Briggs
Spencer Carhart
Dr.
Stephanie Brown, Ph.D.
ENGL
306
29
September 2016
The Rhetoric of the Pulse Shooting
Aftermath
On
the morning of June 12, 2016, waking up to a notification about a mass shooting
at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida became a haunting occurrence for
most Americans. Pulse, an LGBTQ nightclub, exists currently at the site of the
worst mass shooting in American history with 49 deaths and 53 wounded ("Pulse
Nightclub Shooting: June 13, 2016 Update"). This date was originally
significant for the nightclub because it was Latinx night where majority of the club identified as Hispanic ("Pulse
Nightclub Shooting: June 13, 2016 Update"). Local news sources acknowledged
most of the victims were of the queer Lantix
community. The event left families and friends (especially those of the LGBTQ
community) shaken and broken by the unexpected deaths of many lives closely
associated with their own. After the shooting, the conversation of the aftermath
focused around the shooter, Omar Mateen, with multiple theories, including
terrorism ideologies as possible motives ("Pulse Nightclub Shooting: June
13, 2016 Update."). The LGBTQ community, however, felt a lack of support
when undesired responses flooded social media regarding the Pulse shooting:
arguments bolstering the shooting and apologetic statements lacking
acknowledgments of the LGBTQ community. The Pulse nightclub, two weeks after
the shooting, posted a photo on social media as an act of protest targeting those
who oppose the LGBTQ community to create solidarity amongst those who identify
as LGBTQ, or as an ally.
The community felt disdain from individuals
who appreciated the violence (such as the Westboro Baptist Church) but also felt
isolated from individuals who opposed the violence (Cox). Regarding the people
who enjoyed the deaths and injuries from the Pulse shooting, those individuals made
disdainful public statements including, “God sent the shooter to #Pulse” (Cox).
The LGBTQ community faces threats everyday referencing religious ideology, but
the extreme context in lieu of the tragedy set those particular comments apart
– affirming there is an extreme safety concern for those who identify as LGBTQ.
This sort of behavior isn’t surprising, but it is a problem the LGBTQ community
faces towards the goal/process of social justice. An issue that has also been a
point of concern has been the overshadowing of the problem with the focus of terrorism
with no mention of the victims specifically. Donald J. Trump tweets, “Appreciate
the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don't want
congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart!” (Nelson, L and Golshan T). The nature of the
comment put the major focus terrorism (which in itself has been a controversial
talking point). Terrorism is a major problem the United States is facing and is
emphasized in almost every political debate. Comments similar to Mr. Trump’s
blurs the context of the tragedy. It made the event another event to
extrapolate for future debates about terrorism (especially focused around
Islam). The focus of the tragedy became an argument against terrorism and
pro-xenophobia and less focus/justice for the LGBTQ community.
These comments do not exemplify how
the entire population feels about the event. The amount of support is strong,
but the Pulse community wishes to divert the focus from terrorism and gun violence
into a focus of solidarity to those who identify LGBTQ. On June 30th,
2016, Pulse released a photo on Twitter stating, “You cannot silence us. You
cannot destroy us. We are not going anywhere” (Pulse Nightclub; Figure 1).
The photo is directed at those who are
against the LGBTQ community as well as the people who leave out the identity of
the club when discussing the shooting. The statement brings up past issues
encompassing sexual minorities with emphasis on “silence us” referring to the
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy in the United States military; the “destroy us”
referring to the actual events at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. However,
there were many individuals who lost their lives, but the “us” in both
statements is to people who identify as LGBTQ. Pulse’s photo is referring to
methods others have attempted to utilize to rid the world of LGBTQ individuals’
way of life. The post was still around the timeframe of the shooting, so emotions
and theories and investigations were persisting at high frequency and high
intensity. This gave the protest the opportunity to have the most effect, and
to change the conversation – to unify the community in order to have the
potential to change how the world perceive those who identify as LGBTQ. The
post gives the community a firm stance with the last statement “we are not
going anywhere.” Whether a gay male living in Orlando reads it hanging in
nightclub, or a non-gender conforming person reads the post on twitter. It
gives an overarching claim of all individuals and how the community is strong.
Attempts will be made to target the community, but the attempts will never lead
to success. That is the message this piece of protest establishes for the community.
In order to display an effective
message that will achieve the purpose of solidarity against the non-allies,
multiple methods of rhetorical strategies (such as ethos, logos, and pathos). The
rhetor establishes a form of ethos by being the Pulse nightclub and having the
logo on the poster. Since majority of the conflict at the time of the photo’s
release was about the Pulse shooting, it gives message that will be received
more. Also the photo has the rainbow incorporated in the logo, which is the symbol
for the LGBTQ community (each color having its own meaning for the community). Generally,
people receive information more clearly from other people who share a similar
identity. Since the targeted audience mostly does not identify with the LGBTQ
community, the rainbow classifies the rhetor as an appropriate speaker about
the issue and could reach out and the audience would better receive the message.
For a logos appeal, the short statements make a clear and concise argument. Stating
“we are not going anywhere” and alluding to past examples that bolster the
statement, presents a stronger argument that the community isn’t really going
anywhere. No one should be afraid to express themselves, so the nightclub
presenting how much the community went through and that the community has
sustained gives a better chance for solidarity the more people who identify
LGBTQ and see the photo. The most effective strategy is pathos for this piece
of protest. The words “destroy” and “silence” elicit an intense response from
the audience to direct the audience to feel understand the gravity of the
issue. That the problem with the LGBTQ community isn’t an issue of preference
for the change, but a necessity for the change. Also, the Pulse logo being in
the shape of the heart presents the LGBTQ communities message of love because
that is what the community is about. No one should try to destroy that.
That was the idea with the photo on
Twitter. The shooting was a tragic event that caused speculations and uproar
within the country because of the amount of casualties. It’s an event that
shook the general population, but it hit close to home for those who identify
as lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender/queer/questioning/etc and Latinx. The movement for equality has
been ongoing, but it is unfortunate that its events like the Pulse shooting
that have people advocating more for the cause – however there are more people
advocating against it. That is why Pulse took advantage to rise from the ashes
to make a statement to form solidarity and hopefully create a world of more
understanding and peace – hopefully, another message doesn’t need to be read in
spite of 49 fatal bullets.
Works Cited
Cox,
Daniel. “Westboro Baptist Church Celebrates Pulse Nightclub Shooting in
Orlando: ‘God
Sent the Shooter’. The Inquistr. 12 June
2016.
Nelson,
L and Golshan T. “Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump react to
Pulse
nightclub shooting.” Vox
Policy and Politics. 12 June 2016.
Pulse
Nightclub. “Orlando Shooting at Pulse Nightclub.” Orlando Sentinel. 12 June
2016.
"Pulse
Nightclub Shooting: June 13, 2016 Update." City of Orlando. 2 Sep 2016.
http://www.cityoforlando.net/police/pulse-nightclub-shooting-june-13-2016-update/
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