Role of Racial Categories in the United States

In the articles Fear of a black president by Ta- Nehisi Coates was about the critique of president Obama’s leadership on matters of race. The critique was on the Obama remarks on the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, which Obama has said “if I have a son, he’d look like Trayvon.” After Obama spoke those words the author said the case of Trayvon Martin passed out of the national- mourning phases into a racialized political fodder. This article upset me because I think Obama should speak freely about race since many white politicians who are proud racist and for segregated can give their opinion without the media hate, but when Obama, do they call him the anti-Christ, racist terms or there are intensely discordant. I think Obama remark

At this point in the campaign trail Obama is eight months away from voters heading to the booth and deciding who will be the next ruler of the free world. Obama being a black man, has obviously dealt with criticism involving his race, some saying his race is the only reason he’s gained the support he has so far, that “somehow an exercise in affirmative action” (Obama 2008). Obama tackles this race issue by pointing out that it's not something that reemerged all of sudden because he’s running for office but that this issue has been ingrained in America throughout history, the way he presents the issue and discusses what is next for Americans are in a form of jeremiad rhetoric. This form of rhetoric “a mainstream and deeply American way of thinking about the nation’s past, present, and future” (Murphy 2010), often used to demonstrate a community has failed to live up to what is meant to be common belief and indicates the idealistic place that we would be in if we atone and progress. The speech starts off with “We the people in order to form a perfect union” (Obama 2008), invoking the inaugural lines of the

For many years, American Presidents were viewed as being white and powerful leaders. Why were they only white? Is it because Americans felt Blacks were not smart enough to run a country on their own? African Americans were viewed as less dominate people and have been discriminated because of the color of their skin. In 2008, Barack Obama was elected President of the United States making him the first black president ever. In this paper, I will discuss how Barack makes a change and if America can accept him as our first black president.

Though, knowing some of Obama’s background, it seems as if he was trying to get a point across. The point I have mention before, our differences should not separate us but unite us. Obama speech is inspiring, because he mentions how we all come from different backgrounds and we have our racist view points, but these points are simply from the past in which hardly anyone today has lived in. If we could overlook all the bad from the past and the negativity from being from different communities, we could have a better and stronger nation. Obama also uses his own background as a way to show how we can overcome different ethic backgrounds. It may be hard in some ways but as he states in his speech, “These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.” We are all apart of America, a country that we love, and we are surrounded by the people we love. Yes, we do come from all sorts of ethnic backgrounds, and some may be a mix of many. This is the inspiring part from his speech. Even though he gets many view points from his family and is from a mix of ethnic backgrounds, all that matters is that his family is apart of him and he loves them for who they are not the ethnicity.

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

Barack Obama’s election as the President of the United States in 2008 was considered by many to be a representation of the huge strides the country has made in terms of race relations. Considering that blacks in America were denied civil rights less than five decades ago, his election certainly indicates that progress has been made. Obama and his election to office is linked to this progress because much of the population considers him to be black, including himself. Yet, Obama has as much “white ancestry” as he does “black ancestry.” This specific example can be related to the convention ‘that considered a white woman capable of giving birth to a black

One of the biggest adversity’s Barack has faced is racism. Many people didn’t believe Barak could not become president do to the color of his skin. He experienced this all throughout his life starting in early childhood to the present.While he was in his early childhood, he remembers being made fun of for the color of his skin, he was left out and disliked. (Michael Nelson,2017,p.np.)

The election of Barack Obama as the president of the United States surprised Americans as much as it did the world. The first African American and non-white to be in the White House, Barack Obama symbolized a major historical event, another step-forward toward racial equality in the history of America. Civil rights activists, experts in the racial conflict of the U.S., and many liberal citizens believed that Obama’s election means the realization of the ideas of black civil rights leaders, the completion of the Civil Rights Movement, the beginning of a post-racial society, and the downfall of

Unlike the Spanish Empire, America characterizes individuals commonly as black or white when that is not the case. An accurate description is required to distinguish the various ranges of racial mixtures. Since America only generalizes between the Europeans and the Africans, the blending of the minority are disregarded.

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.

Obama uses historical context at the beginning of his speech to engulf his audience into an emotional understanding of his political campaign. Obama speaks of how he is “the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas”(377) and he is talking about the racial differences in his family and how nowhere else on earth this is possible therefore making him not the most “conventional” or candidates. But he believes he is a prime example of the true America, of freedom and diversity and he does so by using historical context of his own past. Obama uses a bit of cultural context as well in his speech when he talks of “South Carolina, where the Confederate flag still flies”(378) and how they have “built a powerful coalition of African Americans and white Americans”(378). He is referring to the U.S.’s past, during the civil war era, when blacks and whites came together and worked together to build a better nation. He believes the U.S. should strive for that once more to overcome our common enemies such as poverty, terrorism, and other U.S. crises.

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

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.

Getting to this place was a journey for Obama just as it is for all others, in my opinion. My perception of the encounter, for Barack, was neither horribly negative, nor very positive. He was simply lost, it seemed. As a young child attending a prestigious school in Hawaii, Barack Obama was cared for by his white American mother and grandparents, but was a brown child, having also a black Kenyan father. Barack was an outcast for everyone, being secluded from the whites because of his look, and having a different outlook than other black students at his school who held the view that they were oppressed by white people. It was far from sensible that the people who loved, cared for, and supported him the most could oppress Barack.