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Rhetorical Analysis Of Barack Obama's Statue Of Rosa Parks

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Barack Obama -- former president, civil rights advocate, Christian, husband, father, and African American -- delivers a speech commemorating the statue of Rosa Parks. Such a speech was presented at the National Statuary Hall of the United States Capitol building in 2013 in the midst of a time when African Americans were fighting for racial equality. During his speech, Obama employs various rhetorical strategies to impart the significance of standing up for oneself and taking action to bring about social justice, like what civil rights activist, Rosa Parks, fought so tirelessly for. Obama opens his speech by asserting why Parks deserves a statue in her honor in order to lend credence to the American people concerning Parks’ feats. Utilizing …show more content…

For instance, when juxtaposing how society makes their decisions to a biblical reference, Obama claims that “we see through a glass, darkly,” a line taken straight from “Scripture.” This Christian appealing evidence leads Obama's more faithful audience to seek out the morally right path, not because Rosa Parks did, but because God motioned them to. Incorporating this allusion, Obama derails the notion that Americans should live life purposely trying to block out their issues; he instead suggests that the nation should actively pursue their problems and attempt to fix them. Closing his speech, Obama shifts back and forth between a first and second-person point of view when describing what society should do if they were in Parks’ position. He then mentions that “we make excuses” and say it is “not [our responsibility]” when in reality “Parks tells us there’s always something we can do”, especially regarding the betterment of one’s country. Converting to second person evokes Obama’s personable and inspiring tone that forces the American people to recognize his relatability and deeply reflect on their own choices. These inclusive calls to action emphasize the importance of not idly standing by waiting for others to bring about change and that in reality, anyone is capable of making that

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