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Yanelli Villegas
Professor Collins
ENGL 1301
21 Nov 2016
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Racism in the twenty-first century has evolved drastically from what it was in the 1900s.
The American Civil Liberties Union is a non-profit organization that works on defending every
individuals right and liberties that is granted to them by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, according to the organizations website: aclu.org. It was originally founded by Jane
Addams, Roger Nash Baldwin, Crystal Eastman, Norman Thomas, and Felix Frankfurter, who
all worked together to help protect every persons individual rights as a citizen of this country. In
the visual advertisement by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), we see a picture of two
men. In bold, black letters it says The man on the left is seventy-five more times likely to be
stopped by a police than the man on the right.One could clearly see the reason why: the man on
the left is African American, while the man on the right is a Caucasian man. Upon looking at this
picture, one could just glance and agree that the man on the right is just an ordinary American
man, but after analyzing the picture one could see that that is Charles Manson, made infamous by
the multiple appalling murders he committed, many of them being children and innocent women,
while the man on the left is Martin Luther King Jr., a man that fought for human rights, the right
to be equal and treated the same. Jennifer Rosenberg, a twentieth-century history expert, and
writer for history1900s.about.com, wrote a biography on Charles Manson and a detailed
description on many of the murder cases involving Manson, she states Charles Manson is a
convicted serial killer who has become an icon of evil. In the late 1960s, Manson founded a

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hippie cult group known as "the Family" whom he manipulated into brutally killing others on his
behalf. This advertisement is directed to middle-aged men and women, ranging in ethnicities.
One of the methods in which they sell this advertisement is through shock. People are shocked
that so many individuals still discriminate against other human beings based on the color of their
skin. Although this has been happening for decades, and has been fought repeatedly, it still
happens to this day. The ethos, logos, and design in the American Civil Liberties Union
advertisement implies that equal rights is still an issue in todays modern society by contrasting a
peaceful African American man, with an evil Caucasian one.
Ethos is displayed by the website of the organization, as well as the characters in the
picture. Through the organizations website, ACLU establishes their credibility as a non-profit
organization, that helps defend ones personal rights as an American citizen. They then use a
picture of two men one of them being Martin Luther King Jr., who they use to represent the
victim of the story, so to say. Today in this society, due to the influence of the newscasts, as well
as social media, African Americans have been stereotyped as being dangerous, or troublemakers. Martin Luther King is often seen as a symbol for hope, and equality, while Charles
Manson symbolizes the complete opposite. Charles Manson is known for his violent crimes, and
cold demeanor. This advertisement serves as an eye-opener for most. The ethos gives the
audience the confidence that the information included in the advertisement is correct and
authentic.
Logos is solely based on the factual side of every picture or anything that can be seen.
The logos in this poster is showed by the tiny printed words at the bottom of the picture. It states
that out of thousands of drivers, eighty percent of being African American and Hispanic
ethnicity, were humiliatingly stopped and searched in the state of Florida. These drivers were

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only five percent of overall drivers. It continues to say and explain that these searched are
violations of every individuals constitutional rights, and that the ACLU can help defend ones
rights amongst discriminative authorities. Everybody has rights as an American citizen or
resident, but upon the choice of exercising these rights or defending oneself with these rights is
completely up to that person.
A picture is worth a thousand words. This ad portrays a serious tone, and some might find
an old fashioned, rugged look to depict the seriousness of the message. The design used in this
poster can be easily recognized as a wanted ad. These posters were used to alert the people that
there was an alleged criminal in the area, and an award would be given for the capture of that
person. Nobody knows when the first wanted ad was published, but it had shown to be an
effective way in the catching of criminals.
With all of the information gathered by the ethos, logos, and design of the American Civil
Liberties Union advertisement, it resulted to be successful as it fulfilled its purpose and the
message which was to help raise awareness for the controversial topic of racism. The ethos,
logos, and display all had a big effect on getting the message across and helping understand and
realize the complete meaning behind this ad. The ethos was shown by the website of the ACLU
organization, and the pictures of King and Charles Manson. In the website one was able to see
how the ACLU is firm and serious about defending and safe-guarding ones rights. In the logos
one could see the statistical version behind the advertisement. The statistics supported the
thought that certain policemen were prejudice when dealing with African Americans, giving
them humiliating and inappropriate searches. Lastly, in the design one was able to notice the
seriousness behind the ad, especially since the topic of racism is a serious, yet sensitive topic. All

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of these components aided the main idea of the advertisement, and helped the ACLU get its point
across to its entire audience.

Works Cited

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ACLU. About the ACLU. American Civil Liberties Union, www.aclu.org/about-aclu
Accessed 15 November 2016
Rosenberg, Jennifer. A Profile of Convicted Serial Killer Charles Manson. About.com
Education, 15 Feb 2016, history1900s.about.com/od/1960s/p/charlesmanson.htm.
Accessed 15 November 2016.
Tlbwadmin. Tag Archives: History of Wanted Posters . Thelastbestwest.com, 5 Sept. 2015,
thelastbestwest.com/tags/history-of-wanted-posters/. Accessed 15 November 2016.