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. This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation—the young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election.
There is one story in particular that I'd like to leave you with today—a story I told when I had the great honor of speaking on Dr. King's birthday at his home church, Ebenezer Baptist, in Atlanta.
There is a young, twenty-three-year-old white woman named Ashley Baia who organized for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She had been working to organize a mostly African American community since the beginning of this campaign, and one day she was at a roundtable discussion where everyone went around telling their story and why they were there.
And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got 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.
She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley con- 55 vinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than
anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. Because that was the cheapest way to eat.
She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she 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.
Now Ashley might have made a different choice. Perhaps somebody told her along the way that the source of her mother's problems were blacks who were on welfare and too lazy to work, or Hispanics who were coming into the country illegally. But she didn't. She sought out allies in her fight against injustice.
Anyway, Ashley finished 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."
"I'm here because of Ashley." By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.
But it is where we start. It is where our union grows stronger. And as so many 60 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.
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
How does Obama use the phrase "a more perfect union" in the first part of his speech? How does his use of this phrase contrast with its use in the Preamble to the Constitution? (The Preamble is widely available online.) What about the early American republic does Obama present as imperfect?
How does Obama's invocation of "my own American story" help shape his ethos? In what way does he suggest his experiences are representative of the larger American experience?
What reason does Obama give for his refusal to disown Reverend Wright? What similarities does he find between Wright and his own grandmother? Is the comparison effective? Why or why not?
What issues does Obama feel can unite people of all races? Why does he use "This time we want to talk about . . ." to introduce each of these issues?
What is the point of the story about Ashley that Obama ends with? How does he invoke Martin Luther King Jr. in this story? Do you believe that this story provides a good conclusion to his remarks? Explain.
MAKING CONNECTIONS
Compare Obama's discussion of the role of churches in addressing racial issues with that of Martin Luther King Jr. in "Letter from Birmingham Jail" (p. 425). Consider how the changes in American culture between 1963 and 2008 may affect their views.
Compare Obama's experience growing up on the edge of several cultures with those of Gloria Anzaldua (p. 205). What common threads do you see in these two readings about the spaces between cultures?
How do Obama's views of the origins of poverty and inequality compare to Gandhi's (p. 560)? How do both men deal with historical causes for contemporary inequality?
Compare Obama's views of reconciliation with those of Desmond Tutu in "Nuremberg or National Amnesia: A Third Way" (p. 450). Though the historical contexts of the two works are very different, they both address the need for different cultures to learn to trust and forgive each other. Do the two selections appear to be motivated by the same overall philosophy of human nature? Explain.
WRITING ABOUT THE TEXT
Write an essay in which you compare "A More Perfect Union" to another major speech on race from a different time, such as Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream." (It is widely reprinted and available online.) Explore the ways that the speeches reflect changes in race relations in America.
Write an essay in which you analyze how "A More Perfect Union" is designed to appeal to different audiences at the same time. Consider how and how effectively Obama appeals to black and white Americans, to supporters and detractors, to religious voters, and to observers outside of the United States.
Watch the video of "A More Perfect Union" (it is available online) and write an essay in which you compare the effects of reading and viewing the speech. How is the experience of watching Obama deliver the speech different from the experience of reading it?
Write an essay in which you analyze the role of religious rhetoric in "A More Perfect Union." How does Obama connect religion and race in the United States? How does this affect his view on race relations? How might the speech's religious language and references affect the reactions and perceptions of his audience?
WAR AND PEACE
Is War Ever Justified?
War is . . . inevitable unless we change our social system and outlaw classes, the struggle for power, and possessions; and in the event of our success warfare would disappear, as a symptom vanishes when the disease is cured.
—Margaret Mead, "Warfare: An Invention—Not a Biological Necessity"
the dedication page of Kenneth Burke's highly influential 1945 treatise on rhetoric, A Grammar of Motives, reads simply "Ad helium purificandum," a Latin phrase meaning "toward the purification of war." Argument, Burke believed, could be a socially beneficial outlet for the inherent human tendency toward conflict, a tendency that, if not carefully redirected, leads to violence. Rather than trying to eliminate the tendency, Burke held, we should encourage conflict while taking steps to ensure that it involves words and ideas, not guns and bombs. In this way, war can be "purified" into something useful.
History offers a great deal of evidence to support the premise of Burke's argument, that human beings are, by nature, quarrelsome and disposed to war. Early epic poems such as the Iliad and the Maha hha rata celebrate the prowess of great warriors in glorious combat; the world's major religious texts—such as the Hebrew Bible, the Quran, the Tao Te Ching, and the Bhagavad GTta—are replete with references to, and instructions for, warfare; and abundant historical evidence suggests that warfare has been carried out among the peoples of every continent in every historical period.