Obama vs. King

I agree that in both “A More Perfect Union” and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” there is a use of logos or logic to back up the claims made by both men. To add, they both use the logic in such ways that make both their stories interesting and insightful to the issue at hand. I would also say that Obama does use his story, his past, and his compassion to give an emotional aspect to his story that people have found way more passionate than King’s essay. However I would have to disagree with the opinion that most people have been saying that Obama’s emotional aspect better conveys his point than the ones that King uses in his essay. 

Although King does use mostly logic to support his claims he does also use emotional connections to show his perspective. He talks about being called “boy” and how his wife will never have the title of Mrs. because of the color of his skin. He also describes having to tell his children why white people are so mean to colored people, and ultimately he goes on with the wear and tear that people of color has to experience everyday in that time. King uses this paragraph to remind us just how horrible it is for people like him everyday to go through things such as that. It doesn’t matter that he uses more logic in his essay because we already know how bad it was during this time. Especially now looking back in our history. We don’t have to be told over and over again because we know it now; it’s in our history books and apart of our culture today in America no matter what color you are. 

While Obama's speech does seems to have both a logical and emotional standpoint that makes the reader feel more connected to what he is saying, I believe the subjects that are discussed in both essays are two completely different topics. So after reading both, it is hard to say who uses logic and emotion better because of the content they are talking about. 

Overall I would say King’s speech is more impactful because he uses his words carefully to convey a message that is now known worldwide. Obama’s speech makes you feel a certain way because he tries to relate to the reader on a “human compassion” type level so that when he tells his story you start to feel more connected. This is why I think more people feel more connected when they read Obama’s essay, but I believe you kind of have to take yourself out of it for a minute to really take in what is being said in both essays.

Speech & Letter

Dr. Martin Luther King and President Barack Obama both present compelling arguments in favor of a shift in the nation’s condition. However, because both the audiences of these authors/orators and the context under which they were delivered are different, the achieved effect on the audience of both bodies of work will also be different. King, writing from a dark jail cell in Birmingham, is responding to a host of clergymen who had previously denounced his civil protests in an attempt to oust the portion of the civil right movement that was taking place in Alabama. Obama delivered “A More Perfect Union” vying for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination. In terms of authorial presentation, King’s speech is more compelling because of the context under which it was written. King’s purpose, as conveyed through his letter, is to peaceable disagree with the charges that have been brought against him by the clergymen of Alabama. In terms of logic President Obama’s speech makes a more profound imprint on the reader due to the fact that his claims are supported by his own life. In terms of emotion, King’s speech is more poignant through his usage of descriptive language. He describes vividly the life of the average African American living in the south in the 1960s, giving the reader a clearer sense of the motivation behind King’s argument. All things considered, King’s argument is more compelling.

Dr. King and Obama's response

“Letter from Birmingham” by Dr. King focuses more on expressing his motives on non-violent actions while Obama’s letter is to inform the audience about how racism still exists and as a whole country we can stop it. Both, Dr. King and Obama greatly express on racism and segregation along with using historical events to back up their argument. I find Dr. King’s letter to be more compelling due to more examples and even though he is only administrating to the clergymen he does a good job at explaining how he feels, what is going on in Birmingham, and the tone he has throughout his letter. Dr. King greatly expresses how disappointed he is in how his movement was defined “unwise and untimely” just because he wants to put an end to the injustice going on Birmingham. Upon reading his letter I felt as if I was one of the clergymen dealing with the situation. The similarities that I found in the two passages were that they both promote to stop racism. Obama’s letter deals more with explaining his background history connecting it with racism which I found quite interesting. The reason why is because he grew up in an era where segregation was barely lifting off. It was sad that he couldn’t be seen in public with his father because he was a white man. He faced many adversities due to that. Obama’s letter makes a strong point due to his story and using many historical events like the Jim Crow Laws, and Brown vs. Board of Education. 

Letter vs. Speech

Martin Luther King's, "A Letter from Birmingham Jail" is different from president Obama's "More Perfect Union" speech in the different ways they take their positions. In Obama's speech, Obama is very passionate about changing America for the better. He wants to take a positive action for the people and the well being of the country and highlights all of the ways he wants to do that. In contrast, King's letter highlights all of the problems that he has been through and all of the bad things that people of the church, who are supposed to represent the Lord, are actually the ones who are committing these crimes. Both authors are very passionate about the subject they are talking about, and only differ in the way they approach it.

Kings "Letter from Birmingham Jail" differs from Obamas "More Perfect Union" speech in the positions they take. King is speaking for himself in these terms to help clarify what he and organization are trying to accomplish and then addresses the leaders of Birmingham. This is seen as he begins the first few paragraphs with "I". Obama does much of the same but is vague at the beginning with the problem he is going to confront. He talks about the larger issue rather than focusing on the issue with his pastor. King uses a strong emotions to get his points across. This is seen when he says "when you have to concoct an answer for a five year old son who is asking: 'Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?'" 

 

Birmingham Jail and A More Perfect Union

The first major difference I noticed between these two documents is the authorial presentation of these two great men. In Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" he starts by introducing this letter as a defense against criticisms, while in Barack Obama's "A More Perfect Union" he starts with a quote from one of the greatest documents in America's history. This sets the tone for each of these papers, and sets the tone for the way each author presents himself. King says, "I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and organization operating in every southern state... We have some eighty five affiliated organizations across the South..." Explaining the operations that he is in charge of, and talking about the power and responsibility he holds seems to be an attempt to convince his critics of his legitimacy as a leader. Obama has no such paragraph within his paper, and focuses primarily on the issue he is discussing. He doesn't discuss the operations of the United States or the allies it serves, and any attempt at convincing critics of his legitimacy is hidden and spaced throughout the paper.
Another difference in authorial presentation is the greatness each man perceives of himself. In the third paragraph of his letter, King compares himself to the apostle Paul, and compares his mission to Birmingham to Paul's "Macedonian call for aid". Paul was the greatest disciple of the Christian religion. He was specifically pointed out by Jesus Christ as the rock that his church would be built upon. The comparison King makes to himself and Paul is outright vain, and I believe that his audience, who is already skeptical of him, would think the same thing. If anything, Obama humbles himself by discussing his beginnings, discussing how his grandmother and grandfather raised him, and how his wife is the direct descendent of people who suffered from slavery.
Obama's authorial presentation in "A More Perfect Union" goes hand in hand with its tone. The essay is inspirational and genuine. Although from a different time, and maybe one of the key players in his presidency, I believe that Martin Luther King, Jr. could have stood to learn a few things about authorial presentation from Barack Obama.

Essays by President Obama and Martin Luther King

In both Obama's essay "A More Perfect Union" and King's essay "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" the men wiring them are trying to persuade people into help make a more equal future not only for one specific race, but for all people living within the United States. I feel as though in President Obama’s essay he uses more emotion than Martin Luther King’s letter. Both of these men use logic, but King uses a high logic than Obama does. I think this because his writing seems to be much more formal and straight to what he believes and wants from the clergymen. Obama is the president and this gives him authority, while on the other hand King has more authority to me because he has had more result from what he did and how he went about doing it. I believe that King presented a more compelling argument because while he was writing he told the clergymen the steps to a nonviolent campaign, “In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action.” He wrote in a rational tone that didn’t show any anger or bias toward any subject. King explained why he was in Birmingham in the first place, “I am here because I have organizational ties here. But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here.” He ended by saying, “If I have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything that understates the truth and indicates my having a patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me.” These statements are a strong way to end his letter because they ask for forgiveness if he stepped over any lines that could have upset the clergymen.

Barack Obama and Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter “A Letter From Birmingham Jail” is a beautifully written letter stating his grievances and blessings. King does an excellent job illustrating the types of scenarios that went on during the days in which segregation was at large. Obama’s speech and King’s letter both seemed to share the same sort of idea. They are both striving for racial equality. However, King had to deal with a more severe type of racial discrimination while Obama has to deal with a more passive type. Essentially, they are both asking for the same thing. Acceptance. Acceptance that the black man, white man, Latino man are all the same. There is absolutely nothing that separates them besides their skin color. As a nation, we should accept people for their differences whether it be racial, sexual, or physical differences. Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter laid out how our founding fathers had tried to liberate the African American people and succeeded.  However, I wouldn’t want to say either one of them had the stronger argument. While they both had the same sort of idea, they were decades apart and dealing with different times. Different times have different problems. Essentially, I would agree say that they both posed well thought out and well written arguments.

A More Perfect Union Letter From a Birmingham Jail

In both "A More Perfect Union" and "Letter From a Birmingham Jail" the use of logos or logic is heavily used. Both Obama and King establish themselves authoritatively in their pieces, which make them effective since they are coming from a person who holds a position of power. Obama refers back to many historical examples of oppression such as Jim Crow laws and Brown vs. Board of Education saying how we have identified the issue of slavery yet failed numerous times to change anything. By giving these concrete examples it gave sufficient evidence to support his claims being made. King's essay also uses strong logic, but lacks to provide any personal emotion or connections. Barack Obama on the other hand uses personal tales from his life to strengthen his message. Obama's argument is more compelling because of his emotional connection that he establishes through his personal experiences. Without these personal details his essay would lack the proper emotion needed to be effective, which is exactly what happens in the King's essay. In "Letter From a Birmingham Jail" the facts and authoritative language are there, but the essay is lacking the heart that Obama's essay contained. That is why I believe that Obama had a more compelling argument, since he established a personal and emotional connection with his audience.

Passion's of the working man

Obama’s “A More Perfect Union” is a much more compelling argument because of the strong amount of personal insight and emotion he provided to the audience reading it. He used not only his story and his past but as well the past of his family and loved ones and the stories from the people of America. He talks very passionately about many issues he holds very close and some that have brought about great controversy during his race. He answered them completely honestly and passionately. Obama’s speech had it all he held our attention with emotion and logic and authority as he expressed his passions and dispersed some circling doubt over specific issues.

King’s essay though it had the same logic and the same authority that makes for a good essay it did not have the same amount of emotion to keep my interest. His was more about getting the point of his cause across in a polite way rather that seeming accusatory. Though his essay was very well put together it did not hold the same amount of heart that was found in Obama’s.

A More Perfect Union

Barack Obama uses logic to defend his ideas in “A More Perfect Union” by incorporating pieces of history such as the preamble, Jim Crow laws, the Brown v. Board of Education court case, the O.J. trail and more. These references show that we as Americans have recognized an issue of racism, but have not made the necessary effort to fix it completely. His ideas show that there are still issues present today and that we need people who are willing to do their part through protest and struggle to create a better life for future generations in such a diverse country. Obama’s use of specific instances in history clearly support his ideas. He also uses personal experiences and Ashley Baia’s story to push his ideas even further, on a more personal level. He wants unity in America. He wants all people regardless of their skin color to come together and live in equality.

Obama’s speech has a good intention and clearly contains beneficial ideas. He makes a connection with his audience by sharing personal stories from his life and how he really feels. Although most people will support him more because of this personal connection, it might be seen as a weakness as well. He talks a lot about the church and Reverend White and non-religious or non-Christians might not take his speech as seriously because they do not share the same beliefs. He also talks about white people’s unearned privileges and talks mostly about how blacks deserve better treatment. This could give some white people the wrong idea and make them feel like they are being attacked because nobody wants to think that their privileges are unearned. Other non-black minorities are mentioned, but not nearly as much, and they might feel like they are being left out or under-represented. Although I do not have any of these feelings while reading Obama’s speech, I know there are people in this country who would.  

A More Perfect Union: Barack Obama

In Barack Obama's speech, "A More Perfect Union" he starts off by quoting a line from the preamble in the Constitution of the United States..."We The People, in order to form a more perfect union". He then goes on to state that it would take more than just words on a parchment to end slavery, it would take people who are willing to do their part through protests and struggles. This is similar to what is occurring in present day America, it is going to take more than just words to end the racism that is happening in our nation. The Constitution itself said that all men are equal, but the idea wasn't necessarily put in to practice. Obama then goes on to state that he is the son of a Kenyan man and a White women and how there was a lot of criticism about his supporters only supporting him because of his race. His pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright spoke some controversial words about the issue of racism which caused many people to become upset. He defended his pastor by saying that he was a good man and that he has helped introduce him to Christianity, strengthened his faith and even baptized his children. As a solution, Obama stated that as a nation we need to come together to help improve our lives, our schools, health care and jobs.  

Obama does point out that we all have one common goal and that is to improve our society. Racism seems to be a problem that will always exist in our society, but it is up to us to change that. Some people are brought up only knowing how to offend other races and not accept them. This is a problem that stems back from past generations and who knows if it will ever be solved. Obama makes it clear that we are all one nation and that we have to work together to fix the issues.

I think that Obama makes a clear argument throughout his speech, but as a society we truly have many issues that we need to fix. It is up to us to come together to fix them, because we are all Americans and we are all striving for one common goal.

Intersectional Identity Showing Up in Music!

Feminist Country JamsThe link connects to a list of songs/videos from female country singers. Many of the songs themselves relate to intersectional identity.

Excerpt:

Last week I got a tweet from someone telling me that they liked my Best Feminist Music Videos of 2013 post, saying they weren’t surprised that there was no country on that list and pointing me to an article on the marginalization of women artists in country. While women country artists these days definitely are marginalized within the genre, the truth is that there was no country on that list because I don’t really listen to much modern country. But I actually do like some of it — I’m partial to the ladies of classic country, myself — and I was reminded how much flack country music gets for being sexist despite there being a long feminist tradition within the genre.

That conversation also reminded me of something else I’ve been thinking about for a while. Despite the fact that basically all genres of pop culture are generally pretty sexist — art is a reflection of our society, after all — some genres get more flack than others. I’m thinking specifically about hip hop and country. At face value you’d think these two genres really have nothing in common, but the parallel that I see here is class. All the criticism that both hip hop and country get for being so super sexist actually seems to be related to a hatred of the cultural products of America’s poor. Both hip hop and country have roots and long traditions in telling stories of struggle, poverty, and resistance. So when I hear someone say “I listen to everything but rap and country,” that just indicates to me that this person isn’t keen on poor folks. What else is there in common?

How to Tell Someone They Sound Racist/Sexist/Classist/Ableist/Etc.

A handy guide for constructing difficult arguments.

Why I Love Being a Guy

1) When in bad mood people won't blame it on it being "Mother Nature's Gift" 2) Live without fear of being sexually harassed 3) Better chance of getting a job vs the opposite sex. 4) Won't have to worry about not being hired because the employer may be worried about you getting pregnant. 5) Less likely to be the victim in an abusive relationship 6) Won't be seen ass a whore if you have a high body count 7) Seen as a better driver. 8) Seen as a better leader. 9) If you decide to not have children your masculinity won't be questioned. 10) Seen as dominant. 11) Less likely to be insecure about looks and appearance. 12) Less likely to worry about sexual harassment in the work place. 13) Seen as funnier. 14) Every leader in religion is led by the male sex. 15) Can freely practice religion without having to worry about subjecting yourself to think less of yourself. After thinking of these several ways I am privileged solely because I was born a male it made me think wider about stigmas pertaining to your sexuality. More times than not we as a society still go by the idea that men are the "hunters" and women are the "gatherers/caretakers. It has gotten better for women over the past couple of decades but they still have a ways to go. In closing I'd have to say frankly I'm thankful I was born a man as women seem to have way more pressure to deal with in life.

Privilege

In White Privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack, Peggy McIntosh explains the problem of unearned privileges that are current in American society. Being white I can highly relate as she goes on about the unearned privileges that white people obtain for no particular reason, but yet give the white community some advances just for their skin color. The more Mclntosh went on about white privilege, the more I really came to realize some privileges I have that I never really gave much thought to. Although I am not completely ignorant to the fact that race can effect certain aspects of people’s life, in some examples that she gives bring new provoking thoughts that have most people don’t talk about.

Here are some of the privileges I have just for being a white woman. 

1)      I am not followed at stores being expected of stealing

    2)      My race in highly represented in movies and television

   3)      Getting my hair done is usually an easy task and it is also easy to take care of

   4)      I have good opportunities to receive an education

    5)      There are not many racial slurs for my race

   6)      I am almost never discriminated against

   7)      I am not judged in my work environment 

   8)      I don’t get pulled over often

  9)      When I do get pulled over, I am more likely to get off with a warning

   10)  I am not rejected by society for my color

   11)  I can go about my day usually being welcomed by other people even as a stranger

   12)  If someone is mean to me, I don’t tend to have to ponder if there was some sort of racist element involved

  13)  I am likely to get people to rent me a nice apartment or house because of my skin color

  14)  I don’t have to worry about possibly living in a “bad neighborhood”

  15)  People expect me to be well-spoken and articulate