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Abraham Murguia Mr. Newman English 101: Rhetoric 2 October 2013 Americans view racism and discrimination as a thing of the past. Although there is no doubt that racism still exists, it is not as apparent or violent as it once was. Society has become more tolerant with each other no matter what the color of our skin is. It is safe to say that public racism has become taboo. In Europe, however, racism is not as sensitive as in America. In the August 20, 2013 issue of Sports Illustrated, Grant Wahl wrote an article on his interview with Italian football (soccer) superstar, Mario Balotelli, who is the first black player to play on the Italian national team. Wahl utilizes pathos and logos to successfully argue that the racism and criticism Balotelli receives is neither fair nor true, and none of it has affected his performance on the field. Wahl starts off his article by explaining how Balotelli has recently been a center of attention. He explains how only a week from his Sports Illustrated photo-shoot, Mario Balotelli will meet Pope Francis, who will single out Balotelli for a private audience from among a group that includes Lionel Messi and the Argentine and Italian national soccer teams (47). Wahl utilizes pathos with this quote because the reason for Balotelli being singled out is that the majority of Italians are Catholic and if they were to see the Pope receive Balotellis respects, there would be less hate towards the color of his skin.

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To further demonstrate what was stated above as the reason for being singled out by the Pope, Wahl goes on with the article explaining the racism that still lies in many parts of Europe, specifically in some parts of Italy, where La Gazzetta dello Sport ran a cartoon depicting Balotelli as King Kong, with bare feet and simian legs wrapped around Big Ben as he swatted away soccer balls (48). Wahl also adds that Balotelli has been the target of bananas and monkey chants from fans in Italy and other countries (48). With these two quotes, Wahl further utilizes pathos by making the reader sympathize with Baloteli for going through so much just because of the color of his skin, especially considering the audience is mostly Americans, who are probably not aware that such racism still goes on in the world. In a final utilization of pathos, Wahl makes a successful attempt at showing Balotelis sensitive side apart from his tough attitude, a side he expresses in order to change the way people think of him. Wahl explains how Balotelli adopted a small pig and named it super. Ive always wanted a pig. This one seemed sad, so I made her part of the family (52). In addition to pathos, Wahl utilizes logos by successfully stating facts and statistics about Balotelli to prove that the racism, criticism and all the negative talk surrounding him does not affect his performance on the field. Wahl begins to utilize pathos by stating that aside from the fact that he is the first African American player to debut on the Italian League and national team, he has scored 10 goals for Italy since 2010 (49). This places Balotelli amongst the top strikers in the world, seeing as how International competition is not year-round. Wahl explains that Balotelli is 24 for 24 in penalty kicks for both club and country (52), which contribute to the 10 total he has for Italy. Wahl further utilizes logos by accurately stating that Balotelli debuted as the first black player in Italy with Inter Milan at age 17. This is a very young age to debut as a professional soccer player, especially in such competitive leagues as are present in

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Europe. He further explains how he was sold to Manchester City at age 19 where he would go on to Win Man of the Match in Citys 2011 F.A. Cup final victory, scoring the first 2 goals in an epic 6-1 win at Manchester United, and had the assist on Sergio Agueros dramatic last minute goal that gave Manchester City the 2012 Premier Leauge title (49). All these facts assured to us by Wahl emphasize that his performance on the field has not been negatively affected by what he has gone through. Wahl finalizes his utilization of logos by stating the fact that A.C. Milan recently bought Balotelli from Manchester City for $29 million (52), which is a substantial amount and successfully verifies Wahls attempt at showing what a great player Balotelli is, despite the prejudice and harassment he has encountered. In his article, Wahl effectively utilizes pathos and logos to successfully argue that the racism Balotelli receives is neither fair nor true, and that none of it has affected his performance on the field. The way Wahl appeals to the readers emotion, and the statistics he uses show mastery of pathos and logos. This makes his writing more agreeable and believable, which makes the reader want to read more of his articles.

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Works Cited Wahl, Grant. "Molto, Molto Mario." Sports Illustrated 20 Aug. 2013: 47-52. Print.