular situation. To the scientific, social and technological thinker, on the other hand, the church may now come to stand as a living inspiration. At the point where intellectual demonstration in­ dicates a proposed action as that which human life requires in a particular situation he may have hope that the reverence required to put the intellectual technique into action may be made available for the Christian community.

Here also Chrisitianity is in position for the first time to invade the divers realms of the secular with confidence that overt division between the secular and the sacred must disappear and that wherever any activity is fundamentally necessary for the welfare of men, that activity and the organized realm thereof are in candidacy for the in dwelling of the spirit of God.

It is now clearly seen that what she wishes to promote in the world is not a body of activities looked upon as sacred 322

as over against the things which are conceived to be coiramon and everyday necessities of existence, but precisely to breathe into the common and ordinary activities and the every­ day relations of men, the spirit of profound reverence from individual to individual. Whether the act involved be the passage of a cup of cold water, the making of a shoe, an organized operation of the State or of the industrial order, each and every one is in candidacy for increased significance through the triumph of the spirit of reverence over whatso­ ever depresses life or stops short of raising it to its maximum value.

For the first time in history, the religious imagination is cast not backward, nor upward, but horizontally forward on the actual concrete inter-relations of human existence to con­ ceive of what they may be when they embody an intense and growing reverence for life, and to conceive of programs and measures by which progress from what is to what is possible may be implemented. The church now comes to know herself not as that organization acting as persuasive soul within the state, begetting moral tension between the actual and the pos­ sible, becoming the primary inspiration under which political parties occupying their legitimate filed, live and move, pas­ sing from tension to tension, issue to issue, program to pro­ gram, endeavouring at each stage to evoke a higher level of reverence in action among the people and in their external relationships.

The protagonist of such a Christianity will find himself at home in any part of the world. There is no conceivable section of human life, whatever its state of development, its cultural configuration or past history that would be alien to him. As often among his predecessors, he will find himself fascinated, no doubt again and again, by precisely those sections of existence which would appear to be farthest from him in their form and development.

The proponent of such a Christianity is able therefore, to approach any given culture, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, African -not as one who comes to impart that which is alien, but as one who comes to salute those who live within that culture with reverence, and there with patience and love and intelligence to help them build that spirit inbred civiliza­ tion which is best in keeping with the historic roots and particular configuration of that culture. Such a man would be welcome in any community on earth, and having been wel­ comed he will judge his success not by the extent to which he has been able to detach groups from the historical roots by which they have come to know God and to build them into overt, declared and organized allegiance to the name of Jesus, 323 but to the extent to which he has been able to discover, to encourage and to bring into full and active consciousness, whatsoever in that culture, by whatsoever name, is in keeping with the spirit of Jesus; namely, reverence for life and activity designed to enhance the value and meaning thereof. To the residents of such a place he will seem as one who binds the children unto the fathers by his selection from the emphasis upon precisely those elements of the tradition and those characteristics of the spirity which fill their daily existence with the deepest meaning and which light their imaginations with a sense of the unlimited possibilities of life before them.

Wherever such a proponent of Christianity might live -in the United States or Africa or Asia -he will find himself in conflict with whatsoever individual and organized practices tend to repress and to cheapen human existence. I am afraid that not the least of these organized activities may sometimes be the organized church itself. He will know disappointment, suffering and often defeat. But he will be conscious of being engaged in the greatest of all adventrues. And again and again he will be lifted into the highest joy as he realizes from experience that he is working with a movement which is capable of imparting one degree of blessing after another to every division of life, private and public, and over the entire range of human existence. SPEECH PRESENTED AT CIO CONVENTION, NOVEMBER 1950

Mr. President and ladies and gentlemen of the Congress of Industrial Organizations: I have no words adequate to express the gladness with which I have accepted the invita­ tion to speak to you today. From the very beginning of this great organization it has elicited my esteem and my affection. When I saw you combine in one labor organiza­ tion the skilled and the unskilled and made their cause a common cause, and when I say you radically loyal to the basic human ethics that our democracy rests upon, and gather­ ing unto your bosom all working men and women regardless of race, color and creed, and when I say you couple with the most intense and intelligent economic activity the determin­ ation to be active politically in the most vigorous sense, so as to build up in this country a liberal political move­ ment based upon the assured and vigorous support of labor, I felt then and I feel now that you constitute the most basically hopeful movement in American life.

I an conscious of the fact that you have invited me here today because of the interest which you have in the minority to which I belong, and I know that that minority would wish me to express to you the deep sense of gratitude which they have toward you as an American movement. You have given them, during the last ten of fifteen years, the most thrilling demo­ cratic experience that they have ever had. You have invited them into your movement, not as Negroes, but as human beings who, like yourself, are engaged in the effort to win bread and security for their peole and their homes, and you have made that necessary effort of theirs a basic part of your objectives. You have done that not out of benevolent intent toward them, but as part of the fulfillment of your basic purposes towards all labor. You have offered them an oppor­ tunity to be your fellow workers in a cause which includes the interest of all labor, and you have called upon them to make alongside of you commensurate sacrifices in support of that cause. And they have been glad to be called upon to share with you in the labor, the cost and the suffering necessary to build up your great movement.

You have shown that you have confidence in their ability also to participate in the working plans and leadership, and you have chosen them to responsible office locally, and in the state and in the nation. They know therefore that in the

324 325 very warp and woof of your purposes, there lives a democracy without which they cannot live.

I have said these things to you to tell you that I have come here today, not merely with my body and my voice - I have come here with my heart, and if I were called upon to say what I regard today is the most hopeful democratic move­ ment in America I would say that it is the Congress of Industrial Organizations.

Now I have come here today with a message, a message that is so big, that I don't know whether I can deliver it. But in times of crisis like this it has been said in the scriptures that even the sotnes will cry out. Not I know that I lie somewhere between the sones the the presidency, and I am going to cry out to you today. I may stagger in the delivery of the message I have come to deliver, but if I do it is because of miy inability to get it out of me, because it is in me and I believe it is for the good of the nation, which is your nation and mine.

We are conscious at this hour of confronting a world crisis. I come from Washington where it is perfectly clear to me that it is all but the unanimous conviction of the greatest leaders of this nation that we face a crisis unparalled in our history, and that this crisis is of such a determinative nature that its resolution one way or another in the period of ten years now before us, may determine the destiny of this nation.

We are confronted with a world movement of immense pas­ sion, of immense proportion and immense power that within thirty years has grown from 180 million followers to 800 million followers and is now approaching the periphery of India, which, if it caputred, would give it control of the majority of the manpower of this world. That movement has within thirty years, developed on eof the weakest, most ignorant and undeveloped nations of the world to the place where it constitutes by all odds, the second most powerful nation in “the world, and it is growing in power by leaps and bounds and confronts us today with a military organiza­ tion which is frightening to look at.

Our leaders almost unanimously look upon this movement as a diabolical conspiracy of imperialistic design setting out to capture and control the world under a totalitarian organization which subverts and would destroy every liberty that we stand for. And they have concluded almost unani­ mously that there is only one way to offset and defeat this movement, and that is by the rapid accumulation of military 326 power, both in America and among our allies in the West, and by drastic legislation to offset and control these subversive activities in our midst.

Now, I am convinced that our leaders are wholly honor­ able in the conclusions which they have reached, and knowing General George Marshall as I do, I know that he would never commend to this nation an annual expenditures of from fifty to sixty billions of dollars upon a program of military defense unless he felt that this was absolutely essential and likely to be decisive. But I want to say to you today in all humility and with the deepest sincerity that I am capable of, that I believe our leaders are moving under an illusion, that the immense military program which we are producing and must produce at whatever cost is itself nevertheless insufficient and cannot be decisive. I will go so far as to say that in my humble judgement, we could accumulate that military force until it was unquestionably preponderant, that we could engage in a war and defeat Russia and her satellites, and by that very act lost the most precious thing that a nation can hope for in this world, namely, the moral leadership of this world. And I am confronting you today with the conviction that unless the leaders of this nation supplement this military program with a positive program of economic reconstruction on a world-wide basis, including a programmed and deliberate discontinuance of the colonial system and a reconstruction of the economy of the entire world under our leadership, through the United Nations,' that we stand in danger, with all our military power, of losing the leader­ ship of this world.

I believe that there is a pathway open to peace. I believe we hold the initiative in the opening up of that pathway, but I believe that in order to enter that pathway, we have got to begin with two attitudes of the spirit which are absolutely necessary.

The first of those is that we have got to go back and make a re-estimate of our enemy. We think that the major danger which confronts us from our enemy is his totalitarian organization, his violent agression, his deceit and his sub­ versive activity. I tell you that from ray knowledge of Socialism and Communism - and Communism is only the most radical form of Socialism - that all of these things lie in the fields of Communist tactics, that those tactics are the implementation of a program of a positive nature, which, on the highest levels of Communist leadership, these men believe in with all their hearts and which they are advanc­ ing to a ready world with an evangelistic enthusiasm not to be compared with anything in history short of early 327 Christianity, and that they are making headway and accumulat­ ing followers and an immense moral force, because by the weakness of our own moral position in the world, our divided­ ness of mind and our half-heartedness of action on the most important question in the world, we are yielding to them the moral initiative in areas of the utmost importance to the human race.

At the base of Communism - and you must bear with me and if you disagree with me charge it off to my humility and ignorance - but listen, I tell you that in these times you ought even to listen to a stone when it cries, and sometimes men who arise from minorities that have been hurt have had their eyes opened, so that they can see more clearly than the people who are sitting on the grandstnad that is falling. When the broken beam of the grandstand is on a man's back he knows that it is falling and where it has fallen, but the man who is sitting on that seat tacked to that beam may still be fairly comfortable and cannot know what catastrophe awaits him.

At the heart of Communism - and we must learn one thing from Mahatma Ghandi, that in dealing with the most ruthless enemy, we must conceive that even he is acting and is capable of acting in response to the noblest human motives. And you cannot understand Communism and what we have got to deal with in Communism unless you look at what it means in the hearts and minds of the noblest representatives of Communism. At the basis of Communism there is this simple and passionate belief: that the scientific and technical intelligence which we have at our disposal in the Western World and by means of which the United States of America has been able to arrive at a productive capacity of $250,000,000,000 a year is an instrument which, in the hands of men who love the human race, could reorganize the entire economic structure of the world so as to overcome the worldwide struggle for existence and build up a working population, regardless of race, creed or nationality, which could feed and clothe and house its children without taking anything by violence from any human soul. That is what they believe. Inspired by that conviction they have seized and reorganized th-e national economy of one of the weakest groups of human beings in the world, and in less than thirty years have made it the second greatest power in the world.

What they have been able to do there confirms their beliefs that they have discovered the secret of the reorgani­ zation of the economic life of humanity, and that what they have been able to do in Russia is only the beginning of what they have been able to accomplish and will be able to accom­ plish round the world. Because they belive that they can do 328 they around the world they have subscribed unequivocally to the universal ethics of Judaism and Christianity and they are crossing every boundary that separates men on the basis of race, creed, color and sex, confident that they have the power to weld them all into a world community of cooperating labor which will lay the foundation for a new society.

You do not understand human nature unless you under­ stand that this faith corresponds to one of the deepest hungers of humanity. We think in America that what men want most of all is to share in a plethora of economic success so that they also may own cars and houses and travel and dress beautifully. I tell you, that we are mistaken, because down at the bottom of the human heart there is a hunger that goes deeper than that. That hunger is expressed in the Lord's Prayer in the New Testament, when this Jewish young man who saw into the depths of human nature prayed, "Give us this day our daily bread." What "us" did he mean? He meant every human child in all the periphery of this earth, and what he was praying for was this, that the struggle for existence which makes animals roam the wilderness and tear one another to pieces and tear one another's flesh, and which up to this time in human history has also characterized the human race, that this thing should be done away with and that the bread we eat is also shared by every other living human being, and that we have not robbed any single human soul in order to eat our daily bread.

I tell you that if humanity ever saw itself in reach of that possibility you would be amazed at the extent to which men of prosperity would throw out everything surplus to minimum adequate means of subsistence, in order that in the simplicity of their lives they might share in this deep sense of encircling brotherhood.

Now, Communism ahs its finger on that desire and it is saying to men all over the world, we have come at last up from the ranks of those who suffer, not to make you powerful, not to place you in a position where you dominate through life, but to fix it so you can sit down with your brothers of every race, creed and color all over this world and eat your simple bread in brotherly affection. If we don't see that and know that is there, we shall have no power to deal with this movement.

Now, bear with me while I tell you something else that you may not want to believe. It is not true that these men do not believe in political democracy. They not only believe in political democracy. They not only believe in political democracy but they hate the very totalitarian state that they are operating. They believe that the tight and very 329 heavily organized state, with corporate and propogandic power cohesively in the hands of men is a danger to the human race, and they look forward to the time when that state, to use their language, will wither away.

Why, then, have they adopted the totalitarian state? Because they not only believe in the great doctrine which they preach, they believe that capitalism such as we have in America, is by its very nature the enemy of what they seek; that we not only will not help them to do it, but that by the very nature of the motives which guide our capitalis­ tic institutions, we will interfere with their efforts to do it, we will throttle and choke and destroy it everywhere.

And so they have arrived at a theory that their first duty in this world is to arm themselves politically, econo­ mically and militarily against capitalism and they have arrived at the technique of the totalitarian state which they despise, as an absolutely necessary form of military organization to offset the expected onslaughts of capital!

We are growing a tender plant, they say. We cannot risk the loss of it by experimenting with political democracy now, however precious, but we must put all power in the hands of a few men and enable them to wield it just as they wield it in war until we break the backbone of our enemy. They have committed themselves to deceit and sabotage and subver­ sion for the same reason that we do in war time, because they feel that they are dealing with a diabolical enemy that cannot be trusted and to whom they owe no truth. When we catch one of them along with his twenty associates and we bring him up in our cloak rooms and say to him "Look here, now, where are the other nineteen men that were with you," we are surpirsed and outraged that he tells acalm and delib­ erate lie. Why, in telling that calm and deliberate lie he feels that he is engaged in one of the most wholesome and constructive acitvities men can engage in. He asks, "What would you do if you were fighting in Germany and one of the German officers caught you behind the bush and knocked you on the he^d, dragged you into the tent and said to you, "Look here, you low-down American, there are nineteen other men with you. What are their names and where are they? What would you do?" said he. "You would respond and say, "Yes indeed there are nineteen men. John Jones is over there in the ditch, and Peter Salem is over beyond that bush."

"Why, you wouldn't do anything of the kind", said he. "You would stand there quietly and say, nineteen other men, you are utterly mistaken. I was by myself and you are a liar. You saw nineteen other men, of course you did, and we saw them too, but they are your men, and that's the 330 reason I was hiding behind the bush, for fear they would catch me." He believes you only want to know those names in order to embarrass and destroy those who are his comrades, and he proposes to conceal them from you at the risk of his life.

You do not understand what you are dealing with unless you understand you are dealing with a passionate movement of world-wide evangelistic proportions, engaged in what they conceive to be the most fundamentally constructive under­ taking in the world, and that they are dealing with you in a totalitarian way, in a violently aggressive way, in a deceptive and subversive way because they believe that under no circumstances can we be trusted to do anything else but to destroy them and their movement as quickly as possible.

Now don't you see that however effective you are in addressing yourselves to the combatting of that totalitarian­ ism, there violence, their subversion and their deceit, you are only dealing with the frustration of their tactics, that you don't begin to get at the heart of the matter till you address yourselves to the program which they are trying to put over and meet that program with another program big enough and positive enough to overcome it?

Now the next thing we have to do is to acquire some humility in the appraisal of ourselves. We say that we are not only facing a diabolical totalitarian and violent con­ spiracy, but that we of the western powers are the free peoples of the earth, and that humanity, it seems, ought to have sense enough spontaneously to love us, to trust us, and will do so if we only put enough money into the Voice of America and other propoganda instrumentalities to tell them about our virtues. One of the things that we must be grate­ ful to Mahatma Ghandi for was this word of his: "Remember that when you are engaged in a life and death struggle with a powerful enemy, that you are dealing in the first instance, not with that enemy, but with the Eternal God Himself, Who know you. Who knows your strength and your weaknesses, and you will have no power to win unless, with all due humility, you see your own weaknesses the way He see them and move as quickly as possible to do away with those weaknesses in order that you might create the basic conditions under which humanity can trust you."

Now, let us take a look in all humility at these free peoples that we are. Who are they? Britain, France, Bel­ gium. Holland, Spain, Portugal, Germany and the United States. We are indeed the free peoples in the sense that our domestic institutions are the freest and the most flexible institutions on earth, but there isn't a one of us, especially our European allies, who have not been busy during the last 331 two hundred years securing and sustaining his freedom by the political domination, economic exploitation and social humiliation of over half of the human race.

If we look at ourselves in the way that history shows it to us we are probably the most ruthless dominators and exploiters and humiliators of human rights that ever spanned the pages of history. For all of a hundred years now we have had in our hands scientific and technical intelligence, the most creative weapon of economic and political construc­ tiveness that ever came into the hands of men. We have shown what we could do with that weapon by building up the great economic and political structure of the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Japan. But for 200 years, while we have had it in our power to build up likewise and economic and political freedom of India, Africa, China, Malaya, Indo-China and the peoples of the Near East, we not only have not done so but we have used that very power to conquer them in war, to dominate them politically, to exploit their natural resources and their labor, and to segregate and humiliate them upon the land upon which their fathers have died and in the presence of the graves which hold the bodies of their mothers. For over 100 years there have been over a billion human beings who have been seething with indignation against us and training their thoughts to bring them to the place where they might get out from under us and get a taste of freedom before they die.

My friends, this thing goes deeper than Communism. It existed long before Communism came i > ■. existence, and if we were wise we would see that the revolutionary movement which we face in the world today did not use Communism as its first instrumentality, but that the first great revolu­ tion against us was led, not by a man of violence but by a man of religion who used no violence, but who hated and despised the political domination and exploitation, race and color discrimination which the British Empire had done to his people for 200 years on Indian soil and pitted his life in an effort to set his epople free.

Now, here we stand. I won't say anything about our­ selves. Mercy leads me not to do so. But we today are the acknowledged leader of this western bloc, and this western bloc has not yet made up its mind to do away with this system of political domination, economic exploitation and humiliation of the people of Asia and Africa. At this very moment there are over 250 million human beings who are liv­ ing under that system in Africa, in India, in China, in Malaya, andthere is not a single solitary sign that Britain, France, Holland, and the Dutch have an intention and a willingness to give up that system, except at those points 332 where they are vigorously confronted with Communism, and they would give it up as a matter of tactics only.

And we who are the acknowledged leaders of the Western world and who, by our very history, ought to be hopefully looked upon by those people as the Sir Galahad who would cast the scales of history in their favor, we have not accepted the moral responsibility of leadership to call our allies into consultation and get rid of this system.

But we are busy at this very moment, undertaking to confirm and strengthen it in India, in China, in Malaya, and in Africa, where the Communists have not yet come. We are not only letting it stand the way it is, but we have accepted without question the military alliance of the Dutch who, under our very eyes and in this very year, have robbed one of the most wholesome groups of their lands and have announced, in the presence of the United Nations, their pur­ pose to take from southwest Africa three provinces now con­ trolled by the British Empire, and to do the same thing there. And yet, we who are their leaders are using no vigorous power whatsoever to make them change their minds or their institutions.

Our good faith is open to question around the world. In the most important area of human life, where over a billion human beings are seething with a passionage desire to get out from under the humiliating and dominating institutions that control them, we are divided in our minds, we are halfhearted in our action, and we are morally on the defensive in this world.

By the very defect of moral principles we have turned over the initiative to Russia and to Communism.

Now suppose you were Indo-Chinese, wouldn't you be amazed at us? For over 100 years the French have been in Indo-China, dominating them politically; strangling them economically, and humiliating them in the land of their fathers. We haven't ever sat down with the French and demanded that they change that system. And in the defect of leadership on our part, they have turned to the communists and the Communists have given them leaders, they have trained their troops, and given them money, and now it looks as though they can win, and as they are about to win their liberty we rush up to the scene and say, "Dear brothers, what on earth are you getting ready to do? Are you going to throw yourselves into the hands of this diabolical conspiracy under the false notion they can bring you freedom? Why, they aren't free; we are the free people of the world, we have the democratic institutions, we are your friends, we will send 333 you leaders, we will send you ammunition, we will send you bread."

And they look at us in amazement and say, "Brother, where have you been? Why if we'd known you was acomin' we'd have baked a cake."

The very lateness of our presence on the scene indicts the sincerity of our motives; and they will find it almost impossible to believe that what we did not do in 100 years out of purehearted passion for human liberty, we are doing now only as an adjunct and accessory to military power which does not include a wholehearted devotion to their freedom.

Again, I say in spite of all we have said to the con­ trary, we, who have the power to bring the colonical system to an end by the strategic position we occupy in the western world, are indicted before the world not only as making no sincere effort to bring it to an end, but as being divided in our minds about it, half-hearted in our actions on it, and doubtfully to be trusted by those who suffer from it.

When the Congress of the United States met last year, with the recommendation of the President of the United States before it to establish the Fair Employment Practices Act, and with the two major political parties committed to support that legislation, we had a chance to demonstrate in our lab­ oratory which was truly under our control, that we really' believed that the time had come to discontinue the colonial system and establish an economic structure on this earth on which the human being as such would have a chance to make his living and advance to positions of responsibility on the basis of his merits as a man. If w^e had done that as all of us hoped, we would have given a signal to all of the under­ developed and colonial peoples of this world which they would have received with an inspiration that goes to the very depth of human nature; but deceiving ourselves into thinking we were dealing entirely with a domestic issue, we dealt with it half-heartedly as if in spite of all our promises it did not lie anywhere near the center of our insterests; and we turned down ruthless the most precious economic hopes of a minority that time and again had died to preserve our freedom; and in so doing we not only disappointed their hearts but we turned them to the communist thesis that we are not a people to be trusted where the economic security of black and brown and yellow peoples are concerned.

We do not understand the Communist theory at all, un­ less we know that it was predicted that we would do it. They held us to be inherently incapable of doing anything else; and by doing what we did we confirmed them more deeply than 334 ever in the belief that they alone are the apostles of the liberation of the colonial peoples of this earth. And we have not put them into that position by the preponderance of their military powers; we put them there by defeat of moral dignity and by our powerlessness to produce a program that would give hope to the colonial peoples of the world when we had it in our power to do so.

Let's take another look. Last year I was in India. 400 million human beings in India, black, brown and yellow. They stand at the crossroads of human power. If the commun­ ists should win India, they would then have the majority of human right on their side. If we in the west could win India, we could stop the progress of totalitarian and violent power and have on our sides the most intelligent and demo­ cratically convicted leadership in Asia. There is not any­ where in this world a group of men in possession of politcal power who believes more deeply in democracy than Nehru and his associates in the Indian capital. They are the best candidates in Asia to be the friends of the free institutions of the West, if they can only find a way to clasp their hands in that friendhsip that is consistent with their liberty and their self respect. But they are confronted with an impos­ sible economic situation for which we in the West are pri­ marily responsible. They have 300 million people living on the land. The British Empire broke the backbone of their textile industries which support their economy, and instead of doing away with the system by which great blocks of land were laid out at exorbitant rents, the British affirmed it in order to have an easy way to collect taxes. And now these 300 million people living on the land. The British Empire broke the backbone of their textile industries which support their economy, and instead of doing away with the systems by which great blocks of land were laid out at exorbitant rents, the British affirmed it in order to have an easy way to collect taxes. And now these 300 million people living in several hundred thousand villages are living on a production power of 248 rupees per year -$48- 50 per cent of which they pay for taxes and only 50 per cent, 120 rupees, or $24 a year, that they have left to support a family of five.

How in the name of God are the great Nehru and his associates to stay in power and keep that great country in the column of democracy if they are not enabled in some way to make such an appreciable advance in the economic productivity of those peasants that somehow in the next five years will lift them above the poverty line and give them at least a minimum adequate subsistence? 335 Don't you know that he has got to do that and no demo­ cratic philosophical position in the world would ever be able to keep him in power unless he can make that demonstration.

Now there are over a billion people like that in Asia and South America who are living under these same conditions.

The Communists said to them, "Here is what you need, we will come in here and do away with this iniquitous land system and by the way of central power we will reorganize the agricultural structure, we will increase the productivity of the land two or three hundred per cent, we will give the land to the peasants who tend it, and bring to your support the greatest organizing genius in Asia." But along comes the United States and says, "Brothers, don't you do that. We will make a wedding of liberty with you We are your friends and we prove to you that we Ivoe you, we go the Congress of the United States and appropriate $15 million to give you scientific and technical assistance to bring you up into a new economic reorganization."

Do you realize what that means, that a nation which is in such command of scientific and technical and organiza­ tional genius that it has a productive capacity of two hun­ dred billions of dollars a year, would be able to appropriate only $15 million a year for the economic life of a billion people of Asia and South America?

It is so ludicrous it is a wonder we don't get behind closed doors in Chicago and horse-laugh ourselves into non­ existence .

By the very ludicrous preposterousness of that gesture, we yield a moral leadership to Russia and make it impossible for any syetem of life that has a genuine interest in these people to supersede us in their affections and leadership.

It has been hard for me to ask you to look at ourselves that way, but as the little boy said, "That's who we is." And on the notion that on the face of it we are such people that the black and brown and yellow people of Asia, Africa, China and Russia should trust us implicitly is preposterous on the face of it. They have every reason under God's sun to doubt the genuineness of our interest and be afraid of the power we extend.

Now this is the pathway along which humility ought to lead us thinking. Now if you travel along that pathway you come on the real questions vie have to answer. And here are those questions. 336 Do you leaders of the economic life and the political life of America really believe in the unity of the human race? And do you intend to use the enormous productive genius at your disposal to do away with the colonial system and set the people of Asia and Africa economically and politically free, and to deliver them from the segregation and racial discrimination and humiliation which your Euro­ pean allies have thrust upon them for hundreds of years. Do you intend to do that or do you not?

Secondly, do you accept the moral responsibility that goes with your enormous scientific, techincal, organizational and productive genius, to go into the United Nations and lay down a program for the economic reconstruction of this earth in such a way that the working men of the world as well as the working men of Am.erica can have a reasonable expectancy in this generation of overcoming the struggle for existence and being able to feed, clothe and house their children with- killing one another? Or do you intend to use this enormous power to dominate and control the earth and to confirm the subordination and anxiety and bitterness through which your allies have led the world through the last two hundred years?

Now these are the real questions that we have got to answer. Now, we can answer.them now before we fight, and we can answer them after we fight. If we answer them the right way before we fight, we may not have to fight. We may not only not have to fight, but we may setp into the leader­ ship of this world like no other nation since the beginning of history has ever done.

Now, there is something we can learn from Hitler. We can learn even from the devil. There is one thing about the devil that is admirable; he never concealed his basic pur­ poses . The virtue of Hitler is that he faced those real questions and answered them.

"Do you", said the people of Asia and Africa, "intend to use the enormous scientific and technical genius of Ger­ many and her immense organizational power to do away with the colonial system, and under your leadership to set us free?"

Says the eternal God, "You will either answer Me yes, c- I will strip you naked before humanity and I will walk into your temple before your eyes, in spite of your military might, and I will take the candlestick of you leadership in My hands and black it out before your face, clear out of western civilization, and I will plant that light in Asia, to your everlasting shame and humiliation." 337 Do you hear me? Don't you see that there is no military power that can decide the issue that you are facing?

Now, I have a program. Once again I clain only the hearing you would get from a stone. That is what I think we have got to do; this is the only pathway that we can walk. It is a costly pathway, it is a dangerous pathway, it is a dreadful pathway. And because we are so late to choose it, even then we may not make it. And I am. so glad that I am talking to the one organization in America that is prepared to hear me.

No. 1; We Americans have got to accept completely the responsibility of the leadership of the Western powers and take upon ourselves willingly all the liabilities that go with the grievous mistakes which they have made and the hatred which they have inherited because of the way they have treated the great majority of the human race; and we have got to begin with a great act of expiation. We have to call Britain and France, the Dutch and the Boers, and our southern brothers, all in the same room and say to them; "Bretheren, this is a life and death matter. We people in the West cannot gain the trustful confidence of mankind, that we need, while we continue to operate the colonial system in Africa, Indo-China, in Malaya, in Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama, the way we are doing. We have got to give it up for the sake of the people who are hurt by it. We have to give it up for the sake of that billion people who have been hurt by it, and who are now out from under it, but who cannot trust us as long as they see we continue to maintain it.

"And so I want you all to retire into the committee room and bring me back a program beginning with the declara­ tion of our prupose to give it up entirely, and I want you to say in that program that you give it up not only for the sake of the people who suffer by it and have suffered by it, but as an evidence of our good faith that we people in the west no longer wnat to base our economic security on the domination an exploitation and humiliation of any group of men on earth, because we have confidence in our power to make our way in the world without doing that, and we are determined to start it now.

"Now only do we want you to bring us the declaration, but bring up the program and date, and I want to take it into the United Nations and say. "we want you to vote the accept­ ance of this program and then take it away from us and execute it yourselves."

Now that is only preliminary. If we think there is any possibility on God's earth for us to lead this world in the 338 way our genius prepares us to lead it, without doing that, we are liging under illusion about human nature and the structure of the universe.

Hitler said, "Hell no." "The very asking of that ques­ tion," he said, "reveals to me for the first time the untenable mercilessness and absolute unbelievability of all this Christian and democratic doctrine. The very notion itself comes out of the bosom of the Jews, people who for all their life have been trying to hang on to and suckle at the breasts of the rest of humanity. I don't believe in it, I have no intention of doing it; I have the intention of doing the opposite, so help me God."

"Do you", said the underdeveloped peoples of the earth, "intend to use the organizational and technical genius of Germany to build up an economical structure in this world which will finally enable all peoples of the earth, black and brown and yellow and white, to overcome the struggle for existence and live in amity, one to another, because it is no longer necessary to take bread from one another's mouth?"

And Hitler was honest; he said, "Hell, no; there is not enough on this earth to go around. In making the original distribution of human life and organic resources, God fell sort on organic resources, and he fell short on good blood. The little good blood he had he put it into the good Ger­ mans, and about nine-tenths of what he had left over he put in the British. All the rest of the human race differ from one naother only in the degree of their inferiority. It is the duty of those who have, those who have the good blood, to take what they need for their own salvation and strength, and put the rest of mankind in its place."

You know what happened. Mankind could not swallow it. It vomited the notion from the depths of its soul, and they set upon him with a unanimity of vigor unparalleled in the history of humankind, because it could not endure the possibility the world should be so organized.

But have we answered the question? We have not. And yet of all the nations in this world no one has been prepared by the eternal God to answer that question yes but us. The Communists say, yes, but they have only the will and only the evangelistic energy; they do not have the plethora of scientific intelligence and productive power and organiza­ tional genius and reserve capital. We alone in the whole course of history have been prepared by the eternal God with all the genius and the power to answer that question yes. 339 And I tell you that the man we have met at the cross­ roads of history, and who is making that question to us, is not in the first instance the people of Asia and Africa, or the people of Russia, but the eternal God Himself.

Says God. "VThy did I bring you up from being the scum of the earth and outcasts of Europe, despised and rejected to make you the most resourceful intelligent and great organizing genius of the human race, with reserve capital unparalleled in the human race? Do you think I have brought you to such a place that by order of the use of this power you would seize and control and dominate and inhibit and choke vast numbers of men who like yourselves and hungering for the liberty and security you have, and have just as much right to it as you have, because they are my sons?"

Now in the second place we have got to do this, - and this is the great thing - I am so little it may choke me when I try to get it out of my mouth. We have got to go to the United Nations with the voice of a country that has a two hundred and fifty billion dollar productive genius, and we have got to say to the people of the United Nations, "Bretheren, the time has come when this earth is so small and we are all so indissolubly related one to another, and dependent upon one another, that any solution of the economic problems of life short of a world-wide solution cannot pos­ sibly be adequate. We therefore propose that this body appoint a commisison of from 40 to 100 of the leading scien­ tific and technical and organizational experts of the world to attack the problem of human subsistence on a world-wide scale, with the determination to discover and work out a program for relieving the struggle for existence and within this generation to bring bread, clothing, housing, health and educational opportunity to every human family. We don't want you to go out to answer the question whether it can be done. We direct you to do it. We cannot receive a negative answer. We cannot believe in our God and in the fundamental ethics of our civilization in the precense of anything but a yes answer.

"We want you to bring us a yes answer and a program lasting not more than forty years, laid out in 5-year stages, that shall implement the doing of it."

Now we want this committee to be chosen from all the human beings on earth. We want ourselves and our allies to be on there; we want the Russians to be on there, the Africans and Indians, and Chinese and Malayans, and we wnat the Japanese and Germans on there. And we want them to help make the program and we want you to tell us how by use of this magnificent world-wide instrumentality we may get that thing 340 done. î^nd after conferring with my colleagues in Britain and France and Italy and Belgium and Spain, I pledge your support of this program in an amount equal to one-tenth of the productive power of the United States of America.

That is the one thing in this world that the world hungers for with all its heart, and that the Russians say we are incapable of doing.

We are the only nation in the world prepared to do it. We could do it with one-tenth of our productive power with­ out diminishing a single dollar of expenditure for military defense, and even if altogether it took one third of our pro­ ductive power we would still have sufficient reserve in accumulated national resouces, scientific, technical and organizational genius, not to be injured in the fundamental, free structure of our life while we did it. If ever a people were born and developed by God for such an hour, we were brought to history for such a time as this.

Such a program would stagger the hearts and elicit the affections at once of over two-thirds of the human race. We would fill the people of Asia and Africe with such hope as has never been in their bosoms since the foundation of the earth. We would run alongside of Communism and reach into the central heart of her most sacred pocketbook and take away the effectiveness of her program, and by the superiority of our scientific and technical genius become the instant leaders in the world in doing the very thing they profess to do but what they are incapable of doing because they are committed to totalitariansim. And we would precipitate among them such a division of mind that they would be stricken with agony.

But it is dangerous; it may be too late; but it is the thing for which we were born. It owuld be better to lose all we have and to go down into oblivion trying it and fialing than, seeing it as I hope I have made you see it at this hour, to turn our faces away from it.

Now, it would be a dangerous program, it would cut into our luxuries, it would cut down perhaps on the number of our automobiles. Maybe we could get away by just cutting down on the size. It would make us strip ourselves to a minimum of luxury, and maybe to the very bone of subsistence, but it would inspire us to the bottom of our souls with the conviction that God had chosen us from the foundation of the world to come into this hour in order that we might lead an agonized human race along the only pathway it can travel to liberty. 341 I say we have got to do it, and I say it is no acces­ sory to our military program. I say our military program is only a fence-building operation to protect the delicacy of our hotbeds and the youth of our plants until they are strong enough to take the fence down. The main business of life is to grow the tender plant of the brotherhood of man, based upon security, in bread, clothing and housing, the thing that God by our history has given us the genius to do beyond any other peole who ever lived on this earth.

And if we don't do it He will take away our candlestick with a broken heart, because it was for this hour that he brought us into this world, and selecting us from all the areas of the human race that have suffered from exploitation and humiliation, so that we understand by experience what is in the heart of all those who suffer. He is saying to us today, "America, you are My son; I have loved you from the foundation of the world, and this is the hour for which I have brought you forth. Don't be afraid. My boy; walk on out, and I will be with you to support you and sustain you. There is no suffering that comes upon you that I will not make you able to bear; and I will make the whole human race to come to trust you and love you, and there will be no place on this earth where your faces will not be welcome, because men will know that at last you are My son." (Applause) SPEECH TO THE ATLANTIC CONGRESS

BY

Dr. Mordecai W. Johnson

President of Howard University of Washington D.C., U.S.A.

Secondary Plenary Session, London, England

Saturday, June 6th, 1959

Your Lordship, Mr, President, distinguished members of the NATO Congress : I am glad beyond measure to be here and to speak to you on behalf of the Fourth Committee, which has to do with the relationship between the NATO countries, the Atlantic Community, and the underdeveloped peoples.

I suppose one of the reasons you have been so kindly constrained to invite me is because I am one of those under­ developed peoples (Laughter) and you would like to hear about the world from the way it looks down under. I am indeed from among the under-developed peoples; I am the child of a slave. My father was a slave for twenty-five years before the emancipation; my mother was botn in slavery; I have lived practically all my life on the territory of former slave states, so when you hear me talk you are dealing with the real underdeveloped thing.

Yet I have early in my life come into contact with what I conceive to be the noblest and best elements in the Western World, namely those Christian educational missionaries who founded the first colleges and universities for Negroes, I am today working in a university founded by them on the basis of principles which are precious to the Western World, for when these men founded Howard University, they put it on the cornerstone of the inherent dignity and immeasurable possi­ bilities of the human individual as such, and they enrolled slaves and the children of slaves with their own sons and daughters without hesitation and without fear, being confi­ dent that on that campus they would be able to bring them all to maturity, to responsibility and democratic and Christian creativity. I am indebted to those men for the development of my powers, for teaching me how to live freely from the deepest inclinations of my being, and for giving me the

342 343 power to give my life away freely for causes that I love. So you are not only listening to the child of a slave who can give you authentic words from down under. You give heed at this moment to one who knows the deepest and purest tra­ ditions of the Western World, who loves those traditions, who reveres the men who handed them to him, and who loves the community of people out of whom they have come.

Now I am very tired. It has been a struggle for me to stay here, but I have a message for you; I have had it in my heart for a long time. But when a man is tired he may speak poorly, when he finds merely that his words are inade­ quate to say well what he wants to say. Please keep in mind that I speak with the highest esteem for the members of the Atlantic Community, and that whatever I say is intended, as my father used to say when he preached, to stir up your pure minds in order that the cause that is precious to you may come to victory on the highest level.

As I read all the papers that have come into my section, I find that they are all certain that the second phase of the war between the Atlantic Community and the Soviet Union has already begun, and that is the economic phase. I have always looked upon the economic purposes of the Soviet Union as their primary purposes, so that in my humble judgement we are just now beginning to confront the central and most powerful purposes of the Soviet Union and her allies. In my humble.opinion there is no appraisal of what is going to come to us better than can be found in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew in which it says "And at midnight there was a cry made, 'The bridegroom is at hand, go ye out to meet him' ". I have a feeling the bridegroom of our western civilization is at hand, and that we are now at the parting of the ways; that when we meet this economic offensive we are going to meet the most powerful opposition of ideas, the most vigorously intelligent handling of the economic and spiritual factors of life in a revolutionary way that any group of people in the world has faced and we are going either to adjust ourselves to meet that onslaught of idea- power and economic organizational power with a vigorous readjustment of our lives, or we are going down and possibly lose any power to control the trend of history for years to come. But if we do meet it bodily, realizing from the beginning that it will involve the use of all our powers to the maximum extent- we may be able to pursue a course of action which will not only lead to victory but which will lift our democratic life to a higher level of functioning than we have ever known before, and give us a radiant power over the lives and affections of men around this world, such as we have not had in five hundred years. 344 Now if this is going to happen to us, I think we need to do two things which are somewhat uncongenial to us. We have got to go back and make a reestimate of our enemy, and we have got to acquire some humility in the appraisal of ourselves. Up to this time we have been looking at the military side of our enemy, his totalitarian organization and his aggressive subversion and we have been filled with disgust and fear, and we have been facing him primarily with military organization, cohesive and powerful economic organi­ zation. We have rather paid little or no attention to the central focus of what he is about in this world. Now we have got to look at that central focus, and if we are wise I think we will not allow our emotions of revulsion to prevent us from appraising him on the level represented by his high­ est and most intelligent and pure-hearted devotee. It is a great mistake to appraise any movement like the movement represented by the Soviet Union and the Chinese people by continually listing their faults. God has never yet been able to choose a faultless movement for the projection of His powerful purposes. One purehearted man at the head of a thousand men, fifty percent of whom are full of faults, is able by the inspiration of his purity of heart, his moral power, to keep them in cohesive union, to bring to their assistance forces that are primarily selfish in nature, and to bring about a change in human affairs that could not be calculated beforehand.

We must try to take a look at the Soviet Union through the eyes of their purest, most devoted and honourable men. When you do that you will see that at the central part of the Communist movement there is a simple and great faith. It is a faith that, with the scientific and technical intel­ ligence which we have at our disposal in the modern world, if we put it in the hands of the right men, the struggle for existence in this world could be overcome in a world-wide way and that poverty, squalor and ignorance, disease and early death could be conquered and the foundation laid for a great society in which culture would be available to all human beings.

These men believe this with a passion that is not exceeded by any movement in the world except early Christian­ ity. They are all responding to it every day and every hour with an enthusiasm which is nothing short of remarkable. On the ground of Russia and on Chinese soil they are making achievements of one kind or another which have astonished us, and they are preaching it now around the world with an evangelistic enthusiasm that is immense. This message that they have is very fittingly addressed to the underdeveloped peoples of the world of whom there are one billion, two hundred million, all of whom have a scale of living which is 345 under a hundred dollars per capita per year, all of whom are living in a primarily agricultural civilization, and a very poor type of agriculture at that, all of whom are living in countries in which there is very little industry to supple­ ment agriculture, all of whom are impoverished in the field of scientific and technical intellignece, and to most of whom it makes no difference how much money you would give them, they would have no governmental personnel prepared to make a wise and well-coordinated use of scientific and technical plans and projection.

The Soviet Union is saying to these people, "Here we come to you from among those who like yourself have suffered. We have come not to make you strong and powerful so you could dominate, exploit and humiliate your fellows, we have come to show you how to treble and quadruple your agricultural pro­ duction, to supplement your agriculture with the industries which we will show you how to establish, to lend you scienti­ fic and technical personnel, to sit dovm and talk with you about plans for the further development of your country, to lend you money at rates so low that you will see in an unequivocally clear manner that we are not trying to make a profit on you, and we are prepared to devote ourselves to this task for months and years solely because we believe there is in you the power to conquer the struggle for exis­ tence in your country, and we want to have the joy of seeing you do that.

If we do not see that in them we shall have no power to deal with them because it is there. It is there. In pursuit of that purpose they are prepared to enter into a pure- hearted relationship with the people of Asia and Africa. Now, what do I mean by that? In spite of the fact that they do not have any metaphysics akin to our religion, they have something that is very important, they have radical universal ethics in their relationship to the Black and Brown and Yellow peoples of the world. They have said in their literature- do not misunderstand this- "Me take our position quite contrary to the Second International. We are not out to organize the White working people of the world. We are out to organize the working people of the world and we say it to our workers everywhere, in Africa, in Asia and in the homelands of the colonial powers "Make solidarity with workers, Pay no attention to their national origin. We want to unite the workers of the world for a great society in which the struggle for existence is conquered, and all are led to a new freedom on the basis of that conquest."

Now they stand on a territory that constitues one-fourth of the landed areas of this world, and they have now estab­ lished themselves in a place where they know that we no longer have the military power to dislodge them. 346 800,000,000 of these 1,200,000,000 (1 billion 200 million) people that are underdeveloped are on the border of the Soviet Union and of China, so close that they have to cross no water to reach them, they can also touch their hands any time of day, and they, can speak to them without a long­ distance telephone.

But all these 800 million people are Black and Brown and Yellow Asiatics who in times past have suffered at the hands of the peoples whom we represent, and who have some fear of us. They look at what the Soviet Union and the Chinese people have done by their faith, with admiration and they are proud to believe that if they could have the right kind of relationship with any group of people in this world they themselves could do that.

We are up against an immense antagonist. How many of these people does he have to win? Why, if he won India alone he would all but tip the sclaes of the majority population of the Human race and in a few months after that might turn the tables on us and put us in the minority of the world. We are up against a great antagonist with a great passion, with an immense achievement as a result of that passion, and with a profound faith that he is getting ready to turn the corner which leads to our graveyard. No, which leads to the graveyard and to the grave which we are digging for our­ selves. He belives that.

In the second place we are still wounded, we are divi­ ded in our minds today by moral habits descended from the colonial system which we have not yet been able to overcome. We present an equivocal picture in what we are doing now. The under developed peoples of the world have only to look at Africe to see how divided our minds are. On the one hand we see the noble British one by one freeing their peoples from the colonial yoke, freeing them deliberately, supporting them in their freedom, and inviting them in their freedom to come back to your mother country which is now for you no longer an empire but a commonwealth. Every now and then we see the noble French rise with a passionate gesture and say to their peoples, "Are we holding you? Then be free." and then under their breath they say in prayer, "But do come back, we want you to be with us." The other day we saw a declara­ tion from the Belgians saying "This pathway of freedom is what we intend to pursue. Our plans are in the making and will be ready." But you look at Africa, it is magnificent to see that 70 million of the people have been freed under these circumstances by members of this organization. But there are 110 millions of Africans who are neither free nor under man­ date, still dominated poliitcally, still having their natural resources exploited, not for their own good but for the good of those who exploit. We see on the shores of Africa 347 instances of the most deliberate and cruel segregation and discrimination of the inhabitants of the country on the land of thier fathers and in the presence of the graves of their mothers. Nobody can look at Africa without knowing that we are divided in our minds and that we have not been able to summon either the political power or the moral power to over­ come that division. Though the God of our fathers has vetoed the Colonial system and closed the open gates of the world against it we are still reluctant to turn it loose, and we may yet shame ourselves by admitting one more venture to reopen those gates.

May I say to you again, we have as yet been able to put no great world-encircling concept in the place of the colonial system to which we have been devoted for some 500 years and which is now fallen. What greater idea do we have not of a world-encircling nature that we can offer these under­ developed peoples of Asia and Africa, of which they can be members just as we are, in which they can be respected just as we, they can move freely out of their own spontaneous enthusiasm just as we? I suggest to you that we do not yet have one. There are no great words coming from us today regarding that city that hath foundations that was made for the whole human race of one blood; and because we do not have it we are in some difficulty in approaching these Asiatics and Africans.

I have sat often in these meetings when we talk about what we want to do for them economically, and I have sat for a whole hour and heard us talk tactics, heard us talk self- interest, heard us saying that we must do these things in order to protect ourselves without one word of pure-hearted love for these people, without one single intimation that we are moved by a sense of obligation to do these things for them because it is a great thing to be in a position to create freedom in this world.

When those early White men came to the place where I was to be educated they came to ask nothing, nothing. They looked at me when my trousers were not pressed and my face was not clean, and said, "Mr. Johnson will you read?" They knew I was no mister, but they knew that I could be, and they came there for only one purpose for the joy that was set before them in making a man out of me and turning me loose in the world. I tell you that one of the great, great differences in our preparation is that we seem to have lost the power to speak to these Asiatics and Africans that way; and so our program of economic helpfulness is an adjunct and a servant to our military activities. We talk about it that way in our congresses and in cur parliaments. We say to our people. "Why are we asking you for 3 billion dollars, why? Because we have got to have it to defend ourselves, to take care of our 348 self-interest.” If we ask for a little more money in addi­ tion to that, attached hereto, we say "Of course we cannot give all our money for that purpose, we have got to have a benevolent margin which we give away simply because they need it." I will tell you that up until this date the greater portion of all that we are now devoting to the people of Africa and Asia in economic help, even as an adjunct and accessory to the military, in the field of benevolence that is not beyond condescension. There is yet no substantial sum of money, and no substantial program developed for them purely out of the motive to make them free from the struggle of existence and to give them a chance to be men.

Let me say again - I told you you must watch me and bear with me - only those who love greatly can talk this way. I say to you that as I look at this great economic program it seems to me to be on the periphery of our interest, almost an afterthought, it has never sat in the chair directly in front of us and grasped the central focus of our hearts. We have a great military program which represents the greatest power of provision, planning and co-ordination that we are capable of. In the Marshall Plan and other great projects we have had great programs of development protective of and stimula­ tive of each other, which is one cause for admiration among men. But our program of economic helpfulness is a puny vein and comes into our minds as an afterthought, never having received prolonged thought from us, prolonged affection and robust attention. Moreover— I am trying to be hard, and my purpose is as my father use to say, to stir up your pure minds— that program is dependent today too largely upon little droplets of annual appropriations which expire on June 30th, and which no sensible and thoughtful man with great purpose in his heart can make plans about. I am at a univer­ sity, and no sooner do I get my appropriation for 1960 than they call me immediately for 1961 and maybe 1962, and it is hard to plan money in that short range. Sometimes we get money for professors for one year and we cannot use it because it is too late to use it. And yet we are trying to build up the economy of nearly half the human race from droplets of annual appropriations which expire on June 30th and which permit no planning and give no index that we have any purpose to devote ourselves to this objective in and unequivocal manner beyond one year.

Again, there is no central organization in existence of our making which plans to use and to co-ordinate all the economic powers that we have for this purpose and see to it that they work. I tell you, Ladies and gentlemen, we are going into a fight of a determinative lifetime and we are not prepared. We are not prepared. We are not morally prepared. We are not purely prepared in our hearts in their orientation 349 towards the thing that we want to do for these people. We are not committing ourselves to any long-range purpose when we know it will take years and years to develop the economics of these people. We have no great central organization for talking with them, for listening to their ideas, exchanging ideas with them, for approach in cooperation with them, for applying a fit measure to them.

It is hard for me to say these things to those that I love, but it is so and it points to a weakness so great that God Himself, who loves you must weep when looks at it for feat that, walking so boldly and in such a self-congratulatory manner into the battle of your life-time, you may fail and ruin the whole thing that He has loved you for from the foun­ dation of the world.

Now if the Chairman will bear with me for a minute, I will say swiftly what I think we have got to do. The first thing we have got to do is not economic, it is religious. The first step we must take is to put the colonial system behind us in our minds and renew our allegiance to the Christian world view, regarding the nature of human nature and the possibilities of human nature and the possibilities of a free human society in this world, based on these con­ siderations. The British know what I mean, you great French­ men who pioneered the illumination know what I mean, you great Germans who mediated upon Socialism long before the idea was born among the Russians, you know what I mean. I mean the thing that Abraham Lincoln meant when he said "government of the people, for the people and by the people, dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, all men.” And he said, "I have never had a political idea in my life that was not based upon this great proposition, and when I read that proposition I not only see the slaves set free but I see the last tyranny lifted from the back of the last man."

The world is in front of our eyes, with just a few hours away from the children of any people on earth. Our mission­ aries and our scientists tell us that every child in this world who is normal shares with us the essential dignity and higher possibilities of human life that are immeasurable. Now look this world in the face. We are either going to dedicate ourselves to serve that world, on the conviction that all men are created equal, or else we are going to turn our faces away and morally die and deserve to die because, having seen the God that we have seen and turned our faces away, it is better that we have not been born.

The next thing we have got to do and we shall need the help of God to do it and the help of each other, we have got to give our consent to the Eternal's veto on the colonial 350 system and turn all the strength of these Atlantic powers to the liquidation of the remaining remnants of the colonial system in Africa. We have got to listen to the cries of these 110 million Black Africans who are crying out against political domination, economic exploitation, segregation and humiliation as if we are listening to the words of our own children, and we have got to say to them, as we have never said, "I tell you my son this is Britain who hears you, and I'm coming and I am going to do what you want to be done, so help me God as if I were performing a great act of expiation before God and making a demonstration before the whole world of the purity of my purposes towards you." We have got that to do and if we think that it is at all possible for us to influence the people of Asia in the way that we need to influence them without doing this, we mistake human nature and the order of this universe.

In the third place we must accept the moral responsi­ bility towards the people of Asia that is indissolubly con­ nected with the enormous scientific and technical knowledge, organizational resources and constructive powers that we have, and we have got to go to them with a pure heart and say, "We have come to you not to offer you aid for the sake of your military helpfulness, not to hand you economic assistance as peole put a halter on a bag of oats on a mule's mouth in order that while you are eating the oats, we may lead you along a pathway to take up a load which otherwise, of your own free will, you would not take, but to offer men this pro­ gram purely in order that they may conquer the struggle for existence in their territory in the way we are conquering it, and in order that they may be members with us of that great society which we have in our hearts and which we intend shall cover this world."

We ought in the next place to take this whole business out of the range of benevolence, put it before us not as an accessory to our military program but as the greatest of all programs in itself— listen to me— for which the military program big as it is, is only a fence-building and protecting operation, to handle the program in the central focus of our being, to accept it as an obligation not to be done with our cigar money or with out chewing gum money nor our cigarette money, but to be done if necessary, with our very blood because we cannot live in our hearts and see them suffer impoverishment the way they suffer and hold what we have and eat the bread we have in peace. We must cease to think of little benevolent annual drops of money. We are the greatest producers of scientific and technical intelligence in the world, of the most diversified and technical intelligence; we know more about the multiplication of agricultural pro­ ducts than any group of people in the world. We know more 351 about building up great dairy herds and pure milk supplies than any group of people in the world. We know more about lending money, borrowing money, the effective use of money. We know more about trade and all these things have to do with the building up of a great economic order.

This thing that I am talking about calls upon us to use all of these things in a coordinated fashion to an end which we determine to do or die if we do not do it. If we will do that we have got to have an organization to do it with. I do not know enough to tell you what organization to use. I can tell you what kind it has got to be. It has got to be akin to this great military organization that spoke to us this morning; it has got to be led by minds that understand economic procedures through and through; it has got to be as diversified as the peoples of the world to which we go; it has got to be a planning organization that can send a team of men into any country and help them in a few days to find the natural resources there, the soil there, the possibilities of development there, and come back with a program that they have talked over with the people; and men who after they have got that program know what scientists and technicians to choose, what administrative organizers to choose, and send them there and keep them there until the work is done.

I see we have used up nearly all my time, and I have got to quit reluctantly. This is going to cost you something. It is going to cost us as much as one tenth of all the pro­ ductive power in the Western World. It may even come to the place where it costs us the necessity to recoil from our high standard of living substantially in order that the money thus sacrificed may by put into this program-pulling back our standard of living in order that we may lift the standard of life all over this world, and deserve the grati­ tude of the men who are looking to us for leadership.

I tell you that this is the program for which we were born into the world. It is as if God were standing before us today saying to you, "My sons, this is what I brought you into the world for. Don't be afraid. Go on and do it for me. Nothing that you suffer will be too great. I'll give you the power to bear it, and I will make your name loved and respected and honored all over this world." If we do it we will entirely trnasform the relations that have existed between us and the peoples of Africa and Asia for nearly five hundred years. We will give them hope such as they have never had in all these years and they will know that it came from us because we loved them. It will infuse our democratic institutions with a new and radiant life and put them upon a higher lever than they have ever been in all their lifetime. 352 and it will place us in a position where we can look at the Communists and say to them, "Khruschev, you miscalculated. You thought that we were normally incapable of this, and therefore you had to decieve us. Now, let us sit down and talk. What you say you want to do for this world, can’t you see that I am doing it with freedom and flexibility and listening to the will of the people? Turn away from your methods my son. Come with your brethren in the Christian world who are your brothers indeed, and let us do these things together."

Now you will forgive me will you not, for taking the chairman's time, but I had a message for you that was so big that a stone would have burst unless I got it out of my system. Hear me now, for even in these times men like you ought to listen to a stone. Address to Howard Community, Sunday Morning Chapel Service, Walter Rankin Chapel, Sunday, October 25, 1964, 11:00 a.m.. Dr. Mordecai Wyatt Johnson

Romans the twelfth chapter and the second verse (Romans 12:2): "Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that you may prove what is the will of God what is good and acceptable and perfect." This is an old favorite passage of mine. Everytime we get a hold of a new translation of the Mew Testament, it makes it come back fresh again and I would like to read that whole chapter to you out of the new translation of the New Testament which has come to us from the British Church. "And therefore my brethren I implore you by God's mercy to offer your very selves to Him, a living sacrifice dedicated and fit for His acceptance, and a worhsip offered by mind and heart. Adapt yourselves no longer to the pattern of this present world but let your minds be remade and your whole nature thus trans­ formed, then you will be able to discern the will of God. And to know what is good, acceptable and perfect. I am not sure of the gift that God in His grace has given me, I say to everyone among you, do not be conceited or think too highly of yoursleves but think your say to a sober estimate based upon the measure of faith that God has dealt to each of you.■ For just as in a single human body there are many limbs and organs all with different functions so are all of us united with Christ from one body, serving individually as limbs and organs to one another. The gifts we possess differ as they are alotted to us by God's grace and must be exercised ac­ cordingly. The gift of inspired utterance, for example, in proportion to a man's faith or the gift of administration in administration. A teacher should employ his gift in teaching and the one who has the gift of stirring speech should use it to stir his hearers. If you give to charity, give with all your heart. If you are a leader, exert yourself to lead. If you are helping others in distress, do it cheerfully. Love in all sincerity. Loath the evil and cling to the good. Let love for our brotherhood breath warmth of mutual affection. Give pride of place to one another in esteem, with unflagging energy in awesomeness of spirit serve the Lord. Let hope keep you joyful. In trouble, stand firm, persist in prayer. Con­ tribute to the needs of God's people, practice hospitality. Call down blessings on your persecutors; blessings not curses. With the joyful be joyful and mourn with the mourners. Have equal regard for one another, do not be haughty but go about

353 354 with humble folk. Do not keep thinking how wise you are. Never pay back evil for evil.. Let your aims be such as all men count honorable if possible so far as it lies with you live at peace with all men. My dear friends, do not seek revenge but leave a place for divine retribution. For there is a text which reads, 'Justice is mine saith the Lord, I will repay.' But there is another text, 'If your enemy's hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink. By doing this you will heap coals of fire on his head. Do not let evil conquer you but use good to defeat evil. ' "

That's very refreshing for me to read. And it is very refreshing for me to be here in this chapel. I am now nearly 76 years of age and over forty of those years I've been preaching from this pulpit. Long before I became president of the University, I used to speak here on every day of prayer for more than five years. Then I spoke here for 34 years as president and the Deans of the Chapel since that time for five years have had me to come. So put it all together I have been preaching here for 44 years. Now that is a remarkable experience for me to think of the number of generations of Howard people that I've had the privilege of meeting in this place. But, I'll tell you something. I've never met a choir in this place that outdid this choir in any respect whatso­ ever. And I'm so glad that you invited me here on the day when the choir was to sing. I think the leader of this choir is one of the incomparable men of genius in the teaching of great music to young people. And the choirs that he teaches are among the great singers in the world. A director of the Washington Symphony says, that this choir, which sings for him nearly every year, is in his judgment the greatest choir in the United States, regardless of age, or race, or color. He thinks they are the most beautiful and competent and en­ joyable singers in a choir in American anywhere. Now that's a wonderful thing to say, but I'm no musician but I can tell you this; it's a wonderful privilege to be able to preach after the choir has already stirred up the pure minds of the congregation.

Now I am going to give you from a book nearly two thou­ sand years old a very good prescription as to how to get a first class university education. "Be not conformed unto this world." That's the first thing not to do. "Be not conformed unto this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your minds." That's the second thing. "In order that you may prove," tell you why you do all this, "That you may prove for yourself what is that's good and that's acceptable and the perfect will of God." He's telling you don't have but one life to live; if you'll try to conform to the world that is already in existence and be ready with all the deeds and things that it will give you, that's where you will end 355 up and you will condemn yourself when you get through, be­ cause you've found out nothing. "For this world passeth away."

It wasn't here. When I first began to preach, it wasn't here at all. This United States of America and this world that we're now living in was not here at all. It was in can­ didacy. A few men of genius saw it coming, but those who just spent their time meeting all the dates and doing all the things that were in vogue at that time missed the boat. As this world began to come in their significance began to pass away. There's another text which says, "Love not the world nor the things that are in the world for this world passeth away." And this chapel that you're in was not made by people who tried to keep up with the world as it was. When this university was founded, this city this whole city had just ceased to be a citadel of slavery. The worst decisions af­ fecting the dignity and high possibilities of human life in colored people had been made from a very supreme court that sits right up over there. The President and the Congress had for many decades been entirely under the control of the slave oligarchy in the United States and segregation in ed­ ucation and religion had already begun here. A university for colored people to attain wasn't thought of. The univer­ sities that were here, weren't for colored people. And in the whole area covered by the slave states, there was no state which undertook to build a university where Negro children could meet the great minds of the world and learn how to think for themselves and to plan and carry out their careers on the highest level of human existence. In the whole area, including this city, education for colored people . . they either stopped at the sixth grade or what you got after that wasn't worth having, because none of it would fit you to enter any existing university of disctinc- tion. In the little town where I lived the sixth grade v;as as far as we were permitted to go. . . And when I wanted to go to school further than that, I was thirteen years of age and my mother had to send me away 117 miles at a so-called university where I entered the 7th grade (laugh). There was no such provisions as these under the states for the children of slaves, because it was not conceived that they were a people who were intended by their very nature to stand in need of any such education. The people sat down and specu­ lated not only with regard to our incompetence to think on the university level but if we started to think on that level what would we do with it, because we didn't know how to do anything much except what we had been taught as slaves. But the people who planted this institutuion therefore had to have done some thinking for themselves. As you moved about in this city here, from university to university or high school to high school or church to church, you would not have learned anything that would have led you to believe that this 356 institution would come into existence or any such institute as this would come into existence. And we can put our finger on the very day when there was one place in this city where a group of people began to think that way. They came to do it in the prayer meeting of First Congregational Church which stands down here on the corner . . . And it was by no means as such a good looking church as it is now. It was a relative­ ly insignificant little New England church but they began to think seriously there about the needs of education for the children of slaves and they decided that the education that the children of slaves needed was the same kind of education that any human being any where needed. And that he needed everything that the university had to offer. And he needed to have opened up in his mind every pathway of thought, every pathway of advancement that any human being could have in the world.

You are the inheritors of that radically different way of thinking that took place in this little town. It was a little town at the time— not the capitol of the free world. Not the capitol of a society with over six hundred million dollars per year of productive power. Not the nation which has the most powerful Army, Navy and Air Force. Just a little one-horse country, as it was that had been dragged down for a hundred or more years by the slave system. These people hadn't been dragged down to the level of conforming to the world. They didn't conform to the habits of the churches in this town. They didn't conform to the habits of thought that was in the Congress. They didn't conform to habit of thought that was in the presidency. They looked way back and renewed their minds by reflection on the nature and possibil­ ities of human nature as they-saw in Jesus of Nazareth and they decided that the children of slaves were the children of God and no man could tell what they might be if they had teachers who respected the dignity and high possibilities of their personalities and gave them the kind of teaching that would give them a great vision of the possibilities of their own lives. The possibility of their lives with their own people and the possibilities of a country which having thrown the slave system aside, was on its way to becoming a community of brothers with profound respect for each other and profound and thoughtful helpfulness to each other in a thousand ways.

Ninety-nine people came on this year. You didn't come up’here to teach by the way you cut your hair. You don't have to have any hair at all (laughter). You didn't come up here to pass an examination as to whether you could twist as many different ways by as many different rags as the people who are present. As much of their life as you may take to legitimately maybe by being there. But you came here to a place which from the beginning was habituated to encourJgJ young people of the lowest life status to think on the high­ est level that the human mind was capable of and to plan their lives on that basis. They didn't establish a colored university— there wasn't such a thing. You speak to many people who would like to dispose of this institutuion mentally— speak of its as a Negro's institution. It never was. These people started out by putting their own children in here. They put their daughters and their sons in here. With the daughters and sons of slaves and some of their students were slaves and they weren't as scared about what was going to happen to their daughters and sons because they knew that the atmosphere that they were going to establish here by what they taught, would breed a quality of heirs that would evoke the highest out of anybody who attended here and would establish and maintain a society that respected itself and commanded respect from all those who came to know it. It excited some­ thing also you young women might well think over. They de­ cided also this wasn't going to be a men's school. They didn't believe in higher education for men only. They decided that whatsoever they were going to teach men here they were going to teach the same thing to women. Because men and wo­ men were made out of the same human nature, had the same high possibilities and had every pathway of life open to them. And they were not only going to let women in every division of the university including medicine, dentistry, law and religion, but they were going to put women on the faculty in every division where they were capable of teaching. This is one of the first places in the United states where women were received in the School of Medicine.

One day when I was sitting in my office a distinguished doctor in this town— a woman doctor who came to this school, oh, 75 years ago from Germany. Came here and said, "Dr. John­ son you know me my name is Dr. so-and-so, I came in here to give you the first six thousand dollars towards what I hope will be approximately forty-two thousand dollas before I get through and I want that to be used as a scholarship in med­ icine for one or two women every year in remembrance of what this University did for me when no other medical school in the United States would receive me. I came here, they received me in the medical school and I was able to build a career as a doctor because this school and this school only received me. Now that's wonderful to think about. You couldn't come here therfore if you were a woman just to be a well-dressed plaything at dancing assemblies and parties You couldn't do that. You can do that in some other cheap place. But when you come here where m.en and women make that kind of decision, then you want to come here to think on the highest level and in the widest way that the human mind is 358 capable of making no allowances for yourself on the grounds of sex whatsoever. Being determined that this is the person­ ality of one woman that is going to choose her own way in life on the highest level that deliberate thought can bring them. And I shall respect that way and live in it and force myself to be respected in it not because I'm a woman but because I'm living a great life pursuing a great conception of the pso- sibilities of life and discovering something significant for that whole human race. By the way, that's what this man is talking about and he was talking to people in the capital of the most powerful empire that then existed in the world, Rome. Caesar's Rome; the Rome of the Roman Senators; the Rome of Pompeii; the Rome with the greatest military geniuses at the head of armies in the world; the Rome with road builders so great that you can go today in many parts of the world and put your foot on the very spot that they put on for soldiers to walk on some two thousand years ago. And yet Rome died be­ cause at the top of her power she ceased to be able to do what Paul was telling these Christians, to do— "Be not conformed to this world." She thought so much of herself that she couldn't get her brains out of the habit of doing over and over again the very things that were causing her to commit suicide. And she fell, not because anybody whipped her but because she wrought it down. Wrought it down, wrought it down. All the great empires of the past that have had superabounding military genius and superabounding productive power have likewise died — mostly rocking down.

There remains yet one to be that has renewed its vitality. One generation after another by the fitness and vitality and daring exploratory genius of its sons. And that's what you're here for. To examine all things but to refresh your mind at the fountain of those great men and women who in their life time have undertaken great things. And have done them often at great cost to themselves and often at the loss of their own lives to know them— what they thought and to sit down in their presence and review in your own mind the world in which you live. To see what it is by the light that they show you of what is good and what is not good. And what I will choose to do because it appeals to me as an adventure of high signif­ icance to every human being— that's what's stated in this text. Now he was talking about— this was the world that had killed his master. Crucified Him. This was the Rome whose colonial leader in Galilee killed Jesus of Nazareth. This was the Rome that ran the whole Cristian community under­ ground so that they lived not on top of the ground they lived in tunnels under the ground which you can see today. You go to Rome on a visit you ask them to take you in to the Cata­ combs and you will see that this Rome ran them underground for thinking the way they thought and for acting the way they acted. This was the Rome which in the colosseum whose walls 359 are still standing put the Christian again and again into the arena with lions and had the lions cut them and tear them to pieces. But in less than five hundred years this Rome fell. These Christians came up out of the ground and they took over the whole world, which Rome had lost, and preserved it until this time and made it have a greatness that Rome herself never dreamed of and yet it is not great enough for you to worship in it. To walk around seeing what you can climb up and imitate or what is being done. But a Rome's descendent^ which has greater possibilities tomorrow than it has today and waits for minds of independence and vision and imagination and dedication like yours to help her become what her highest possibilities is, that's why you're here. Not merely for your classes. Your classes are just the required pathway of minimum intelligence on the way to something. This is what the univer­ sity says, "You've got to do this; this is the least we can let you off with, if you intend to be intelligent." But they don't forbid you to go in the library and find a place by yourself where nobody can bother you and sit down as I had the privilege of doing at the Harvard Library of Philosophy in the time of day when there wasn't anybody in there but me. And I would read and read and read until one day I came upon an es­ say on Ghandi by one of the great literateurs of France. I sat there and read those twenty pages and said to myself, "What a guy." This is it, this is it. This is the kind of thing that I have been looking for five years in my troubled mind. And I didn't cry loud— I just sat’-there and soaked it up like a sponge soaks, soaks up precious liquid. And I never was the same anymore.

The greatest things often do not take place in a class­ room at all, but thank God, some times they do. Sometimes a single teacher, if you listen to him will all your mind and heart, will have such a profound affect upon you— start your thoughts to moving in a way and they never cease until they've found a pathway of independent commitment for you that will never pass away. Now? that's what this man is talk­ ing about— that's what he's talking about. Many places in the scriptures repeat this in another way. Have you ever read the first Psalm as instructions to a university student? Blessed is the student that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. That is when you go to people that don't worship any god— don't have any cause— don't have anything outside of themsleves they're living for, you're not getting anywhere. "Blessed is the man that walked not in the counsel of the un­ godly, nor standeth in the way of sinners." People who are trying to make their way in the world by taking it out on other people— hitting here to the left and hitting there to the right, making use of this one and that one. You aren't getting anywhere— however good time you think you're having with those people. Blessed is the student that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly nor standeth in the way of 360

sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." You've seen them, the boy with the upper lip. Well, you don't go to church? Oh, no. You don't take any courses in philosophy? What's all that stuff" You don't spend any time sitting down with a wonderful professor like professor so-and-so? Oh, once you hear that guy .... However much it may ease your sense of unimportance, you're not getting anywhere. It starts out as a negative thing. But what does he do? He mediates in the law of the Lord. Meditates on the higher laws that can be found, day and night. What happens to him when he does that? He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. He never goes unfertilized— his roots are always swashing around in the good water of life, brining forth his fruit in due season. You can't tell exactly what your're going to do until the particular situation arises, but when it arises, he's ready. And he brings forth fruit in that situation and his leaf also shall never wither. Wherever you see him he's green, just about to bust out and bloom again. The leaf is already there. It's wonderful. That's what it means— this is what he's talking about. Who are you? You are the only individual of your kind that God evex created in the world. It's written in your left hand. No essay that was ever writ­ ten- no book that was ever written; no body of laws that were ever precipitated have found words for you. In order for them to have significance for your life in the way that it ought to be they've got to come up against that in you which God had in mind when he put that mark in your left hand.

I like what a great old Negro preacher told me one day. I asked him how he happened to be such a profound religious man and didn't have an education. He said, "I know you've been asking yourself that question." He said to me, "You know I was a man that's not educated, you can't associate with me. I've got religion, you know that. All these preachers know it too. Row'd I get that kind of religion and I ain't never had no education?" He said, "Now I'm goin' to tell you. You have put me on the program to speak on meditation and you have popped your finger right away. That's what I'm going to talk about. Now where do I get," he says, "this real powerful personal religion that I have?" He said, "I opened the Bible there and begins to read and I read on until I come to the place where the lord expresses His love to somebody in a way that hits me. I stopped about three hundred preachers in the room. I said, "Brothers, I didn't say that I reads all that until I come to the place where the Lord expresses?- his love to somebody." He said, "The Lord is expressing His Love to somebody all over the Bible. But I read on til I comes to the place where the Lord expresses His love to somebody in a way that hits me. That is, I have read the Bible until its significance hits the man who has this number in his hand. 361 That's me, and then my heart tells me that was meant for you but don't yet know what's in there." He said, "And I take that signal and I goes off by myself. Where there ain't no­ body but me and I sets down," he says, "and I turn that pas­ sage over and over and over in my mind until the spirit of it," he says, "goes all through me. Then I shuts the Bible. Then I says to myself, now how do that apply to me and my life. How do that apply to me? And from my memory and from my knowledge of what's going on in my life, I turn that over and over and over. And then I turned over and over what is its relation to my wife and my children and the members of my church," he says. "I gets thoughts just too hot for paper." Then he turned to the brothers and he said, "Brothers, all three hundred of you knows I has four churches. You all knows that I can't get to them churches but once a month and sometime I don't get there then. But you all knows that ain't n'er one of you all goin' to get one of them churches until I die." Now he said, "How come that? How come that? 'Cause when I gets there, I ain't got no essay about Jesus where I goin' to take out of my pocket and read. He says, "I stands up there in the pulpit and looks out at the people with my heart and mind saturated with the spirit of Jesus. And my mind filled up with thoughts regarding the needs of their lives and what they should do to make them­ selves live great lives that are too hot for paper." And says, "I leans over the pulpit— I don't have to holler, I don't have to bang the desk nor nothing. I just tells the people them thoughts. And you can see them leaning over the back of the seats trying to reach me cross the fella that's settin' in front of them. He wants to get a hold of this food," he says, "and eat it and live." "That's why," he says, "they waits for me and that's why they gwan to wait for me till I die."

Now in a way that's what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about words. I am talking about the realities that produce the words that sting your mind with its relevancy. Let m.e give you a point from the life of Abraham Lincoln that bears on this. You know I'm known as a very distinguished brief speaker and I don't want to lose my reputation. Now if I could stand here, I could stand here and call the names of greatly creative men in nearly every field in the world and show you that practically everyone of them had this habit that this man is talking to you about. Let's take Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln said, "I have never had a political thought which I did not draw from the great sentiments that are in the Declaraction of Independence." But he said, "I often wondered to myself what those great men who wrote that Declaration had in mind when they put down the sentiments that were there. And I acquired the habit," he said, "in the evening when I was alone sitting by the fire often in the 362 winter, turning my chair around and wrapping my long legs around the back of it and putting my arms up on it and said to myself, 'Now Abe, what did they mean when they wrote that?' I don't want to commit the words to memory— I want to get what they thought when they wrote that." Ke says, "One day, I saw it. I saw the slave system passed away and not only the slave system passed away, but every tyranny that rests upon the back of mankind everywhere passed away."

What Thomas Jefferson saw and wrote he saw it was no longer Thomas Jefferson's. It was no longer in the Delcara- tion of Independence. It was in the soul of Abraham Lincoln. One day on the basis of that he made an utterance which forced most of his own followers to call him a fool for making. He said before we can get any where, we have to pause and ask just where we are. And he attacked the slave system in words so brief and so powerful that no man whoever read them could ever forget them. And after that he always referred to the United States as "that country committed to the proposition that all men are created equal." He didn't quote Thomas Jefferson. He was speaking the living fire that was alive in the soul of Abraham Lincoln and which was unquenchable and never died. Now that's what he's talking about. Making the great thoughts that have arisen in the minds of creative men in the past your thoughts. Now you can take any form of thought in the world of any form of practice in the world and study its history and you'll find that there are illus­ trations of it. One day I was in the St. Louis Airport, and found out I was three hours late for the plane that went be­ fore me and it would be three hours more before I'd get a plane to Washington. So I said, "well, there was no need my worrying about that. I'm never lonely. If I don't get up from here I'll think seriously of doing something else. But I bet­ ter get up and see if I can find anything in the literature in those plastic books that might help me." Looked around for a little while and found the most remarkable thing. I found a history of the development of physics by Albert Einstein and his assistant. And I said to myself, "This must be a remark­ able book— certainly its not a mathematical book for this man's a mathematical genius. If it was, they wouldn't offer it to me because they know I wouldn't have sense enough to read it— I don't know that much mathematics. But I venture to say this was one of those great books written by a mind of compler and powerful genius and trying to make what it knows simple." And that's just what it was. And there I sat for three hours and Albert Einstein starting out with the first hypothesis of modern physics— showed how it worked, and showed how there came a day when another physicist saw that in one respect it wasn't working. And he didn't cease to regard the law— he continued to obey it insofar as it would work but he didn't worship it. He began to pay more and more attention to the 363 places where it didn't work. Then he began to think on his own and say, "What modification of this law would work under these circumstances?' Pretty soon there came out the second great hypothesis in physics which corrected the first one. And he followed that one by one without ever using any ab­ struse mathematics until at last he put me down in the theory of relativity That's where he stood and I understood him all the way.

But every time that change was made, it was made by some­ body who did what this man taught. Was telling these Christians to do. "Be not conformed to the world." Don't sit down and worshipfully follow everything around you. See what is in it that can be approved by you. And what is in it that needs to be changed and changed constructively. And what can I do about it. That's why you are here. Makes no dif­ ference what field you're working in. If you are working in anatomy, that's why you are here. One of the distinguished professors of the university was speculating on why men like me became bald headed and forgetting that he was talking about the head of the institution, he said they are tight headed. Now he wasn't playing and he wasn't trying to hurt my feel­ ings. He wasn't trying to hurt my feelings because I was bald. He just didn't settle down to the idea that everything had been done in anatomy that could be done. And If something could be done about bald headedness, if a man would sit down and think about all he knew in anatomy in relation to bald headedness, and one of the things was tighness of the skin from ear to ear. And as you read the history of the develop­ ment of any science,the things that were done from this step to that step seem so little so relatively insignificant by themselves. But when you look at the great edifice that's been built over the ages by these independently thoughtful minds, you see something greater than all that had anything to do with it. You see the creative work of the mind of man precipitating out of its own critical inquiry and independ­ ence of thought and courage of adventuring to proclaim and to defend a thought not because it was new but because in its newness it seemed to be valid to live. That's what you are here for. And this doesn't describe what you hear for a minute. This is a description of the way a university mind acts all the time; all the time. If I had my way. I'd stretch out the university curriculum to last from 19 to 76. And every four or five years I would have a saving system whereby the man who felt that his mind was becoming sterile and conformtive would quit work and go back to the university in order that his pure mind might be stirred up and he would have the power once again to think by himself, and to think and to put down and to proclaim what he was saying. 364 Now I'm through if you have that single idea that I'm talking about. I'm not telling you that you can't go out and have a grand evening on Friday. I would be condeming a part of my own activity— I went out on many a Friday. I'm not tell­ ing you not to dance, not to I'.arn the dances that are current in your time. I think you can do all these things in a little surplus waving of the hand of your time. Reserve some whole­ some, lowly hours for sitting down in quest of the great and reading on— not always hurrying through— but if you come to a place where it hits you, stop. Remember you're the only one in the world that it has hit that way. You the only one got this signature in your hand. What does it mean? Now that's why you'll never learn great religion by merely joining the church. It's good if you do join the church, but nearly all the people in the church— you don't know how much religion is in the church. And most church you go in to— let us say on a majority side— from here down to the Gulf of Mexico, the religion in there runs all the way from the crude religion that you see in the first chapter of the Old Testament when men believed in many Gods, and when you found out the will of God by using something like— you remember something that we boys used to use, did you ever see one of these little tops that had the four sides? On one side said you put "A" for all, "H" for half, "N" for none? That's the way you got rich in your poverty-stricken days when you were a student and had only six marbles and you wanted 12 marbles and the other fellow had 20. You got him to spin this little top and you would soon find out what was the will of God— for him to keep on having these 20 marbles or for you to do away with 20 marbles and leave him with none.

Now you'll find that that's very strange. That that kind of religion is in the Bible— I can take you to where it is. And then there's that religion when a man has got filled with the spirit of God and go out of his mind and go foaming at the mouth and then you listen to what he said under those circum­ stances. And if you'd lost a mule he'd probably tell you where it was— as long as his mouth was foaming. You call those prophets. Then you get way over in the Bible, way over, before a crude man rises one day and says, "There is one God." One humanity. "And what doest the Lord require of thee, man but to deal justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God." It took thousand of years for mankind to come from that first religion that I described up to that eight century pro­ phet, but it's all in that one book and it's all in most any church of 2,000 members that you walk into. There's somebody there that's got one of those religions. The only way to get first hand religion, is yourself. To go back to the words and deeds of the men and women of genius. And Jesus of Nazareth, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Confucius, Budha, Mohammed, Mahatma Gandhi, Jesus of Nazareth, Paul of Tarsus— those 365 original minds which were not content with second hand reli­ gion. They wanted to reach the Eternal God and the order of the universe for themselves. And they will visit with you. They will stir up in your mind such thoughts that you will read again and understand when Jesus of Nazareth said, "Many things I have not said to you for ye were not ready. But there will come after me men, men who will understand them better, even than I. I will send you the spirit of truth which will lead you to all truth."

Now let me close. If you had been here about 75 years ago, you would have seen a young fella going to Sunday School over at the 19th Street Baptist Church. His name was Howard Drew. His father and mother were the first generation from slavery. Jurid fortunately they were going to a church which was presided over by one of the great aged saints of the Baptist Church. But this boy was put in the best schools in the city of Washington, he was a great football player genius of football players. When he finished college he came here to Howard University and wanted to enter the medical school and we wouldn't receive him because he wasn't thoroughly pre­ pared in some things he'd missed and he had to go to Canada to get into a medical school. He came back here to take his residency and the man at that time the Head of the Department of Surgery said, "There's the young fella I've been looking for. I believe we could make a great head of the Department of Surgery out of him." So we sent him up to New York to one of the great universities and hospitals there to take work in surgery. While he was up there he got to thinking about human blood and how it was possible for a m.an to get hurt and all the blood stream out of his body and he would die, because he could not get a fresh supply of blood. The thought dis­ turbed him and whether there could be a way to take some blood from somebody who was living vividly and connect it up with this man who had lost nearly all of his blood, and have the blood flow from the healthy man into the other. Well, we could do that sort of. But what are you going to do when the man that you want to help is way over, let us say, in London, and the man whose blood suits the situation is down in Paris, Tennessee? Couldn't we find a way to proddle that blood and keep it fresh and send it over there to London? I'm talking crudely, unscientifically, but I'm telling the truth as a layman with just an approximate medical mind can tell it. He wanted to know whether you could take that bottle of blood and keep it fresh enough so that when you put it in the veins of that dying man in London, it would make him live. And he registered for a class in that thing. There were 30 boys but he was not merely in the class, he'd go off by himself and think, and think and think. There came a day when Hitler v;as blowing up lives by the hundreds in London every day. And 366 when they were losing lives up to as many as a hundred thou­ sand, the word came back to this country, "For god's sake we hear that you're studying the possibility of transferring human blood. When will you be ready to help us?" And the professor came to the class and said to the boys, "I'll read you this. Are we ready?" And one of the boys who hap­ pened to be in the majority raised his hand said, "There's one of us in here that's ready. I think Charlie Drew is ready. He's been thinking about it more than all the rest of us and he knows more about it than all the rest of us and I believe if he tried it, he could do it." And after consulta­ tion they took this little Washington boy and helped him to establish the first blood bank.

In the world to do something that would give lives back to hundreds of thousands of people because he kept on thinking about it, and thought independently and talked with other people about it and became obsessed with it until one day the light broke and he saw. Now that's what I'm talking about. I'm talking about it in surgery. I'm talking about it in anat­ omy, I'm talking about it in mathematics, I;m talking about it in religion. It was not meant that you should go down the road taking into yourself all them mossy stuff that has ac­ cumulated in all of the cast-off elements of the second-hand religions of the world. But that you should connect yourself vividly by your own meditative thoughts with the root of the thing in the mind of men of genius until your own mind and heart have begun to start the creative search. And you are able to do what a man like Gandhi did. Men of genius in every field recognize the man like that when they see him. I was talking to Hr. Einstein before he died. It was right after breakfast and he was kind of slow of speech and half awake until I heard the name Gandhi. And there this great genius in the field of mathematics and physics, woke up com­ pletely and said to m.e, "There, Dr. Johnson, is the greatest man that's lived in this world during the last hundred years. He's so great," he said, "that a thousand years from today men will find it difficult to believe that any such man as that ever lived." And I stopped him and said to him, "Mr. Einstein, there are a lot of thoughtful men who think that about you." "Oh, no," he said, "I know where I belong. All my life has been spent in putting at the disposal of man increasingly com­ petent tools for getting things done. But I have not shown man anything at all about how to use these tools, fmd I've come to this part of my life to the place where I fear that he may use one of them to destroy." "When this man," he said, "this man Gandhi has met and conquered every enemy that is accustomed to destroy the human soul. It is not to me and men like me that men must look to find out what to do with their 367

scientific tools, it is to this man and men like him that we must look to show us what to do." Now if you were to walk in my office over there in the library, in room 204, you'd see a picture of this man. Dark brown skin, weighing less than a hundred pounds, and often refer to himself as a black man. The descendent of a presiding mayor, let us say, in a little one-horse town over on the edge of India, who took his quiet hours seriously until he became the most powerful determiner of human motivation and spiritual power ever to be demonstrat­ ed in this world.

I'm through now. Be not conformed unto this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you per­ sonally may prove what is that good and acceptable will of God. What was it that man was intended to be in the beginning and socially, not merely to hold it as a theoretical hypoth­ esis but before you die to have done enough about it. To know that you have in your mind and in your heart and in your life something that is precious to every human being that lives in the world.