Barack Obama's Struggle For Equality

King appealed to his audience’s emotions when he used several rhetorical devices, including Within this quote there are multiple metaphors that help bolden King’s thoughts: “crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination,” “island of poverty,” and “vast ocean of material prosperity.” These metaphors explain how it still felt nearly impossible to end discrimination, and how Negroes are on their own with no support. The use of the metaphors display a deeper and stronger meaning to the topics that King was passionate about. These rhetorical devices brought to the non-colored portion of the audience’s attention of how difficult the life of a Negro was and that freeing the slaves one hundred years ago was not enough.

However, even though both George W. Bush and Martin Luther King Jr. make valid arguments for their cases, King’s approach to racial equality was unprecedented, making him a true pioneer of this cause. His claims and counterclaims, use of language, and his credible experience and opinion, results in the arguments in his speech, "the Letter from Birmingham Jail," defending racial equality in a manner superior to those in George W. Bush's "Ending Racial Inequality.”

He references historical events such as the American Revolutionary War against Britain and early slavery to make his point. He indicates that “the first American to shed blood in the revolution...was a black seaman named Crispus Attucks.” King also reminds the readers that it was “Negroes who were with George Washington at Valley Forge.” In concluding this section, King references Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation that was supposed to ensure equality in America, but “equality has never arrived” because African Americans are still facing discrimination. His appeal to logic gives the black audience proof of their worth so that they can see why they deserve freedom. By including the historical events, King hopes that people will not forget that it was Negros who helped to establish America, land of the free.

After centuries of racial injustice and 43 white presidents, Obama enters office in the history making election. Racial barriers in the government fall as the last position in office to never have had an African American succeed it had seated Obama. In “Barack Obama to be America's first black president,” Ewen MacAskill, Suzanne Goldenberg, and Elana Schor report Obama’s win by a landslide in electoral votes with “338 electoral votes to McCain's 129.” With states so keen on Obama winning, the country has taken a huge step from racial oppression exhibited in Wright’s time. A big part of Obama’s victory was due to the blacks who voted as in the article, “Obama Elected President as Racial Barrier Falls,” Adam Nagourney states, “Mr. Obama benefited from a huge turnout of voters, but particularly among blacks. That group made up 13 percent of the electorate, according to surveys of people leaving the polls, compared with 11 percent in 2006.” Blacks have stepped up and made their voices heard through the votes in comparison to Wright’s time. Instead of writing about how blacks around him have submitted to an inferior position placed by whites, he would write about how they have joined together to place a black person in the highest position in government. It is an immense change from when blacks had to give into Jim Crow laws to

The post-civil war era of American history could be argued as one with great promise for African Americans. With the North winning the Civil War and Lincoln granting the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, surely the seeds had been sown for equality for all in America; blacks and whites included? Despite the foundations having been laid for equality, it may not be surprising that only small progress was made when Lincoln- the “saviour” of Blacks- had little interest in abolishing slavery in the first place; “if I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it”.

In the discussion of Civil rights movement, freedom and equity has been a controversial issue. On one hand, some people argue that the black people does not deserve the rights of voting, purchasing house, and finding a job. On the other hand, many people contend that regardless of their race, the US citizen, include the Africa Americans, should treat each other fairly and equally. My own view is that the white people should abandon the thoughts of Racial superiority. Though the author of TKAM argues that white people shouldn’t abused their power and bully the blacks, and the civil rights act leader, Martin Luther King, argues that all men are equal, but both show that racial discrimination lead to unfair justice and treatment.

Victor Luckerson: “Why Millennials Can’t Afford to Be Colorblind” Through the past century, the quest for racial equality has been a continuous trail of successes and milestones. From Abraham Lincoln’s views on slavery during the Civil War that lead to the creation of the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing over four million African slaves in 1863, to the iconic “I have a dream” speech from Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963, not to mention that Barack Obama, the very first African-American president of the United States, was inaugurated in 2009.

The cynical cycle of enslavement has ravaged on throughout the history 's great civilizations; the victor holding reign over the defeated, the enslaved succumbing to the forces of bondage. There has always been, and always will be, a discord between peoples of different groups. Until the advent of modern democracy, the distraughted had no voice which to be heard by the masses. Democracy has paved a way for all citizens to have equality. In 1863, the United States of America joined other nations by emancipating those in bondage. Slavery had begun it’s way out in the modern world. However, due to years of indoctrination and social appropriation, there was a discord between those who were white and those who were colored. One hundred years after the emancipation proclamation was given, there was still social and systemic oppression and discrimination against colored people in American Society. Martin Luther King Jr. was an advocate during the Civil Rights Era who fought for the equal treatment of all people. In 1963 MLK gave his timeless “I have a Dream Speech” that sought to both help bring the end of systematic discrimination in America and to unify the country through love and peace.

The struggle for African American equality at the turn of the century. For those interested in the deterioration of African Americans’ civil rights, drop your books and start focusing on economic opportunity for African Americans. “Many African Americans have limited access to economic opportunities and are unable to vote. Currently, people like Chesnutt,Washington are the people that care because they both talk about effective ways to help out and be equal to African Americans. This issue is prevalent in the southern states. People should recognition that will do more to cement the friendship of the two races than any occurrence since the dawn of our freedom.

August 28, 1963 (Eidenmuller) marked a very important day in history that had an impact not only on America, but the whole world. On this day, Martin Luther King Jr. presented his well known I Have a Dream speech that aimed to eliminate racism, inequality and discrimination. He strongly believed that one day people would put their differences aside and come together. So, what happened to that dream? Along with other equality initiative ideas, they rarely make it past the idea stages or end in the actual eradication result. It is clear to us that even after 51 years, our societies still struggle with accepting full equality. Within those 51 years we have made a mass amount of progress but, a common thought would be that after this long the issue should have been eradicated. Two essays that can be used as an example of proof that racial inequality still exists in our society are, Black Men in Public Spaces by Brent Staples and Who Shot Johnny? by Debra Dickerson. In these essays, both provide solid evidence to support their main goal with the use of different writing styles, tone, and rhetorical devices to display how African Americans are perceived and treated by society.

In the first chapter Michelle Alexander notes, “The valiant efforts to abolish slavery and Jim Crow and to achieve greater racial equality have brought about

The election of President Obama marks the most noteworthy political accomplishment for African Americans in the United States during the post-civil rights revolution, thus bringing about a change in the country’s social and political landscape that was steeped in racial discrimination since the founding of this great nation. Because social and political conditions are subject to constant change, President Obama’s

In this book, King is clearly speaking to a contemporary and mostly white audience. And the bulk of the book is devoted to answering the titular question. Time and again he steps out of the narrative to rebut various criticisms from contemporaries who said that his movement was too militant, too extreme, too impractical, too disorganized, too out-of-touch with ordinary people, too disengaged from the political process. The year 1963 marked the 100-year anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and Martin Luther King asks two questions: why should we wait for emancipation? And aware of what White Americans were doing to Black Americans, "What is the Negro doing for himself?  (King p. 8) Martin Luther King concludes by pointing out the importance of expanding on the current campaign, what his hopes are for the future, why he wrote Letter from Birmingham Jail, why the campaign was the right thing to do, why America was a better place in January of 1964 than it was in January of 1963, and why America can't wait any longer to be wholly free. King examines the history of the civil rights struggle, noting tasks

The History of African-Americans to Attain Equality and Civil Rights Introduction The history of the struggle for the advancement and progression of African Americans is a larger-than-life story. It reveals their endeavors for the initiation of change in political, financial, educational, and societal conditions. They did everything to shape their future

Though the conclusion of the American Civil War in 1965 marked the end of slavery in the United States, African-Americans would not see anything resembling true freedom from the segregation and isolation imposed by slavery until very recently, and only after decades of difficult struggle. Some of the most important achievements occurred during the 1960s, when a generation of African-American leaders and activists, including Martin Luther King Jr., Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, and the Freedom Riders, fought against some of the last vestiges of explicit, institutionalized segregation, discrimination, and isolation in order to attain equality and civil rights. Only by examining the treatment of African-Americans throughout America's history can one begin to understand how the the ending of slavery, the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, and the contemporary issues facing the African-American community are inextricably linked. In turn this allows one to see how rather than existing as a single, identifiable turning point in the history of civil rights, African American's struggle for equality and an end to isolation must be considered as an ongoing project.