Kyle Colucci

9/28/16
English 1050
Why do we judge others?
When it comes to how we look at others who are part of a minority group why do we
seem to look at them differently even to this day just because we are the majority. While the
majority were starting to treat the minorities better, things have taken a turn for the worst in the
last couple years. We are returning to our old ways of treating those that arent the same as us
different. When a majority group treats a minority group differently one name for it is called
othering. Othering may seem like a strange name but to me it fits the bill perfectly.
When we are part of majority we think that we can treat others differently just because
there are fewer of them compared to us. While at first the minorities will be too scared to do
anything, they will eventually retaliate against this treatment. This othering will lead to strife
between all the citizens of the country. This strife will lead to not just the majority treating
minorities differently, but minorities treating each other differently as well. As tensions between
all parties build, nothing but disaster will result from the ensuing chaos.
Being part of the majority means that for the most part you will always be a part of it, but
for some people this can change in just a blink of an eye. This change can affect you in one of
two ways for those that go through it. At the start both ways are affected by confusion and
despair because they are no longer in the position of power they once were. It is after this point
that the path splits into those that accept their new positions and those that refuse to accept it.

Those that can accept this change in their lives can move forward and build themselves a new
place in their new society. Its those that cant accept it that are in for the hardest time. It will be
something that will destroy them to their very core before they finally break and become a shell
of their former selves.
I had this change happened when I went to live in a foreign country to do volunteer work.
I went from being part of the majority to the minority overnight and it was a quite an adjustment
for me. I quickly learned what it is like to be the subject of othering and I couldnt do anything to
stop it. I learned to accept the new position that I had been put in and it helped me to see the
world in a new light. In a way, this personal experience taught me important things about how I
should treat others. I wouldnt be the person I am today without everything that I went through
by being part of the minority.
Some of the main forms of othering that were used against me while I was part of the
minority was racism or prejudice. This took a lot of getting used to for me because I hadnt ever
experienced it much in my life. When it comes down to it though these forms of othering deal
mainly with how the majority perceives the minority based off information that may not be
entirely true, this was so in the areas that I volunteered in. The main misconception that most
members of the majority had about us was that we were rich just because of the color of our skin.
We were always being bothered for money or being verbally attacked because we didnt share
our wealth with them.
It is racism and prejudice that are the most common forms of othering in the US and they
are the causes of some pretty big issues. Race became one of the issues of the 2008 election
because one candidate was of African-American decent. When it came down to the voting people

would call you racist just because you didnt vote for the candidate that was from the minority.
This election saw a reversal of othering where it was the minority that was treating the majority
differently and punishing them if they didnt treat them fairly. It is here we see that othering isnt
only for the majority to use on the minority.
It is so strange that when we thought we had almost gotten rid of our othering problem as
a country that out of nowhere the whole pyramid would be flipped upside down. What have we
done as a country that when someone who is of the majority is just trying to defend themselves
they are at fault. This sudden flip of the pyramid turns them from victim to the attacker just
because the other party was from a minority. It is for this very reason that we must create a
balance between majorities and minorities, so we can all get along and help one another to reach
our best possible selves. If this state isnt obtained anytime soon our country will start to tear
itself apart even more than it already has.
I just hope that it doesnt take another disaster similar or worse to 9/11 to solve this issue
that we are having in our country. I fear that a disaster on that level would be the end of nation as
we know it now. It would turn into total anarchy and there would be chaos everywhere you turn.
This state would make it almost impossible to get rid of othering without drastic measures. So, I
hope that we can come to together as a nation to face this threat from the inside. Then maybe we
can have a little peace in our own country for once.

Rhetorical Analysis
The speech I chose from the book is Obamas A More Perfect Union speech. This
speech was given during his 2008 campaign for president. In this speech, one of his main goals
was to talk about his religious leader who had come under scrutiny because of his speeches that
were considered unpatriotic. While this goal is accomplished early on in his speech he refers to it
to make his point about how the US should come together and accept all that are within its
borders. He uses ethos and pathos as his main forms of rhetoric in his speech to get those that are
listening to him to see his side of the conflict. He uses a lot of phrases that are meant to get the
crowd to rally around his cause and to change the subject of what the speech was even meant for
in the first place. While he does talk about his pastor and how his sermons arent what he
believes, he also talks about how his pastor is the one who brought him to Christ. He uses this
sentiment to get the crowd to follow along with his feelings therefore invoking the pathos
response in the crowd that was listening.
The one thing that I have learned from listening to Obamas speeches since, is that he
uses lots of language phrases that get a pathos reaction out of those that are listening. I think that
one of his greatest strengths as a politician is that he knows how to give speeches that move the
audience to feel emotions that they probably didnt count on having when they went to his
speech. It is what made his speech so powerful besides the fact that this speech went from being
about his pastor to being about the racial stalemate, as he puts it, that has been a part of our
nation for ages. His speech ability is what allows him to take a subject that everyone wants to
hear about and turn it into a speech that he wants to give. In this aspect, at least I can respect his
ability to orate.

Bibliography
George, Diana, and John Trimbur. "A More Perfect Union." Reading Culture: Contexts for
Critical Reading and Writing. By Barrack Obama. 8th ed. New York: Longman, 2001.
476-83. Print.