Speaking Up about Being Counted
The Bailey’s had 7 finalists who each spoke about different ways to be counted. In terms of the census, I thought most of the speeches would be similar to each other. However multiple people were able to branch out from the census and individualize their speech. Each finalist deserved their spot in the finals. They all had valid, excellent points but not all of them affected me like they affected others.
One speech that really resonated with me was the first-place winner, Rachel Defosses. She talked about how society often categorizes people and then people not in the majority or in the favorited category become dehumanized and demonized. Her emotional appeals to the topic of being places in boxes really spoke to me. Being a Latino becomes a struggle in the same way. One thing that always annoyed me was the separation of the Latino race from the rest of the races in many applications. Being separated from the other ethnicities always made me feel less human, and sometimes I feel that I wouldn’t get the job or scholarship because I selected that I was “other” and “Hispanic”. I once applied for a position for Dick’s Sporting Goods and the boxes had already objectified and rejected me before I even finished the application. I clicked that I was Hispanic and clicked “other” when they asked for my race. After that, I tried to continue on with the application. However, I was forced to go to the end of the application. I tested this out and I clicked a different ethnicity and “not Hispanic” and it continued the application. I felt completely excluded from applying just because I am of Hispanic background. Her pathos in her speech was really effective for me.
Another speech that was effective to me was Madison. Her pathos was also strong in my opinion. She spoke about how inmates lose the right to vote when incarcerated and the frequency of recidivism. I have a close relative who has been incarcerated for at least 10 years. My siblings and I joke around about how I am the “good child”. I have three half-brothers and a sister. My one half-brother is in jail, another one has been incarcerated in the past, the third half-brother and my sister have not been in prison. However, in the past they have joked about how they would get arrested for something, leaving me as the only one who would not end up in jail. My brother has been in jail for as long as I can remember and I never knew how much of his humanity is stripped from him. I wasn’t aware that he was not able to vote and after listening to her speech, it encouraged me to take that Inside Out course here at Juniata if possible. I believed and agreed with her residual message to restore the lost humanity within the incarcerated men within the world.
Overall, the bailey’s were very strong and persuasive this semester. With a topic like the Census, I honestly believed that a lot of the speeches were going to be similar, and I believe that some topics were duplicated. I was honestly surprised with the variety of topics that were presented and I am glad about the rankings! Can’t wait for next year!
