Rhetorical Analysis: A More Perfect Union

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.

One of which is remaining silent on many issues that the black community faces, racial inequality in this country, gap between blacks and other ethnic groups and also unemployment rates. There was not enough focus or attention, to confront racial inequality in the country. It’s been an issued that we’ve faced for many years. We thought that we could finally voice our opinions throughout the president. That he would announce and up-bring the issues that we have and are still facing. The gap between blacks and other ethnic groups in education are slowly changing. But, is still the biggest problem among African Americans and is still nearly twice that of whites. Additionally, more than half of African Americans that we know still live in poverty. This is due to foreclosures in declining communities. I believe that Obama should’ve done more to try to uplift the decling communities. I believe that then this will cause a decrease in crime rates and increases the rates of improving the communities. I’ve also learned that black unemployment remains double that for white. The main issue blacks faced are finding jobs being able to have more income. For Obama’s first term he state’s that we the people will change with his help that he was specifically target African American issues. And we are left in the dust and yet have seen change in the communities. We wanted Obama to speak upon our

Barack Obama's powerful diction creates hope for the future of the United States with word choices such as “continue,” “shifted” and “ambitions.” Barack’s shift from informal to formal diction constructs an image of unity through the usage of simple, personal pronouns, such as “we” and “us.” The shifts from informal to formal and back appeal to the emotions of the audience because they feel as if Obama is talking directly to them. His allusions to the Bible are sentimental because when he says "the God given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness" he creates a bond between himself and his audience. His words have a motivating connotation that appeal to both logos and pathos. The way in which Barack Obama presents his ideas allows his audience to have confidence in him and his role as president.

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

“ A More Perfect Union” is a speech delivered by the presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008. The speech was a response to the controversial comments about race segregation in America made by his former pastor J. Wright. Obama revealed his personal history as a man of color, living in the United States. He encouraged the nation to end the racial division, to overlook all the issues and unite to form A More Perfect Union .

The fight and work of getting equal rights from generations before us is something that must be continued and should not go to waste. In paragraph 6 of Barack Obama’s speech, it states “This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign - to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America.” Which means that the goal of Obama's campaign is to continue what generations before him did, which was to fight for what's right; for a union that's more equal, more free, more caring, and more successful. He doesn't want the fight to end. The fight for equality, has been going on for so many generations that letting it end will waste years and years of struggle and fighting that people in past generations had to do in order for our generations to get the equality we deserve. Barack Obama uses appeal to trust, also known as ethos, to persuade his audience that our country needs to come together and overlook racial

Throughout our history race, religion, and culture have split the U.S. ever since our framers defined our constitution. Since then we can find many examples which break us apart but also characterizes us as Americans. Even in today’s society, sometimes individuals tend to look at others who do not look similar to themselves as an inferior species. Due to these acts of racism and other prejudices against those individuals, many people have raised their voices and agreed that it is time to stop these immoral acts which only break us apart. In March 28, 2008 Senator Barack Obama addressed the nation with one of the greatest speeches ever given; it was not only a wake up call for America

We may have different religions, different colored skin, different languages, but we all belong to one human race. The text, “A More Perfect Union,” is a written transcript of Barack Obama’s speech he gave in 2008 in front of millions of people. He spoke about his life story and about how racial discrimination should be fixed. The website article, “Civil Rights Movement,” tells about the events leading to and during the moments in our history where African Americans stood up against whites to gain justice. To make a better future, people of diversity need to come together as a whole to protect their rights.

On March 18, 2008, Senator Barack Obama gave the “More Perfect Union Speech” at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia. The power and excellence behind his speech made all who listened think about race and the racial divide and conflicts that are so prevalent in America.

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.

On top of that big fat slab of equality and togetherness, President Obama also begins to usher in a sense of endless possibilities and hope through the audience. He juxtaposes the “ending of war” to the beginning of economic recovery (Isn’t that a lie in the state we’re in?). This solidifies hope and the use parallelism, “ we are made for this moment, and we will seize it – so long as we seize it together". He begins again, this time using a parallelism that is used throughout the rest of the speech, “we, the people,” to even further establish togetherness and also builds Obama’s presidential

We all want freedom, we all want rights, we all want a good life and if people work together then we can get that no matter our skin color is, no matter our beliefs, no matter where we come from. President Obama states, “ unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction- towards a better future for our children and our grandchildren.” This means that we all have different life stories, some rough lives some easy lives but it is one common goal that we strive for no matter your story. Barack Obama later goes on to talk about how diverse his family is and that he knows no matter what, his story is one of a kind. At the end of his speech he says, “that out of many, we are truly one.” This means that all people have different stories but we are all humans and we are all just one big group striving for a better