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
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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:
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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).
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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
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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).
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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.
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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-offact 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.
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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
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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
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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).
Audience
The main audience Obama addresses in his speech is that of the American public. There
are, however, different subgroups to which he directs his comments. First, he speaks to the white
audience about the anger that has boiled over from decades of discrimination toward African-
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Americans and a “legacy of defeat . . . passed on to future generations” (33). The “anger is real”
and “powerful,” he says, “and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its
roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races” (34).
Next, he addresses the African-American audience stating that, “a similar anger exists
within segment of the white community” (35):
When they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job
or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed;
when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow
prejudiced, resentment builds over time (35).
Obama also suggests that “to wish away the resentments of white Americans . . . widens the
racial divide, and blocks the past to understanding” (37). By offering these two perspectives to
these audiences, Obama brings them together as one audience against an overarching climate of
racial division that blocks the path to a more perfect union. He states, “For the African-American
community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our
past” (40). And later: “In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means
acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds
of black people” (43).
Supporting Material
Obama offers several different examples to clarify his idea in various parts of his speech.
The first to appear, which has already been covered, is the story of his family background in
order to make the point that his diverse lineage reflects the diversity of America as a whole. How
his story is used to influence his audience was explained in the discussion of structure and
persona.
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To illustrate “how hungry the American people were for this message of unity” (10)
Obama highlights some of the success experienced on the campaign trail:
Despite the temptation to view my candidacy through a purely racial lens, we won
commanding victories in states with some of the whitest populations in the country. In
South Carolina, where the Confederate Flag still flies, we built a powerful coalition of
African Americans and white Americans (10).
Though these examples are brief, they do offer support for his platform of change, propelled by
his campaign slogan of “Yes We Can!”
Next, while Obama does condemn the remarks made by Revered Wright, he paints a
positive picture of him as a person and as a friend, which was covered earlier in the “Structure”
section. He also offers an explanation for Reverend Wright’s attitude at the same time he gives
evidence of the numerous “disparities that exist in the African-American community” (28).
Obama suggests that, “This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other AfricanAmericans of his generation grew up . . . a time when segregation was still the law of the land
and opportunity was systematically constricted” (32). In this way, Reverend Wright is a product
of a generation raised on discrimination and therefore his remarks reflect a deep-seeded
discontent.
Later in the speech, Obama offers up “the real culprits of the middle class squeeze” (37)
that have caused white resentment within the African-American community. He suggests that, “a
corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term
greed . . . a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests” and, “economic policies
that favor the few over the many” (37) are to blame for some of bitterness expressed by blacks.
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While this evidence does not excuse such ill behavior and the abuse of power, it does serve to
influence Obama’s audience to rethink certain perceptions of race characterized by indignity.
Finally, at the end of his speech, Obama uses the story briefly discussed in the “Persona”
section to offer evidence of the change that is beginning to occur. He tells the story of a young
white girl named Ashley, who, at nine years old, learned her mother was diagnosed with cancer:
And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her health care. They
had to file for bankruptcy, and that's when Ashley decided that she had to do something
to help her mom. (55) . . . Ashley told everyone at the roundtable that the reason she
joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the
country who want and need to help their parents too” (57) . . . Anyway, Ashley finishes
her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they're supporting
the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue.
And finally they come to this elderly black man who's been sitting there quietly the entire
time. And Ashley asks him why he's there. And he does not bring up a specific issue. He
does not say health care or the economy. He does not say education or the war. He does
not say that he was there because of Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone in the
room, ‘I am here because of Ashley’ (59).
This story, as suggested in this paper, applies to a number of strategic levels within this
descriptive analysis stage of rhetorical criticism. In terms of supporting material, however,
Obama uses it to illustrate his point he made early in his speech that “we may all may have
different stories, but we hold common hopes (6). Here, the story revolves around a man and a
woman separated in terms of age and race, but arrive at this time and place in history in support
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of something larger than Barrack Obama. They have come together in order to help form a more
perfect union.
Other Strategies
Obama employs certain strategies to link together his persuasive appeals. First, Obama
uses the idea of “perfection” as it relates to “a more perfect union” (1). He speaks of “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) but, “generation after generation has shown that it can
always be perfected” (52). He refers to his relationships with Reverend Wright when he says,
“As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. Obama even proclaims, “I have
never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election
cycle . . . particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own” (38). Perfection, then, is something
Obama believes we should all strive for together, not necessarily a destination, but as a process
toward understanding and moving beyond racial divisions.
Obama also uses repetition to illustrate that there are two paths that we may travel, and
that as a country, we are faced with a decision. In paragraph 45, Obama says, “We can tackle
race as a spectacle . . . We can play Reverend Wright’s sermons on every channel . . . We can
pounce on some gaffe by Hillary Clinton . . . or we can speculate on whether white men will all
flock to McCain in the general election . . . We can do that.” He then goes on to offer an
alternative: “Or, at this moment . . . we can come together and say, “Not this time" (48). This
time we want to talk about the crumbling schools . . . This time we want to reject the cynicism
that tells us that these kids can't learn . . . Not this time.” He goes on the repeat the phrase, “This
time” in subsequent paragraphs that effectively creates a rhythm to his delivery, making his
message more memorable.
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This descriptive analysis of Obama’s speech brings to the surface the different elements
he uses to bolster his message of a more perfect union. It is not so much a complex speech as its
length might suggest, but Obama does cover well-travelled territory with an honest and fresh
approach reflecting on his own story that is part of a greater whole. Obama uses a direct tone
with his target audience, that of the American public, and speaks from different roles in regards
to the structure of the speech. In the next phase of moving toward a final, overall criticism of the
speech, a historical-contextual analysis will examine extrinsic elements of context and occasion
as they apply to Obama’s message.
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