I thoroughly enjoyed this article with Obama. Even though I have never been the one nor has my family to fully engage in politics, because it would always draw out conflicts that we already did not want between each other, I enjoyed this. This is yet another piece in which we are seeing more integration and racial discrepancy between people. This ties into the ideas that we have been discussing in class about racial backgrounds and racism. Although many people have seen Obama to be a negative figure, you can really see the good side of him by the timeframe that he stepped into office. He stepped into office in order to change and unite the nation in one of the worse times.
“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 of children and our grandchildren.”
This I saw to be a big idea that I took out of his writing when I was reading it. It made me start to dive into the idea of Leadership and what it takes to be a true leader. In order for you to be a true leader you have to have support and trust from the ones around you, in saying this he began to develop that trust just by this statement, of how “we” need to change the nation together. There are still struggles today but Obama does a fairly good job by uniting us americans together and using “we” instead of “me”. Every well oiled team, nation, committee, etc. uses the term “we” instead of “me” and if we are able to do this we can conquer anything.
E367: Writing and Diversity 
Brook,
I really enjoyed your response. I like how you mentioned the piece about how your family and you do not get all that involved in politics because of the conflicts it can create. Building on that, I found interesting how you included that you can see both sides of the story when it comes to analyzing President Obama. My family and I are very similar in the fact that we do not usually get involved in politics as a group because sometimes our views differ enough that it causes ridiculous and unnecessary arguments so I can definitely relate to that as a contact zone.
Moreover, you are right, many people can see both side of President Obama despite whatever view they might have. Many think he was a great president and many do not, but nobody can argue his integrity and his will to try and lead the American people in a time of turmoil and divide. President Obama, whether he accomplished his goals or not, ties right in to the racial period we are speaking about in class with people writing through the adversity of racism, culture and social barriers.
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Winston, Obama’s integrity is definitely inarguable. I don’t think anyone can say that he did not try to make the greatest changes he saw fit, even if they did not agree with those changes. He was greatly articulate and likeable as a person, I believe. And because he has roots in both white and black American households, he is able to be more accessible to most people. He even manages to bring up that there are people of both races that have similar experience, that not all white people have “white privileges,” describing this as the “immigrant experience.”
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Brooke,
I really enjoy that phrase you quoted towards the end of your post. This is true. It is sad that some of us can accept our differences and push forward to see a better future for our loved ones but for most the stain of division is far too deep, causing the cycle to repeat itself. None of the things he mentioned should ever be frustrating to converse, I think one of his goals during this speech was to create dialogue about American issues so that they can be normalized and hopefully eventually resolved. Like he said before, those that return to their respective corners are no better than the ones causing the problem, in order to progress we must leave our comfort zones.
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Brook,
I find it interesting that the problem you describe your family as having—that you tend not to “fully engage in politics, because it would always draw out conflicts that we already did not want between each other”—is almost exactly the problem that Obama says we have as a nation: We know how to yell at each other, and we know how to ignore each other, but we don’t do a particularly good job of talking with each other.
So I guess my question for you would be: Do you see any points where Obama moves beyond diagnosing the problem to offering a way out of it? If so, where and how?
Joe
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Brook,
I’m glad that you chose to quote that particular part of the speech because I think it sums up one of his main points. Obama keeps mentioning progress towards a more perfect union. He talks about how each new generation can find a new way to perfect the union. Obama says that whenever he feels disheartened by the state of the country he looks at the next generation and feels hopeful. He makes it clear that we live in a society that doesn’t have to be static, “that is true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope – the audacity to hope – for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.” I wonder if there is ever an end? Will we ever achieve a perfect union? Does the idea of a perfect union change as society does, preventing us from ever achieving this goal?
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My roommate and I were thinking almost on the lines of these questions you posed. We were talking about peace and how peace can never be achieved because conflict will always thrive. I don’t believe we will ever achieve a perfect union, but there is more good in trying to thrive towards peace or positive discourse than never trying at all. And i do believe that yes, there are new finish lines that each generation believes will be that achievement of unity. It’s sort of like how the LGBTQ+ community was able to achieve to get legalized same sex marriage in 2015, but we keep saying it’s not enough because there’s still discrimination and people within the community dying. So, to answer your questions from my own opinion and perspective, I believe that there is no way to achieve a perfect union because first off, there is no such thing–humans love conflict and even in a supposive “perfect union”, there would be new ways of disrupting that–and second, the standard of a perfect union changes because society changes and the voices within that community changes.
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I like the quote that you pulled out because he truly does illustrate what a perfect union would look like if we set aside our differences and found commonalities to connect on. It’s something very fundamentally simple, this is the stuff you get taught in preschool, yet it seems we, as in American society today, cannot understand kindergarten rules. It’s terrible to look back on a beautiful speech and feel glum about it because so far we haven’t made any strives towards a perfect union–even if there is no possible way to have a perfectly perfect union–and it seems our divides are stronger than our bonds. But, maybe the only way to find unity is through exposing these deep divides. The Obama Era was seen as a large step towards equality and unity, but sadly, this historic presidency was not met with open arms by everyone. And these very disgruntled people turned into trump supporters and the worst of those became white supremacists (if they weren’t already). Maybe this whole situation is like a a broken bone that has been healed wrong–the only way to truly fix it is by breaking it again so it can heal properly. It seems we have broken the bone already–it’s only a matter of time until it becomes whole again.
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Brook,
I really liked your response. I felt that it encompassed the message of Obama’s speech and an analysis of what makes it such a powerful piece. Personally, I am not very in tune with our political atmosphere in the US, but I do understand that the issues we are discussing are points of emphasis. I feel that learning that Obama’s goal to unify was what we needed at the time. In the US today, we face the same issues but we are not as united.
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