Obama Perfect Union Speech - Contemporary Racism

In Barack Obama’s speech, “A More Perfect Union,” Obama made an effort to educate the American people on the history and importance of race in America. He explained how our nations founding fathers developed our Constitution based on the idea that all men are created equal, without actually practicing this idea themselves. He used the words of the Constitution to discuss the current racial issues and to state his concern of our imperfect nation. This was all in response to the very controversial remarks Barack Obama’s pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright had previously stated, which created much unease among Americans. Obama felt the need to address our nation about this specific problem, since he identifies as a black man himself, and offer a solution to end this built up anger and discrimination between the American people. In his speech, “A More Perfect Union,” Obama is able to clearly convey the specific racial problem at hand that created the exigency for this speech, as well as effectively share his own personal connection with this issue, in order to help fix our country and work together to find a beneficial solution.

In response to the controversial sermon given by his pastor and the racial remarks that followed him during his 2008 campaign, then Senator Barack Obama, was inherently forced into delivering a speech that would address the comments and prove to the American people that he did in fact shared their “American Dream” and was not an Anti-America charity case. Obama gave his famous “A More Perfect Union” speech in Philadelphia, where he seized the opportunity to address the controversy as an indication of a much larger issue, race relations in America and introduce his mission of moving the country toward “a more perfect union.” His speech often coined, “the Race Speech”, had several factors play into its success, one factor being the way the speech was delivered, his speech incorporated the jeremiad form and constitutive form of rhetoric, the use of those two forms helped Obama address the issue while at the same time creating an identity that would encompass all Americans who would then come together in this identity and work toward the solution of the race issue and providing the “American Dream” for everyone.

‘A More Perfect Union’ is a speech that was delivered by the then US Senator for Chicago, Barack Hussein Obama, in response to criticism and condemnation that was hurled at him due to his association with Reverend Jeremiah Wright in March of 2008. Videos had surfaced earlier that month of Obama’s (now former) pastor in Chicago making “racially inflammatory remarks” that criticized the American government and accused it of discrimination against people of color (Yahoo News, 2015). Reverend Wright had come under attack from many corners of American society due to what people termed as ‘anti-American’ sentiments that Reverend Wright shared with his congregants, the most prominent of them being Senator Obama.

In Obama’s speech “A More Perfect Union”, he emphasizes the importance of unity among Americans. He wants people to overlook their ethnic backgrounds and join together as one. This speech brought out many points that Americans should take into consideration. That even though we are all from different backgrounds, we should overlook our differences to make us a stronger nation. Obama’s speech was inspiring in some aspects, but in a way his speech also is controversial.

Obama’s speech on race was a part of his campaign while he was running for the presidential election in 2009. He speaks to the American people with the purpose to gather them and with spirit of fellowship to creates a unity and patriotism. A unity where everyone stands together and in jointly could make the world a better place for everyone, no matter

Obama’s speech demonstrates certain points to engage the audience and to create a connection to emphasize its presence in the speech. One impactful technique he used is his anecdotes to prove his credibility to gain trust within the students. One anecdote that he clearly states is about African Americans are treated different decades ago and how certain races are not able to have the job they wanted, due to their skin tone. Furthermore, he adds his own research on this topic by explaining how “no blacks CEOs of Fortune 500 companies” (Mccaskill). This creates a sense of wisdom and satisfaction because, over time, society changed their views within people of color

In Obama’s speech, it says that students must take responsibility for their own success in school, no matter what obstacles they face. Obama claims this will benefit not only the students themselves but also their whole country. Obama's perspective seems to be that hard work is patriotic.

In the year 2008 the world was a much different place. Before countless racial protests and riots in streets, before NFL players knelt during the National Anthem for what they believed in, and before our president spoke of nonsensical chauvinistic principles on a regular basis, our country appeared to have a greater sense of unification. This unifying bond between the American people was due in part by Barack Obama, whose entire campaign to become president may have been the most difficult struggle for anybody in the lineage of presidential candidates to go through. As part of his strategy to win over voters and soothe the skepticism of whites who may have had any doubting questions, Obama gave this speech on race; a speech which still

Do you believe that the U.S. needs to be more “united” to be able to become better as a country? Former president, Barack Obama does. “A More Perfect Union” is the name of a speech given by Barack Obama in 2008 for his presidential campaign. In his speech, Obama builds an argument on how United States citizens must come together and look past racial and ethnical differences in order to better our country. Throughout his speech, Obama states various reasons to support his argument. Some of the many reasons include: the problem of recurring racism, the fight and work of getting equal rights from generations before, and the need to come together to be able to face certain problems. Along with these reasons, Barack Obama also uses many

"A more perfect union " by Barack Obama was talaking about how to make a fair society. An equal society is a more perfect union . Not perfect but close. Blacks and whites should be treated equal. How we need to fix segregated schools. He tries to explain to whites why black people are angry. Since America was born blacks have been mistreated . Even before America was born blacks have been mistreated.

Barack Obama, the president of the United States delivered a speech, “A More Perfect Union,” in March 2008 as a response to controversial statement made by his former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Obama starts his speech by quoting the introduction of the U.S constitution: “We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.” This was the basis for people to unite. The union somewhat started but it didn’t undergo completion. Stains of slavery and the lack of effort of the founding fathers of America to resolve this issue were the main reasons behind its failure.

In his speech, he uses a lot of Logical appeals to get his point across. “We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so of the disparities that exist in the African American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passes on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow” (Obama 465).“But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away; to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races” (Obama 466). “We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America-to simplify and stereotype

He acknowledges that the resentments of the black and white communities “aren’t always expressed in polite company,” but these resentments are manifested within our society in destructive ways, like racism (Obama, par. 31). The audience feels that he is knowledgeable and credible on the immediate topics affecting our future and our daily lives.

Senator Barack Obama had many issues throughout his campaign. Obama’s speech, “A More Perfect Union”, delivered on March 18, 2008, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, conveyed many issues concerning racism throughout the United States, but it starts out stating how the founders of this nation constructed the Declaration of Independence, creating all men equal. Obama then begins to talk about his pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and his racial remarks against America and Israel, as it is “divisive at a time when we need unity”, referring to the “ two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis” going on at the time. (Obama 2) Obama remarks “I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas,” (Obama 1) because there is much criticism in his campaign due to his race. Obama argues that race is paralyzing our nation, and that it is still a major issue due to white privilege, and racial inequality. In the end, Obama hopes to move past the “racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years,” (Obama 6) and wishes to improve health care, jobs, schools, and other social issues for the United States.

What makes someone racist? What does it mean to be racist? Did you know that “Maria Sharapova, a white Russian tennis player earns twice as much in endorsements than Serena Williams, an African American with a much better winning record? Now we’d like to know is it because of their skill, how famous they both are. No actually it’s all about their race. Hello and welcome to Thinking Real at Hot 99.5, you’re on the air with Laila Bouzghaia.