Eduardo Montero PID: 3552879 Brief Summary of the speech A More Perfect Union

The speech titled A More Perfect Union was delivered by Senator Barack Obama on March 18, 2008 near the historical site of the signing of the U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The speech responds to the video clip of Barack Obamas pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, making racially charged comments against America and Israel. Opponents of campaign and various news media outlets played the clip repeatedly on the television, radio and YouTube. First, the Senators speech attempts to address the voters on their concerns of his affiliation with Reverend Wright regarding his radical beliefs. Second, the speech addresses the sustaining and prevailing issues of race within America and how it paralyzes our nation. Obama addressed the subjects of racial tensions, white privilege, and race and inequality in the United States, discussing black "anger," white "resentment," and other issues as he sought to explain and contextualize Wright's controversial comments. His speech closed with a plea to move beyond America's "racial stalemate" and address shared social problems. The audience is fully aware of the division between the races, and the speech is very effective due to the fact that Barack Obama is willing to speak of what is often unspoken. Senator Obama recalls the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow (law of racial segregation in all public facilities) within our nation. He acknowledges the social issues that pervade our society today and the resentments of the black and white communities arent always expressed in polite company, but these resentments are manifested within our society in destructive ways, like racism. He acknowledges the present dangers of conflicts in the Middle East and explains the cause of such conflict. The audience is given concrete evidence to believe that he understands the role of history as well as the present-day global and national concerns affecting our country. Two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan without resolution, a terrorist threat continually plaguing our nation, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change. Also he needed a powerful tool since he was running against Hillary Clinton another minority and no woman has ever won the nomination of a major party in the history of U.S. presidential elections.

Eduardo Montero PID: 3552879 Brief Summary of the speech A More Perfect Union

In essence, he uses many elements that are exemplified in the classical and modern-day study of rhetoric, blends and expands new rhetorical devices in order to elevate the message, and effectively reaches a broad audience composed of multiple ethnic groups, multiple religions, and multiple socio-economic divisions. Through the rhetoric of language in the speech, Senator Obama proposes to have an honest conversation on race and unite the historical racial divide. In summary, the speech effectively connects to the audience through the multi-media of rhetoric.

Work Cited
Obama, Barack. "A More Perfect Union." Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 18 March 2008.