obama and rhetoric

7/28/2019 Obama and Rhetoric

1/10

Senator Barack Obama; The Rhetoric of Hope and the American DreamAuthor(s): Deborah F. AtwaterReviewed work(s):Source: Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 38, No. 2 (Nov., 2007), pp. 121-129Published by: Sage Publications, Inc.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40034970 .

Accessed: 25/07/2012 00:52

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Sage Publications, Inc. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access toJournal of Black

Studies.

http://www.jstor.org
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=sagehttp://www.jstor.org/stable/40034970?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/40034970?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=sage


2/10

SenatorBarackObamaThe Rhetoric fHope and theAmericanDreamDeborah . AtwaterThePennsylvaniatateUniversity

Journal fBlack StudiesVolume 8 NumberNovember 007 121-129


3/10

1 2 Journalf Black StudiesThepurposef his rticles tobrieflyiscuss ow enator arack bamauses the hetoricfhope o reach wideAmericanudience. pecifically,have hosen oexamine wo rtifacts,is2004Keynoteemocratic ationalConventionpeech ndhisbook,TheAudacityfHope, oassess he verallroots fhisrhetoricfhope.

Who is SenatorBarack Obama?From is fficial eb itehttp://obama.senate.gov/),t tates he ollowing:BarackObamahas dedicated is ife opublic ervice s a communityrga-nizer, ivilrightsttorney,nd eader n the llinois tate enate.Obamanowcontinues isfightorworkingamilies ollowingisrecent lection o theUnited tates enate.Sworn nto ffice anuary, 2005,Senator bama s focused npromot-ingeconomicgrowthnd bringing ood paying obs to Illinois.Obamaserves n the mportantnvironmentnd PublicWorks ommittee,hichoversees egislation ndfunding orthe environmentnd publicworksprojectshroughouthe ountry,ncludinghenationalransportationill.Healsoserves n theVeterans' ffairs ommittee here e s focused n nves-tigatinghedisability aydiscrepancieshat ave eft housands f llinoisveterans ithouthebenefitsheyarned. enator bama also serves n theForeign elations ommittee.Duringhiseightyears nthe llinois tate enate,Obama workedwithbothDemocrats ndRepublicans ohelp working amilies etaheadbycreatingrogramsike the tate arned ncomeTaxCredit,whichnthreeyearsprovided ver$100 million n taxcuts to families cross the state.Obama alsopushed hroughnexpansionfearly hildhoodducation,ndafter numberf nmates ndeath owwere oundnnocent,enator bamaenlistedhe upportf awenforcementfficialso draftegislationequiringthevideotapingf nterrogationsndconfessionsnall capital ases.Obama is especiallyproudof beinga husband nd father f twodaughters,alia,8 andSasha,5. Obama andhiswife,Michelle,marriedn1992 and live on Chicago'sSouthSide where hey ttend rinity nitedChurch f Christ.BarackObamawas born nAugustth, 961,nHawaii oBarackObama,Sr. andAnnDunham. bamagraduatedrom olumbiaUniversityn 1983,andmoved oChicago n 1985towork or church-basedroup eekingoimproveivingonditionsnpoorneighborhoodslaguedwithrime ndhighunemployment.n 1991,Obamagraduatedrom arvard aw Schoolwherehe was the irst fricanmericanresidentftheHarvard aw Review.


4/10

AtwaterRhetoric fHope 1 3In thisshort tatement,enatorObama lists his currentervice ndaccomplishmentso hisconstituentsirst,nd the tatementndswithhisfamilyndpersonalchievements.ne is able toget senseof whohe isand what s importanto him.

Rhetoric fHopeAlthoughhere renumerousefinitionsfrhetoricrom ristotle'ssoletrhetorice defineds the aculty(power)fdiscoveringntheparticularcasewhat re the vailablemeans fpersuasion"Cooper,1960,p. 7), tomore ontemporaryefinitionss inHauser's rhetoric,hen,s theman-agementfsymbols o coordinateocial action"Hauser,1986,p. 3), orAsante's rhetorics concerned ith he ommunicationf deas,values,opinions, nd beliefs nan efforto elicit he pproval racceptance fothers"(Asante,969,p. 3), I amdefiningrhetoricfhopeas theuse ofsymbolsogetAmericanso care about his ountry,owant o believe nthis ountry,oregain ope ndfaithnthis ountry,ndto believe hatweare more like hanwe are differentith common estinynd a core etofvalues.A rhetoricfhope lso entails n mportantersuasionampaign.SenatorObamareallywantsmorepeopleto participaten thepoliticalprocess ndultimatelyo voteforhim. fyouonlybelieve nd havehope,then treally s possiblefor enator arackObama to be thefirst lackpresidentlected o eadthemost owerfulountryntheworld. utwhywouldSenatorObamathink hat his s evenpossible? His peerswhoelectedBarack Obamaas the first lackpresidentf the HarvardLawReviewayhe wasa naturaleader,n mpressivetudent,niceguy.t washere hat bama ecognizedhe ower fhisbiography"Kantor,007,p. 1 .I would lsoargue hat erhaps part fObama'shopes nd spirationsiesinthepast andidacyf theReverend esseJackson.The1 84Democratic residentialampaignwill urelyake tsplace nhistorys one ofthe andmarkventsnthis ation. esseJacksonslargelyresponsibleor reatinghishistory.his s, npart, ecauseof hischaris-maticmage, is ethos. hiscampaign roughto thefore henational ndinternationaloncerns f Blacks. He helpedto breakdownfeelings fWhiteuperiorityndmoremportantly,e restoredhe aith fmanynthepolitical rocess. here remanywho aythat enator bama'scampaign

ispoised o be another istoricalandmark.Jackson's ushfor hepresidencyffered boost to Blackpoliticalparticipation,ndperhapsObama'scampaigns the clearbeneficiaryf


5/10

1 4 Journalf Black Studiesthis.Whatwas Jackson's wn ssessmentfhispresidentialace n 1984?"The firstmpactwas psychological.t lifted ur self-esteemnd ouresteem s a people,and it raised our sights s to whatwas possible"(Nelson,1985,p. 26). In essence,Jackson avemillions fpeopleyoungand old a reason ohope again.Nowwith he dvent f BarackObama,hopemaybe on the horizon gain.The followings BarackObama'sresponseoJackson's ndorsement:This ampaign as been bout ivinghopesinceDay 1,and amproud ohave the upportfmyfriend esseJackson.t is becausepeople ikeJesse an hat havethis pportunityorun or residentoday"CBSnews.com,March 9,2007).

The 2004DemocraticNationalConventionpeech:TheBeginnings f a Rhetoric fHope?Thiskeynote peech, Out ofMany,One,"was delivered n July 7,2004, nBoston,nd s a result, bamarose onational rominence.nthe

beginningf hisspeech,heexpresses isgratitudeo hisfamilynd ikeBarbaraJordan n her 1976 DemocraticNationalConvention eynoteaddress, e tooexpresses heunlikelihoodhat e is speaking o this ar-ticularudience.He states,I stand ereknowinghatmy torys a part fthe arger mericantory,hat owe a debt o all ofthosewho amebeforeme, ndthatnno otherountrynearth,smy toryvenpossible." ere,onemightaythat e is referringo theAmerican ream.His firm eliefinthegreatnessfAmerica sbest xpressed ith his tatement,Ourprides based n a very imple remise,ummedp na declarationmade ver wo undredearsgo: Wehold hese ruthsobeself-evident,that llmen re reatedqual. hat heyre ndowedy heir reator ithcertainnalienableights.hatmonghesere ife,ibertynd he ursuitfhappiness."Heaskshisfellow mericans,emocrats,epublicans,nd ndependentsto work n this reamomake t realityor veryone.e furtheriscussesa series fstories fpeoplethat ehas met nsmall ndbigcities roundthecountryogivethe mmediateudience t theconventionnd,moreimportantly,he est fthe ountrysenseofbelongingo a broadernclu-

sivecommunity.fyouwill,heexpressesheneedfor ll of us tosharentheAmericanream. orSenator bama, hismeans ood obs,education,health are, afety,ndaffordableousing.


6/10

Atwater Rhetoric fHope 1 5Specificallyesays,You know whileback, met youngmannamed eamus n a V.F.W.HallinEastMoline, 11. e was a good-lookingid, ixtwo, ixthree,lear yedwith neasysmile.He toldme that e'd ointheMarines,nd washeadingto Iraq thefollowingweek. And as I listened o himexplainwhyhe'denlisted,he bsolute aith e had nour ountrynd ts eaders, isdevotiontoduty ndservice, thoughthisyoungmanwas all that nyof usmighthopefor n a child.Obama,2004)

ThenBarack sks are we servingeamus s well as he s servings?Let me beclear.We havereal nemiesntheworld. hese enemiesmust efound. heymust e pursuedndtheymust e defeated. ohn erry nowsthis.He will nothesitate o do what s necessaryokeepAmerica afe ndsecure.John erry elieves n America. nd he knows hat t's not noughforustsomeofustoprosper.Obama,2004)SenatorObama implies hat hehope is that ll of us willone day prosper.At the end ofhis speech,he forcefullytates,We areonepeople, ll ofuspledging llegianceothe tars nd tripes,ll ofusdefendingheUnited tates fAmerica.n the nd, hats what his lectionis about. o weparticipatena politics fcynicismrdoweparticipaten apolitics fhope?John erryallson us tohope.John dwards alls on us tohope.I'm not alkingboutblind ptimismere, he lmostwillfulgnorancethat hinksnemploymentillgoaway fwe ustdon't hink bout t, rthehealth-carerisiswill solve tselffwe ust gnoret. That's notwhat 'mtalkingbout. 'm talkingbout omething ore ubstantial.It's thehopeofslavessittinground fire inging reedomongs.Thehopeof mmigrantsettingutfor istanthores.The hope of a youngnavallieutenantravely atrollingheMekongDelta.Thehopeof a millworker'son whodares odefy he dds.Thehopeof a skinny idwith funnyamewhobelieves hatAmericahas a placeforhim, oo.Hope nthe ace fdifficulty.ope nthe ace funcertainty.heaudacityofhope!

He endswith he allyingall for ll to vote nthe2004 election.


7/10

1 6 Journalf Black StudiesAmerica! onightfyoufeel he ameenergyhat do, fyoufeel he ameurgencyhat do, ifyoufeel the amepassion do, ifyoufeel the amehopefulnesshat do ifwe do whatwe must o,then haveno doubts hatJohn erry illbe swornnas president,ndJohn dwardswillbe swornnas vicepresident,nd this ountry ill reclaim tspromise,nd out of thislongpolitical arkness,brighteraywillcome.But where do you go, what do you do after he Democratic National

Convention?TheAudacity fHope

Senator bama was elected o theUnited tates enate, all2004,andhis first ook,Dreamsof MyFather,was publishedAugust2004. Hissecondbook,AudacityfHope,waspublished ctober 006.He explainsthe itle fthebook,It wasn't ustthestrugglesfthesemen and women hathad movedme.Rather,twas their etermination,heirelf-reliance,relentlessptimismnthe face of hardship.t broughto minda phrase hatmy pastor,Rev.Jeremiah.Wrightr., ad onceused na sermon.Theaudacityfhope.Thatwas thebest ftheAmericanpirit,thought-havinghe udacityobelieve espite ll the vidence o the ontraryhatwecouldrestore senseofcommunityo a nation orn yconflict.Obama,2006,p. 356)The essence of thisbook might e defined s a blueprintorhis politicalcareer nd, n ight f hispresidentialid,hisbelief nd stand nmajor ssues.So whatholds us together?He says that "if anything,what struckmewas just how modestpeople's hopes were, and how much of what theybelieved seemed to hold constant cross race, region,religion, nd class"(Obama, 2006, p. 51) and that not so beneaththesurface, thinkwe arebecomingmore,not ess alike" (Obama, 2006, p. 269).His rhetoric fhope mayalso be defined s a rhetoric fnewpolitics.Perhapsmore han nyother ime nourrecent istory,eneed newkindofpolitics,ne that anexcavatendbuildupon hose hared nderstandingsthat ullustogethersAmericans.Obama,2006,p. 9).And we needtoremindurselves, espite ll ofourdifferences,usthowmuchweshare: ommon opes, ommonreams,bond hatwillnot reak.(Obama,2006,p. 25)


8/10

Atwater Rhetoric fHope 1 7I imaginehatheyrewaitingor politicswithmaturityo balance dealismandrealism,odistinguishetweenwhat an and cannot e compromisedoadmit hepossibilityhat he other ide might ometimes ave a point.(Obama,2006,p.42)For the verageAmerican orker,hat ecurityested n three illars: heability o find job thatpaid enough o support family nd save foremergencies;package fhealthndretirementenefitsrom isemployer;and governmentafetyet social ecurity,edicaid ndMedicare,nem-ploymentnsurance.Obama,2006,p. 177)

Core AmericanValuesSenator bama s convincedhat urvalues ndspiritualifemattertleast s much s ourGDP. BarackObama also takesgreat ains o discussthe orevalues fthis ountry.e asks, What rethe orevalues hatwe,as Americans,old n common?"Obama,2006,p. 52). 'The valuesofself-reliancend self-improvementndrisk-taking.he values ofdrive,discipline,emperance,nd hardwork.The values of thriftndpersonalresponsibility.hevalues fequal opportunityndnondiscriminationom-plementatherhanmpingen our iberty"Obama,2006,pp.54-55).Ashe did in his 2004 Democratic ddress,he quotesthe Declaration fIndependence,Wehold hese ruthsobeself-evident,hat llmen re re-ated qual, hat heyreendowed ytheir reator ith ertain nalienablerightshat mong hese reLife,Liberty,nd thepursuitfHappiness(Obama,2006,p. 53). Forhim, heConstitutionnvisions roadmap bywhichwe marry assion oreason, he deal of ndividual reedomothe

demands fthe ommunity.Hisexplanationor eing Democrats simplyhis, It s this dea thatour communal alues, ursenseof mutual esponsibilitynd social soli-darityhould lso be expressedhroughurgovernment"Obama,2006,p. 63).Althougheappears o be an eternalptimistbout his ountry,edoes acknowledgehat here re things hatneed to be changed ndimproved ith egardsoracerelations:Tosuggesthat ur acial ttitudeslay opartn hese isparitiess to urnablindye oboth ur istorynd ur xperience-andorelieveurselvesfthe esponsibilityomakehingsight.ormany lacks nthe outh,hefilibusterad nuffedur ope.Obama,006, p.81,233)


9/10

1 8 Journalf Black StudiesHis optimism oncerningrace relations n thiscountry s exemplifiedbythis statement:

ThatwhateverreconceivedotionsWhiteAmericansmay ontinueohold,theoverwhelming ajorityfthem hesedaysare able ifgiven ime tolookbeyond ace nmakingheirudgmentsfpeople. Obama, 006,p.235)Many f us would sk,howmuch ime, iven hehistoryf racerelationsinthis ountry.nspite feverything,enator bamaexpressesn unfail-ing, teadfastenseofoptimismndhope.He says, Still,when look atwhat astgenerationsf minoritiesavehad toovercome,amoptimisticabout he bility fthisnext enerationo continueheir dvance nto heeconomicmainstream"Obama,2006,p. 241).Andwhat s hismessage o mmigrants?I amyour riend."[Fill nthehomecountry]as been a cradleofcivilization,"nd,"You embody heAmerican ream"Obama,2006,pp.260-261).However, e doesexpectsomethingnreturnrom hose hat ome to our hores.Wecaninsist othose lready ere hatwith itizenshipomeobligationsto a commonlanguage, ommon oyalties, commonpurpose, commondestiny."Obamaboldly tates, America s big enough o accommodate ll theirdreams"Obama,2006,pp.268-269).Fromhisyouth, esays hat Indonesia erves s a usefulmetaphorortheworld eyond urborders a worldnwhich lobalizationnd sectar-ianism, overtyndplenty,modernitynd antiquityonstantlyollide"(Obama,2006,p. 279).Therefore,ll ofushave o beready oengage ndbea positivenfluencenthe arger lobal ommunity.sgoodAmericans,he s confidenthatwe all canbe accepting.

The ast hapterf hisbookdeals with amilyngeneralnd hisown nparticular.eexpressesis ove ndgratitudeohiswife or numberfrea-sons.He viewsher s a remarkableomannthe act hat he sbeautifulndhas the trengthecessaryomanage ensionsausedbybeingmarriedo anelected ublic ervant.lso,heacknowledgesermanyacrificesn behalfofhim ndhisdaughtersocarryhemhroughhe ifficultimes.Senator bama'ssatisfactionow sthe ollowing:I thinkeing sefultomyfamilyndthepeoplewhoelectedme, eaving ehind legacy hatwillmake ur hildren'sivesmorehopefulhan urown" Obama,2006,p. 361). Itsounds imple, ut t s anelusive oaltosaythe east.In this rticle, havebrieflyiscussed efinitionsfrhetoric,enatorObama'sbackground,ndhis use ofa rhetoricfhopeby examiningwoof hisartifacts,is 2004Keynote emocratic ational onventionpeech


10/10

AtwaterRhetoric fHope 1 9and his atest ook,TheAudacityfHope,for ll toachieve heAmericanDream.The phenomenonf SenatorBarackObama and his rhetoricfhope appealmay ctuallyakehim nto heWhiteHouse. nthewords fJesseJackson,erhapsOurtimehascome, fwekeephope live!"

ReferencesAsante,M. K. (1969).RhetoricfBlackrevolution.oston:Allyn Bacon.Benson,C. (2005). Barack and MichelleObamabegin heir toriedourney. avoy,/(I),60-69, 103.Cooper, . (1960).TherhetoricfAristotle: ewYork:Appleton-Century-Crofts.Hauser, .A. (1986).Introductiono rhetoricalheory. ewYork:Harper Row.Kantor, . 2007,January8). In lawschool,Obama found olitical oice.New York imes,pp. 1,21.Nelson, . 1985).JesseJackson ow.Essence, 6(4),26.Obama,B. (2004, July14). Outofmany, ne. DemocraticNationalConvention,oston,Massachusetts.Obama,B. (2006). The udacityfhope: ThoughtsnreclaimingheAmerican ream.NewYork: rown.

DeborahF.Atwater, hD, is an associateprofessorn theDepartmentfCommunicationArts nd Sciences t ThePennsylvaniatateUniversity.erresearchnterestsnclude nter-culturalommunication,frican merican hetoric,nd the rhetoricfAfrican mericanwomen.

obama and rhetoric

Documents