Obama's 'A More Perfect Union'

A more Perfect Union

Background

​Title taken from the preamble of the United States Constitution - the supreme law of the land.

Delivered by then Senator Barack Obama on March 18, 2008, in the course of the contest for the 2008 Democratic Party Presidential Nomination

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Obama was responding to the attention paid to controversial remarks made by Jeremiah Wright, his former pastor and, until shortly before the speech, a participant in his campaign

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​This speech is often considered Obama's most important statement on racism and the black experience.

Quiz

Your Task

As we go through different sections of the speech, answer the following questions on the rhetorical devices and appeals in the speech. ​Be sure to refer to your rhetorical devices handout.

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You will also be asked to reflect on the global issues raised. ​

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Multiple Choice

'A More Perfect Union' - Why use this title?

• To motivate people to marry early and well

• To highlight the brokenness of the American system

• Appeal to the US Constitution and it's underlying values

• Relate to a previous speech made by Obama

Match

Match the following for the opening of the speech.

• 221 years ago

• improbable experiment in democracy.

• "We the people, in order to form a more perfect union ..."

Shows the long continuous validity of certain values

Reminds people that the nation's political system cannot be taken for granted

Appeal to ethos

• Shows the long continuous validity of certain values

• Reminds people that the nation's political system cannot be taken for granted

• Appeal to ethos

Multiple Choice

'The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation's original sin of slavery'. Why use 'original sin'?

• To allude to the biblical idea of the fall of man that destroyed future generations

• To show that the sin cannot be eradicated

• To show that it's the most important of sins.

Open Ended

'What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part — through protests and struggles, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience, and always at great risk — to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.' Identify at least two parallel structures and analyse their impact.

Match

'This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this presidential 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.'

• 'we set forth at the beginning of this presidential campaign'

• 'more..more...more'

• 'to continue the long march'

Remind people of the key motivations for running for Presidential nominee

Repetition for emphasis and rhythmic power

Appeal to the tradition of civil rights activism

• Remind people of the key motivations for running for Presidential nominee

• Repetition for emphasis and rhythmic power

• Appeal to the tradition of civil rights activism

Open Ended

'I chose to run for president at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together, 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 — toward a better future for our children and our grandchildren.' What global issue is being related up to this point in ths speech? What is Obama's view about this global issue?

Draw

'I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton's Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I've gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world's poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners — an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters.' Draw Obama.

Match

Match the following.

• I have brothers...of every race

• scattered across three continents

• in no other country on Earth is my story even possible

• commanding victories in states with some of the whitest populations

He is friendly to the Whites.

International appeal - improving American soft power after Iraq war

Appeal to American exceptionalism

Not merely a 'black' radical appeal

• He is friendly to the Whites.

• International appeal - improving American soft power after Iraq war

• Appeal to American exceptionalism

• Not merely a 'black' radical appeal

Open Ended

'On one end of the spectrum, we've heard the implication that my candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action; that it's based solely on the desire of wide-eyed liberals to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap. On the other end, we've heard my former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary language to express views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation, and that rightly offend white and black alike....Reverend Wright's comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems — two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change — problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all.' What is Obama implying about his own stance on racial issues?

Reorder

In the long section explaining why he cannot 'disown' Rev Wright while disagreeing with his views, Obama uses several appeals. Reorder the appeals accordingly. Also think about what this section tells us about Obama (appeal to ethos). ''The man I met more than 20 years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another, to care for the sick and lift up the poor...He is a man who has served his country as a United States Marine...over 30 years has led a church that serves the community by doing God's work here on Earth — by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy...Those stories — of survival and freedom and hope — became our stories, my story....As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect.....can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can disown my white grandmother..a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed her by on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.'

• Wright is a man of true Christian faith and values

• Wright has led a life of exemplary service - action speaks louder than words

• Wright's church is where Obama integrated biblical stories into his identity and deepen his understanding of the black experience

• Wright is family - and family isn't perfect.

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Reorder

Reorder the following: "In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience — as far as they're concerned, no one handed them anything. They built it from scratch. They've worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pensions dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and they feel their dreams slipping away. And in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear an African-American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time."

• Obama acknowledges the perspective of the white community - though he does not explicitly agree with all the views

• Whites did not see their success as being built on privilege but on diligence

• Globalisation poses a genuine problem for white workers

• Whites may feel their concerns about affirmative action and crime are being ignored

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Open Ended

'Legalized discrimination — where blacks were prevented...A lack of economic opportunity among black men....And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods...all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continues to haunt us...For all those who scratched and clawed their way to get a piece of the American Dream, there were many who didn't make it — those who were ultimately defeated, in one way or another, by discrimination....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.'. 1) What is Obama acknowledging about racism in this section, and 2) who is he appealing to here?

Open Ended

'But I have asserted a firm conviction — a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people — that, working together, we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice if we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union....

For the African-American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past....In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination — and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past — are real and must be addressed, not just with words, but with deeds.' In summary, what kind of President does Obama promise to be?