An Issue This Nation Cannot Ignore

President Barack Obama's speech on race, given on the 18th of March, 2008, in Philadelphia, was not just a campaign speech; its theme was an issue that the nation cannot ignore. Dr. Kemnitz places Obama's speech in its political and historical context, sees it as part of a national conversation about race, analyzes the six parts of the speech, and breaks down how Obama conveyed his meaning by analyzing the vocabulary, grammar, poetic devices, and structure. This book provides insight not only into Obama as a speechmaker but also into Obama's approach to questions of race, to social and political conditions and problems, and to the way forward for the nation.