Underlining Education and Ethnicity in Michelle Obama's Speech

Our society has been inconvenienced with several controversial topics such as higher education and who should attend college. Education has been one of the most discussed education once you have reached a high school level. Several famous figures have given speeches at college commencements, but there has never been a more emotional and inspirational such as Michelle Obama's. Some other ethnic groups may seem excluded from her inspirational words since the speech is directly meant for African Americans students; however, the main discussion is about having our youth to thrive for a collegiate education. The theme of education and taking a stand against statistics is prevalent throughout the speech and encompasses the most trivial, controversial

Ruby Bridges was a child residing in a white school during a time of segregation. Obama quotes her by stating, "So for an entire year, little Ruby Bridges sat all alone, a class of one, dutifully learning her lessons" (290). Ruby Bridges is an example of how hard education was doing a period of segregation, yet she still stood her ground and tried to learn. Her experience makes her knowledgeable on the struggle of education. The fact that she was a young child who had to suffer through the harsh opinions of racist people who disliked her because of her skin color when she was only trying to learn makes her a credible reference on the topic of education. Another credible source is the group of people called the Little Rock Nine, who broke through racial barriers to become the first black students to attend the Little Rock High School. Obama quotes them by saying, "Their classmates threw food at them in the cafeteria and hurled ink at them during class. But they kept showing up " (290). This small group was dedicated to the movement and were not going to let racial slurs deter their initiative to learn. These sources are all credible because they provide detailed insight in the speech about education and initiative that Michelle Obama gives at Bowie State University. Even though these experts were

Michelle Obama constantly provides statistics and ratios of African Americans with a higher education. For instance, Obama says, "One in three African American students are dropping out of high school. Only one in five African Americans between the ages of twenty-five and twenty-nine has gotten a college degree" (291). This statistic holds clarity and strength. On the other hand, Obama does not state the amount of people in the United States and among them how many African Americans there are in the world. Another statistic that Obama stated was that " people who earn a bachelor's degree or higher make nearly three times more money than high school dropouts, and they're far less likely to be unemployed" (291). These give good insights into all aspects of the statistical survey. The only thing I am curious about is where Obama received her information from as she does not reference