Rhetorical Analysis of Obama’s Speech on Race
Former President Obama gave an outstanding speech on race that made him triumph over the tight race he had for the presidency being a candidate on the minority side of the oppressed African Americans. In his speech, Obama mastered the use of structures of speech where he employed the use of ethos, pathos, and logos in the following ways:
In his speech, he identified himself as an American and mentioned how he became an American making hi part of the two antagonistic races. This gave him a platform and authority to speak with vigor on what he knew about the two races. The crowd viewed him as part of them at both ends. He began his speech with “We the People…” a section of the constitution that unites everyone regardless of the origin. He continuously spoke on the benefit of viewing anyone as a neighbor and an American. He spoke of Americans being one regardless of being a mixture of color. He showed that he understood the challenges of all the races being born by an American mother and an African father.
To prove to the audience that he understood the life that both races were living, he used statements that left the crowd united for him, and everyone was in full support of his candidature. At one of his statement, he stated, “we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction,” a statement that was logically true that no matter where the two races have met, all of them are in a life journey of success that everyone is destined to reach. He further reiterated that we should never be victims of our past by embracing them in our current life.
To sway the crowd and emotionally capture their attention, he spoke of one term “Hope”; the hope of immigrants in different shops, the hope of skinny kid who believes that America has life for him too, the audacity of hope, hope” this made the crowd applaud even more than they could. He continuously showed the emotions he had with every humankind who had a middle life and struggled to raise his children. He attached the struggles his parents had with the ones that parents undergo in raising their children, and therefore he understood the struggles that people undergo. He stated, “I understand the pain of an immigrant trying to feed his family,” “I feel so much for the persons who have survived the depression.” He used facial expressions to express such statements. Anyone watching him deliver his speech would see the seriousness and the emotions he had towards such expressions.
Obama’s speech on race was one of the outstanding speeches that made him the president. He ensured that he was addressing not just a race but everyone, no matter the class and other financial abilities. He used the power of allusions and patriotism coupled with the oratorical resonance of parallel constructions, “it is not about black and white, doctor and welfare mom.” Such statements had an impact on keen listeners who are the voters in this country.