More handpicked essays just for you.
Personal narrative historical essay
Personal narrative historical essay
The importance of race in the United States
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
One of the most notable quotes from Obama’s speech during his campaign in 2008 is:
My own American story. I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. 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 slaves-owners- an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters… And for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on earth is my story even possible. (Obama 2008)
Barack Obama, during his presidential campaign in 2008, delivers a speech named “A More Perfect Union”, as a response to “racial”, “denigrating”, and “offending” declarations of Obama’s former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah. Obama addresses the controversy among racial issues in term of black, white, and brown people; he also addresses his own life experiences
…show more content…
“In the second half of 20th Century America immigration resulted in profound changes in the magnitude and origins of immigration flows into the country” (Henry 2011). Along decades, the immigration of people has been increasing enormously, coming from multiple places, and races all around the world, such as: Black people, Latinos, and Asians. All these people throughout the years, they have settled in America and has made it their homeland. They have learned the language, the culture and have adjusted to the lifestyle, which make them citizens of the country, with all the rights and benefits. That’s why “their problems confront us all” (Obama 651b). Obama points out that even though we are many people from different races, at the end we are one. For which he also says that “Those stories- of survival, and freedom, and hope- became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our blood, the tears our tears… carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world” (Obama 652b). People need to
In President Barack Obama’s eulogy for Reverend Clementa Pinckney and others who died in the Charleston Church Shooting, delivered on June 26, 2015 at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, he commemorates Reverend Pinckney and at the same time advocates for his own political agenda. President Obama shifts between black and presidential registers, weaves the ideas of grace, sight, and blindness throughout the speech, and cultivates his ethos to better connect with his audience, the American people, not only African Americans or Christians. President Obama addresses the American public during this racially charged time in order to remember the lives lost during the shooting, to promote his political views, and to unify the all Americans.
The truth is Barack Obama underwent a path of confusion and desperateness. Yet, every good and bad experience he had helped him see the world from a different perspective. A perspective that would guide him to a successful future.
The article “Reality or Rhetoric? Barack Obama and Post- racial America” (Love and Tosolt 4) focuses on the impact that Obama’s election had on racial segregation in the country of the United States of America. The article seeks to identify whether or not President Obama’s ascent to the presidency is the beginning of a new post- racial era. The argument raised is divided into two portions. The first argument for discussion raised is that the acceptance of Obama as the president shows tremendous progress in the fight against racism. The other discussion point raised argues that it simply provides a different outlook to the public on the matter of racism and that no action of change has truly occurred. The article analyses the basic reaction of people of various backgrounds, races, age, gender, and professional interests. The article highlights the dynamics and main elements of each respondent. This approach provides an understanding of the aspect of racism and its interpretation from a vast variety of various individuals with
He makes sure his audience connects with him directly by making them feel at his level, and at hiss. This way he connects to the audience, and in exchange, helps his statement of unity. Using various examples of parallelism, anaphora and refrain, Obama brands the theme of equality and togetherness in our country throughout the speech, vital to gaining the respect of his audience. Obama recalls the ‘enduring strength of the constitution’ by delving into the past alluding to America’s allegiance to the Declaration of Independence by quoting “we hold these truths. that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”.
One of the biggest, growing debates today is the issue of immigration into the U.S. I just don’t understand why there’s such a big debate. I compare this issue to the issue of racism in the way that, no matter what you do, "they" are always going to be here, and it is only ignorance that keeps the issue ablaze. The fact that migrants are not mostly white these days, also makes the issue one more of race. As Charles S. Clark puts it in The New Immigrants, "In the 1990’s, Americans who grew up in a historically white, Anglo-Saxon society are having to adjust to a Polish-born chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, John Shalikashvili; to Spanish-language editions of People magazine on Seven-11 shelves; and to Buddhist temples and Islamic mosques rising in their communities." In the case of immigration, though, the ignorance is apparent in both the immigrant and the non-immigrant.
Roy Peter Clark, author of “A More Perfect Union”: Why It Worked, takes a stance on President Barack Obama’s speech while analyzing it. President Barack Obama delivered a speech titled “A More Perfect Union.” His speech focused on the prominent issue of racism in America. In this article, Clark talks about President Obama’s known power and brilliance. Clark makes references and comparisons to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and W.EB. DuBois. “A More Perfect Union” features writing techniques that makes the message more defined and effective. President Obama utilizes four closely related rhetorical strategies. Clark broadly explains the purpose of the rhetorical strategies. Allusion, parallelism, two-ness, and autobiography helped to shape President Obama’s speech that that was meant to create
Obama, Barack. "Address to Joint Session of Congress." The White House. Office of the Press Secretary, 24 Feb. 2009. Web. 5 Apr. 2014.
“What makes someone American isn’t just blood or birth but allegiance to our founding principles and faith in the idea that anyone from anywhere can write the next chapter of our story.” - President Barack Obama. The United States is the melting pot of the world. The great country of American was built on immigration. Look around, so many people have ancestor that risked everything to come to the United States to make something of their lives, and the lives of their children. If it weren’t for immigration, we may not be where we are today. Immigration reform is the term used in political discussion regarding changes to current immigration policy of a country (Immigration Reform, para. 2). In 2013 the Senate passed the immigration reform bill that would give a path to citizenship to the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. If the government passed Immigration Reform there would be many benefits to our economy, and to the individuals looking for a better future. For example, immigration increases the efficiency of the U.S. economy, it enables entrepreneurs to come to America, it brings increased national security, and immigration reform can reduce the deficit (Furchtgott-Roth, 4
In “A More Perfect Union”, Obama asked the audience to view themselves through the eyes of the others (Terrill 371). Instead of imposing a moral superiority of one side of the audience like Lincoln did or telling the audience to ignore the diversity, Obama asked the people to embrace their differences and acknowledge the others. In referring to the perspective of black people, he said, “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...” Meanwhile, to show how some white people might feel, he narrated, “...when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudice, resentment builds over time.” By juxtaposing two different perspectives, Obama tried to ask for agreement that people’s anxiety over racial problems is
... for the youth, but he also took into consideration any individual with a rough past. Overall, the central points that made a change in his life were mainly stories of individuals with different backgrounds and different outcomes in life. In addition, Obama saw the value of education in the youth and consequently took action with the school boards to improve the quality of education. Third, he learned to strengthen his faith within improving communities and spiritually. Barack always saw himself, or people he had came across in his life, in these individual stories. Barack knew that the education was poor and lacked quality. Barack learned that with faith many more things were possible. Ultimately, Barack Obama, too, had “the audacity of hope”.
We may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction. Barack Obama’s speech “A More Perfect Union” (Nov. 17, 2008) captivates our nation with its thought out structure of the division and inequality in America. Obama successfully used allusion and repetition. Along with personal anecdotes to identify with the audience.
The United States has often been referred to as a global “melting pot” due to its assimilation of diverse cultures, nationalities, and ethnicities. In today’s society, this metaphor may be an understatement. Between 1990 and 2010, the number of foreign born United States residents nearly doubled from 20 million to 40 million, increasing the U.S. population from almost 250 million to 350 million people. With U.S. born children and grandchildren of immigrants, immigration contributed to half of this population growth. These immigrants, consisting of mostly Asian and Hispanic backgrounds, have drastically changed the composition of the U.S. population. In 2010, Asians and Hispanics made up 20 percent of the U.S. population, in contrast to a 6 percent share of Asians and Hispanics in 1970. It is predicted that by 2050, the share of immigrants in the United States will increase to one half of the entire population. With this rapid increase in diversity, many citizens have opposing views on its impact on the United States. In my opinion, an increase in immigration does contain both positive and negatives effects, but in general it provides an overriding positive influence on America’s society (“Population”).
When Barack Obama ran for presidency, there were a lot of questions about his race, color, and whether he was born in the U.S.. The comments from his pastor Jeremiah Wright put him in an awkward situation, so he decided to give this speech to prove the point that we are all the same and live in the same country, so there shouldn’t be any discrimination among anyone. In his speech, Obama uses rhetorical devices to explain how race discrimination is affecting our country and us in every way possible. The use of rhetorical devices in this speech has strong effects on the audience. The use of allusion, symbolism, optimistic tone, and repetition of words gives the speech a strong argumentative tone. He argues the fact that to be able to achieve such big goals and how out country was supposed to be from the beginning, we need to stay united and rely on younger
“A More Perfect Union” was delivered by Barack Obama on March 18, 2008. At the time her gave the speech he was senator and running in the president election. Obama responded to his former pastor Jeremiah Wright, and also discussed the issue with race in America. This problem is important to us as a whole, because we went through plenty of racism in the past. He wants the prevent those incidents from according again. He did an excellent job using rhetoric tools to support his beliefs, which led to a successful election.
President Obama’s memorial speech following the Tuscan shooting carefully utilized the Aristotelian appeal of pathos, or emotional appeals through his word choice, which aligned him with the American people while still conveying a sense of authority, and his use of biblical allusions, which drew his audience together on the basis of shared ideologies.