The commencement speech of Michelle Obama at the Tuskegee University primarily focused on the continuing and detrimental effects of racism, but even more improtantly on the concept of a post-racial America. A post-racial nation is an idea of a country that has overcome racism as race does not play an impact on the welfare of a citizen in such a country. While certain individuals believe that the U.S. has become post-racial with milestones such as the inaguaraiton of the first blakc president, Barack Obama, suggesting as such, it is far from the truth (Iowa State University, n.d.). In fact, racism continues to be prevalent, and the primary topic of Mrs. Obama’s commencement speech was to address the notions of post-racial beleifs.
Within the Tuskegee commencement speech, Mrs. Obama implements rhetorical strategies, including the appeal to ethos, logos, honest comparisons, and references to Christian values. The aforementioned devices reject the notion of post-racism and highlight the ongoing struggles of a racist society. Mrs. Obama notes on historical facts, some being direct sentences related to the university, in order to support her argument that racism has not ceased to exist in the modern world. Despite this, she makes use of anecdotes in order to inspire hope in the listening students and promote their desires to aspire to ambitious careers, life plans, and other facets of their lives. She also makes an appeal to her ethos as both a mother and a first-lady, which establishes her credibility as a speaker. This also directly strengthens her messages in the eyes of the audience. The collective use of the appeal to ethos, references to historical facts, and Mrs. Obama’s credibility as a speaker establishes her message’s core value among the listeners effectively.
Reference
Iowa State University. (n.d.). Michelle Obama. Iowa State University. Web.