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A Descriptive Analysis of Barack Obama’s Speech

“A More Perfect Union”

By

Paul E. Stafford

Submitted to Dr. Wendy Atkins-Sayre of the

Speech Communication Department of

The University of Southern Mississippi

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

SCM 740 Rhetorical Criticism

Spring 2009

The process of critical analysis begins with a close examination of a text that does not go beyond looking at the merits of the rhetorical act itself. Such a close analysis seeks to illuminate the purpose of the act and the strategies used by the rhetor to achieve a particular goal. This paper represents the first stage of conducting a rhetorical criticism of Barack Obama’s “A More Perfect Union” speech he delivered in March of 2008. The seven elements of purpose, structure, tone, persona, audience, supporting materials, and other strategies mark each section of the descriptive analysis.

Purpose

Obama reveals the purpose of his speech in the opening line. He chooses the first sentence from the preamble of the United States Constitution, that states, “We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.” He uses these words to capture and reframe the purpose of the Constitution for the purpose of his speech. The constitution, he says, was “stained by this nation’s original sin of slavery” (3), the underlying root of inequality and division in America. Obama says that the Constitution provided the “answer to the slavery question . . . a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time” (4). He says, however, such proclamations on paper were unfulfilled: “And yet, words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States” (5). He goes on to account for those who chose to protest and struggle for civil rights: “What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part . . . to narrow the gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of our time” (5). This sets up his reasoning for his campaign for president, which is also the purpose of his speech:

I chose to run for the presidency 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 – towards a better future for our children and our grandchildren (6).

His message is simple: only together can we move forward with our differences toward a more perfect America. The stories that each of us have form the fabric of this country, and “ . . . that out of many, we are truly one” (9).

Throughout the speech, Obama reinforces the message of striving toward a more perfect union. On the campaign trail he says, “we saw how hungry the American people were for this message of unity” (10). He uses Reverend Wright’s controversial comments to “reflect [on] the complexities of race in this country that we’ve never really worked through – a part of our union that we have not yet made perfect” (27). In order to move toward a more perfect union, he asserts that together we must fully engage in the lingering issue of race, and “ . . . that in fact we have no choice, we have no choice if we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union” (39).

Finally, towards the end of the speech, Obama reasserts his own beliefs and those of the American people: “I would not be running for President if I didn’t believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. He supports this claim by telling a story of a young white girl and an elderly black man working together in support of his campaign, stating that “[This] is where our union grows stronger” (61).

In summary, Obama’s purpose in this speech is to use the notion of a more perfect union as a focal point for his campaign and the American people, and to confront the lingering issues of race.

Structure

The structure of Obama’s speech can be divided into sections that support the notion of moving toward a more perfect union. As explained earlier, the first sentence introduces the purpose of his speech and sets up the story of the success and failure of the Constitution in the next four paragraphs. In paragraphs two and three Obama takes the audience back to the signing of the Constitution during the 1787 Philadelphia convention “in a hall that still stands across the street” (2). Obama is speaking from the same space as those who “launched America’s improbable experiment in democracy” (2) and wrestled with the issue of slavery that “divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate” (3).

Paragraph six explains his reason for running for President surmising 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 hope” (6). With this, Obama launches into his own story: “I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas” (7). In revealing the racial diversity that exists within his own family he proclaims, “that in no other country on Earth is my story possible” (8) and “that out of many, we are truly one” (9). The “we” and “one” represent both his family lineage and a diverse America.

In the next section, Obama talks about his campaign and how race has played an issue. He speaks of being labeled “too black” or “not black enough” (11) by members of the media who sought out “evidence of racial polarization, not just in term of white and black, but black and brown as well” (11). This leads to the next section (paragraphs 13-25) regarding the controversial comments made by Reverend Wright and Obama’s affiliation with the black church.

Obama begins this section by reminding audience that, “I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright” and attempts to strike common ground with his audience, suggesting “ . . . I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed” (14). He goes on to say Reverend Wright’s comments present a “distorted view” (15) of America and were “divisive at a time when we need unity” to confront “problems that are neither black or white, or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all” (16). Again, he emphasizes unity and a sense of shared concerns.

Obama goes on, however, to paint a more positive, holistic picture of Reverend Wright as a scholar, a U. S. Marine, and as a leader in the community who introduced him to Christianity. Obama also captures the exuberance of the black church that contains “the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America” (21). This, he says, helps to explain his relationship with Revered Wright: “I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community” (23). “These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love” (24).

Obama uses the next section (paragraphs 26-32) to confront the issue of race and the underlying tensions emanating from a history of discriminatory practices “that we have never really worked through,” warning that “if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges . . .” (27). Obama mentions the “brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow” (28), the segregation of schools, “legalized discrimination” (30), and “A lack of economic opportunity among black men” (31).

In the following section (paragraph 33-37) Obama speaks of the anger that has boiled over from past generations of African-Americans “ . . .who didn’t make it – those who were ultimately defeated, in one way or another, by discrimination” (33). Obama also speaks of a “similar anger” that exists within the white community as well, referring to the “immigrant experience” of those working hard all their lives “ . . . only to see their jobs shipped overseas or the pension dropped after a lifetime of labor” (35).

In paragraphs 38 through 52 Obama lays out where we are as a result of decades of racial division and suggests that as a country we have a choice to make. He says, “We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism (45) . . . We can do that” (46). And then he warns, “But if we do I can tell you that in the next election, we’ll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change” (47). He then suggests another option: “In this election, we can come together and say, ‘Not this time’” (48).

Finally, Obama concludes his speech (paragraphs 53-61) with the story briefly discussed in the above “Purpose” section. This allows him to bookend his speech with different narratives that illustrate the diversity of his audience.

Tone

The multiple tones Obama presents throughout the speech reflect both a personal and public perception of the attitudes that surround issues of race in America today. He does not speak above his audience but rather, directly to them. The subject matter is his audience and he frequently moves between “I” and “we” during his address to emphasize the pervasive and sensitive nature of race that affects both himself and his audience. This allows him to make his own views known while remaining a member of the very audience he is speaking to: the American public at large.

At the beginning of the speech, Obama’s persona as a historical commentator allows him to express the painful truth surrounding the signing of the Constitution. He conveys a sense of frustration over an “unfinished” document and with the founders who “chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at lease twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations” (3). A sense of irony is captured in Obama’s words when he says, “Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution” (4). The tone expressed in these two paragraphs suggests a frustration with the country’s founders for leaving the issue of slavery to chance that ultimately divided a nation. His tone then becomes matter-of-fact when he proclaims, “I believe deeply we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together” (6) and with this directness, Obama makes his case for unity in the remainder of his speech.

Obama continues this direct tone when he speaks about the controversy surrounding Reverend Wright. In reference to his contentious remarks, Obama states, “ . . . they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country” (15). “Reverend Wright’s comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity” (16). Here, Obama reaffirms his clear disapproval of Wright’s comments that seem to exemplify the attitude of race in America. Later, however, he is sympathetic toward Reverend Wright when he says, “I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community,” (23). When he speaks of the history of discrimination in America, Obama reminds his audience, “This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other African-Americans of his generation grew up” (32). He does not excuse Reverend Wright’s remarks but Obama does acknowledge the source of the anger and the contempt felt by so many. In this way, Obama’s tone epitomizes the need for tolerance and understanding from himself and his audience in order to move toward a more perfect union.

Later, Obama’s matter-of-fact tone helps him sum up the current cultural climate, stating, “This is where we are now. It’s a racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years.” (38). His answer to the overarching problem is simple and direct: “In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world’s great religions demand – that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us” (44). Here, is attitude is not dismissive, but incisive, reminding us that the answer has been before us all this time, just like the answer to the question of slavery embedded in the Constitution.

Toward the end of the speech, Obama admits that he too succumbs to “feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility” of a more perfect union but he finds “hope in the next generation” (52). Here again, his honest and hopeful tone speaks directly to the audience and he leaves them with a story that illustrates the genesis of this union. “By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough (60). “But it is where we start. It is where our union grows stronger” (61).

Persona

Obama uses various roles within his persona to bolster his credibility in the eyes of his audience. Because his audience is diverse and holds different perspectives, he too assumes different identities to persuade his listeners that he does not stand above them, but that he stands among them.

In the beginning of the speech, Obama speaks as a student of history in order to frame the purpose of his speech in historical terms: “We the people, in order to form a more perfect union” (1). He goes on to recall the promises set forth in the Constitution that remain unfulfilled, and the fight for equality “through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through civil war and civil disobedience . . .” (5). History ties him to his campaign and to his cause “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” (6).

In the next section, Obama becomes a storyteller, imparting his “own American story” (7) to the audience: “I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas.” He goes on to reveal he is married “to a black American woman who carries within her the blood of slaves and slave owners” and that he is part of a lineage made up of “every race and every hue, scattered across three continents ” (8). By telling his story, he admits that he is not “the most conventional candidate” but like his “genetic makeup . . . this nation is more than sum of its parts – that out of the many, we are truly one” (9). To his audience, then, Obama is America.

Obama then confronts the controversy leading up to this speech by slipping into the role of those who question his association with Reverend Wright: “Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes”(14). And later: “Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church?” (17). By assuming the role of an uncertain public, Obama helps his credibility when admits that he would “react in much the same way” if all that he knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of sermons played as “endless loop(s) on the television and YouTube” (17). This allows him to explain his association with Reverend Wright and also use the pastor’s controversial remarks to bolster his argument for a more perfect union.

Later in the speech, Obama claims the role of social commentator in order to explain how race has become a polarizing issue in America. He says, “Understanding this reality requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point. As William Faulkner once wrote, ‘The past isn’t dead, and buried. In fact, it isn’t even past’” (28). In paragraphs 28-37, he acts as a guide for the audience, touching on the issues of segregated schools, legalized discrimination, failed welfare policies, self-serving politicians and talk-show hosts, the Reagan Coalition, Washington lobbyists and special interest groups, and of course, white and black America. Here, he sounds less like a campaigner and more like an informed American, one who seeks to make clear the complexities of racial division and persuade his audience that these are issues that affect them all.

Obama then assumes the role of an agent for change and suggests that we as a nation have choice to make: We can continue to downplay the issues “that breed division, and conflict, and cynicism,” (45) or, he says, “In this election we can come together and say, “Not this time.” (48). He continues in the following paragraphs to insist that, “this time we want to talk about” the issues that have been ignored in the past because the past is now: “I would not be running for President if I didn’t believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country” (52).

Finally, at the end of his speech, Obama reclaims the role of storyteller, offering a simple illustration of a young white girl and an old black man who have forged a friendship in the wake of his campaign for a more perfect union. He also returns to the story in the introduction of his speech to offer a new beginning to an American story: “And as so many generations have come to realize over the course of the two-hundred and twenty one years since a band of patriots signed that document in Philadelphia, that is where the perfection begins (61).