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Sammy Parsons
Ashley Rea
ENC 2135
28 July 2016
Rhetorical Rationale
My first remediation idea is to write a letter to the Mayor of Tallahassee discussing
concerns of police brutality in the city and to recommend ways to change the corruption of our
judicial system regarding this particular subject. In this letter, I plan to take the position of the
black population and to help construct a fight against the abuse of law enforcement. This letter
will be filled with names and instances of multiple victims of police brutality, an explanation,
and finally, a way to solve this particular issue dealing with racial oppression and police brutality.
I wish to bring about the truth of the problems within our system and to use this as fuel for the
voice of African-Americans. I like this idea of a letter because I feel that it will contribute to the
Black Lives Matter and Stop Police Brutality movement. This genre will allow me to present
my ideas in a more sophisticated way than the other remediation I am doing for this third project.
My ideas will be written logically and orderly. Overall, I believe that writing this letter to the
Mayor of Tallahassee will be helpful and possibly bring about change regarding this specific
issue and topic.
My next remediation idea was to construct a collage poster regarding the issue of racial
oppression on the topic of police brutality. This genre allows for a simple yet complicated
messaged to be portrayed through the use of pictures and design. I plan to incorporate pictures of
legitimate police brutality against the black population and to use dark colors to portray a strong
and sad message. I may even incorporate a dark red color to symbolize or represent the blood of

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innocent victims of police brutality. My audience will consist of the every-day man or woman
walking by on a street corner where this message could be used as a walk up call for the country.
I feel that by constructing this collage full of pictures and protests against racial oppression in
police brutality that I will successfully be able to catch the eye and attention of those walking by
during the day. This piece of art will consist of phrases and pictures to help me in constructing
this remediation. I hope that the message and design of this collage will be able to capture the
reality of the Black Lives Matter movement regarding police brutality.

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The Honorable Andrew Gillum
Mayor of Tallahassee
300 South Adams Street
Tallahassee FL 32301
Dear Mayor Gillum,
I am writing to you on the behalf of the black man and the recent, devastating murders that have
come at the hands of police. I am concerned for the well-being of this city and for the racism that
keeps reappearing in the media. We understand that this subject is a personal one considering our
countrys background; however, the brutality against the black race has become an even bigger
problem in recent years and it feels as if no one has done anything about it.
Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, John Crawford, and Eric Garner have all been
victims of police brutality. Racism, fear, and corruption have taken a toll on the black lives in
America. There is significant evidence in multiple cases showing signs of racism acted out
through the abuse of law enforcement. The black population have been victims of racial
oppression since the time when African-Americans were forced overseas to work as slaves for
the white man. When will this violence end? The attacks, assaults, riots, protests- they have
seemed to make no difference in our community and in our country. How much more can the
black population take regarding discrimination against their race and ethnicity?
The well-meaning white friends who apologize and send wishes and prayers regarding police
brutality have seemed to help with the grief but not the actual system of oppression. Ending this
racism should not be looked at as a favor; however, it should be viewed as an opportunity to fix
the flaws in our countrys system.
Now the main question is, what are we to do now about police brutality? We need to get
involved and educate ourselves on this particular topic. Who is involved and reviewing these
cases? The misconduct in our city is the result of issues around the police system. Are we
honestly taking this topic seriously?
The next step would be to talk to the city council or the mayor, which is exactly what I am trying
to do now. Petitions, riots, and campaigns can only go on for so long; however, I am hoping that
this letter will be a little more personal for you and will hopefully get your attention. Actions
must be taken and there should be a level of accountability on police conduct.
Police reform is a critical part of this plan to fix the flaws in our system. We need to work with
the district involving judges and attorneys in order to make a change. We need to work with and
in the system in order to fight police brutality. The funding of body cameras for police should be
number one priority at this point in time. These body cameras will help enhance trust between
our communities and law officers. With this being said, we understand that this wont necessarily
end police brutality but the hope is that this device will allow us to either prevent or see the
entire matter of the situation.

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It is important to our community and society that we as citizens of this nation stay in touch with
the system of our government. We hope that you consider this message and start working with us
to propose new solutions to this particular problem. Personally I would like to thank you for all
that you have done and continue to do for this city; your hard work and leadership is much
appreciated. I look forward to seeing positive changes. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely yours,
Samantha Parsons
College Student
Florida State University

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Works Cited
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http://www.occupy.com/sites/default/files/medialibrary/black-lives-matter.jpg
https://www.uab.edu/studentmedia/images/Kscope_Opinion/black_lives_matter.jpg
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http://www.lauferlawgroup.com/images/police_brutality.jpg
http://countercurrentnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/un-police-brutality-report.jpg
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http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2015-09-04-1441395137-7049687-image3.JPG
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