Article. ", "embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright's sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour of American life occurs on Sunday morning. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in the church? That has been my experience at Trinity. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well. If you doubt this assertion, test it out. This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other African-Americans of his generation grew up. Two-ness I could argue that Obama's speech is a meditation upon DuBois' theory of a dual experience of race in America. "white and black" "black and brown" "best schools poorest nations" "too black or not black enough" "the doctor and the welfare mom" "the model student and the former gang-banger " "raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor" "political correctness or reverse racism" "your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams". That legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations those young men and, increasingly, young women who we see standing on street corners or languishing in our prisons, without hope or prospects for the future. They weren't simply a religious leader's efforts to speak out against perceived injustice. Thus, Obama has aligned himself with both God and country, so Obama seems untouchable from a moral/religious level. Reporters and other visitors were barred from the convention sessions, which were held in secret to avoid outside pressures. In order for the Constitution to become law, it then had to be ratified by nine of the 13 states. I suppose the politically safe thing to do would be to move on from this episode and just hope that it fades into the woodwork. Inside the fallout of Twitters decision to strip verified Twitter users of their legacy blue checks. Link couldn't be copied to clipboard! Such analysis, while interesting in itself, might be little more than a scholarly curiosity if we were not so concerned with the language issues of political discourse. Most memorable, of course, is the story at the end of the speech which is why it appears at the end. And they are part of America, this country that I love. Like other black churches, Trinity's services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. Clark makes references and comparisons to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and W.EB. For his contributions to the drafting of the Constitution, as well as its ratification, Madison became known as Father of the Constitution.. Obama's patriotic lexicon is meant to comfort white ears and soothe white fears. The Constitution of the United States established Americas national government and fundamental laws, and guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens. Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States who was still a presidential candidate at the time, faced a major challenge as he delivered his A More Perfect Union at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism. 771 0 obj <>stream In his speech, Obama builds an argument on how United States WebA More Perfect Union: Rhetorical Questions BACK NEXT That teacher who thinks he's funny (but isn't): "what do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question?" At that time, the Presidential campaign was still in the primary phasethe phase in which candidates inside each party compete to become the official party nominee for Presidential elections. From Obamas establishment of ethos in his speech A More Perfect Union we see that trying to approach the problem of protecting your reputation from many directions and trying to demonstrate competency in many facets is effective. To appeal to populist instincts it becomes de rigueur to be descended from "goat turd farmers" in France. It was signed on September 17, 1787, by delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Another controversial topic was slavery. These questions matter for us today as there are always situations, especially political ones, where we need to defend our own credibility in a competent manner. We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the Three major aspects of Obamas ethos stand out in this speech: sagacity of wisdom as shown by his mixed heritage, sagacity of knowledge, and good moral character and good will towards the audience as expressed through his religious background and morals. Also featured is Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter and principal at Black Futures Lab, discussing why Obama's words do not fully address the depth of racial discrimination. However, other states, especially Massachusetts, opposed the document, as it failed to reserve un-delegated powers to the states and lacked constitutional protection of basic political rights, such as freedom of speech, religion and the press. This time, we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can't learn; that those kids who don't look like us are somebody else's problem. DuBois. Additionally, aligning yourself with both religion and patriotic views helps strengthen your platform as a candidate. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black. Classically, to establish ethos, you can display sagacity (knowledge of the issue, wisdom, or expertise), moral character, or good will toward the audience (Strang 1). Many bring up a specific issue. Throughout the first year of this campaign, against all predictions to the contrary, we saw how hungry the American people were for this message of unity. We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. And finally they come to this elderly black man who's been sitting there quietly the entire time. In June of that same year, Virginia ratified the Constitution, and New York followed in July. The blood that spilled was our blood, the tears our tears, until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world. He does not say that he was there because of Barack Obama. The Preamble to the US Constitution We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Back to Obama: "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." Logue is a father (plays with his children in his office), husband (talks with his wife by the radio), therapist (sits with Bertie every day to help We use cookies to offer you the best experience. 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 Farmers and scholars, statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787. Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. The Constitution was thus narrowly ratified in Massachusetts, followed by Maryland and South Carolina. I can assure you it is not. In terms of religious affiliation, most were Protestants. To prepare us, lets take another look at the words of Barack Obama before he was president. This time, we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. WebA More Perfect Union , a line taken from the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution. In 1786, Alexander Hamilton, a lawyer and politician from New York, called for a constitutional convention to discuss the matter. A time just before the ascendancy of social networks and the trolls who try to poison them. Please note! Yes. WebDeclaration of Independence. WebWe the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Since announcing his candidacy, Obama sought to maintain a "race-neutral" cam-paign. ", Parallelism At the risk of calling to mind the worst memories of grammar class, I invoke the wisdom that parallel constructions help authors and orators make meaning memorable. But she didn't. In it, Obama addresses the role race has played in the presidential campaign. In 2008, then-Senator Barack Obama delivered a speech that many say saved his presidential campaign. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns this too widens the racial divide and blocks the path to understanding. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children. We are working to address intermittent outages. We have no way of knowing if that was true of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, but it is certainly true of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech. This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. From different foods, fashions, beauty, and even haircuts. There is a young, 23-year-old white woman named Ashley Baia who organized for our campaign in Florence, S.C. She had been working to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this campaign, and one day she was at a roundtable discussion where everyone went around telling their story and why they were there. Fair or not, this perception has produced a hope that our next president will be a more powerful communicator, a Kennedy or Reagan, perhaps, who can use language less as a way to signal ideology and more as a means to bring the disparate parts of the nation together. Their experience is the immigrant experience as far as they're concerned, no one handed them anything. (By the content of their character is parallel to by the color of their skin.). George Washington, whod become a national hero after leading the Continental Army to victory during the American Revolution, was selected as president of the convention by unanimous vote. "we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction. 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. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. So she told everyone at the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need to help their parents, too. The framers knew it wasnt a perfect document. However, only 17 amendments have been ratified in addition to the Bill of Rights because the process isnt easyafter a proposed amendment makes it through Congress, it must be ratified by three-fourths of the states. The press has scoured every single exit poll for the latest evidence of racial polarization, not just in terms of white and black, but black and brown as well. His implied audience are American voters, including those present physically at the speech and those at home. A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one's family contributed to the erosion of black families a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. But if [the] destruction of the Union, by one, or by a part only, of the States, be lawfully possible, the Union is less perfect than before the Constitution, having lost the vital element of perpetuity. Without dwelling on it, Obama reminds us that his father was black and his mother white, that he came from Kenya, but she came from Kansas: "I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slave and slave owners an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. 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. Absolutely just as I'm sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed. 0000006413 00000 n

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