Keano Visperas

ENG 11000 Sec. B

2/24/15

A United Nation

In his speech “A More Perfect Union”, Senator Barack Obama advocates that the only way America will move forward is by working together to create a better union. Obama supports his advocation by discussing the problems of infrastructures that hinder the progression of minorities and explaining how we can improve these conditions and make it more equal for everyone like our founding fathers set it out to be. His purpose is to make the people inform the people the audience about the injustices happening in America right now and what he wants to do to fix this situation in order to dismantle racial division for future generations. He adopts an informative and commanding tone for an audience that isn’t as educated in the subject of the matter.

Obama begins his speech by establishing that from the very roots of our nation which is the Constitution lies the ideology that everyone must be equal under the law. Every generation must fight their battles to continue this tradition alive and he believes that it is his turn to lead the nation for this cause. He reinforces this belief by giving the audience his background and his rebuttal against the statements from his opponents in his candidacy. Although I admired his story about why he stayed with pastor Reverend Wright because it exhibited his open mindedness and showed that his actions aren’t easily swayed by his emotion, it personally took my attention away from his main point as it was more of an explanation for the people that were questioning him. It felt too anecdotal and I think he could’ve taken away a couple of examples that he gave about Reverend Wright and still made his point.

Next up on Obama’s plate was addressing the issues that were plaguing our society and impeding the educational advancement and economic mobility of minorities especially among the black community. Even through all the reformation that our nation has gone through, he believes that there are still many cracks in the system that can be improved upon and these cracks are what separates the bonds between the different races and socioeconomic classes that are scattered in America. Acknowledging that these problems exist is the first part in repairing our broken ties and working on them is the next step in moving towards a united nation. I agree in all these points that he makes because I also believe that this is the way for us to advance. We can’t work together if we don’t know what it is that we have to work on and he precisely states the problems that we have to attack.

Finally, Obama solidifies his whole point by telling a little story about one of her campaign organizers named Ashley. It reinforces the idea that you should work to better the future for others instead of working towards a goal that only benefits a certain race or a certain community. Although it isn’t enough to completely erase the problems that haunt us right now, it is a step towards a better future and the hope that it would be completely diminished as time passes. I think that this was a great conclusion to his speech as it strengthened the foundation of his speech and it ended with his main point and what he is looking toward in the coming future. Ending with an anecdote really puts the goal to a real life perspective that one could relate to and strive towards.

Obama states what he wants to work towards for the future of this nation and gives his background and why he feels fit to lead this reformation. He informs the audience of the obstacles that impede the advancement of minorities. He finishes by fortifying his goal with a moral story.