Respectful and Reasoned are the words which best describes the tone of Barbara Jordan's speech.
Step-by-step explanation:
Barbara Jordan was a famous American lawyer. Apart from being an advocate she was also very much involved in politics and was a head of Civil Rights Movement.
When we read the speech given by Barbara Jordan we can easily make out that she’s using a respectful and reasoned tone. The sentence, ‘Pettiness cannot be allowed to stand in the face of such overwhelming problems. So today we are not being petty.
We are trying to be big, because the task we have before us is a big one’ clearly shows that she’s concerned enough about what’s going on and she’s respectful enough towards other parties as well by giving such reasonable statements. Apart from these lines, Jordan was quite polite throughout the speech.