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Young-Johnson-Dissertation Copyright By Connie Young-Johnson 2013 The Dissertation Committee for Connie Young-Johnson Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Barack Obama and the Rhetoric of a Black President Committee: Barry Brummett, Supervisor Dana Cloud Natalie Stroud Stephen Marshall Omi Osun Joni L. Jones Barack Obama and the Rhetoric of a Black President by Connie Young-Johnson, B.S.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin December 2013 Dedication This work was a labor of love and is dedicated to my entire dissertation faculty committee, family, and close friends. Faculty members include Barry Brummett, Dana Cloud, Stephen Marshall, Omi Osun Joni L. Jones, and Natalie Stroud. Much thanks to my mother, Tennessee T. Young, sister, Sandra K. Young, and father, Wesley “Sonny” Rawls, as well as my stepmother, Myrtle Rawls, for their loving guidance and inspiration. I owe a very special thanks to Jamie R. Young, my step-father and the man who raised me, may he rest in peace. I’d be remiss if I failed to thank Travis G. Lemle for his critical eye in helping me to edit the manuscript, particularly as it relates to important historical events. This project has been one of the greatest achievements of my life and would not have been possible without everyone’s support and encouragement. Your thoughts and wisdom served as the catalyst for what I was to become and who I am today. I am eternally grateful for all that you have done for me. ABSTRACT Barack Obama and the Rhetoric of a Black President Connie Young-Johnson, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2013 Supervisor: Barry Brummett This dissertation analyzes the discourse of Obama’s speeches to argue my thesis that Obama won election by virtue of his rhetorical speechmaking but more specifically, his ability to manage race in those speeches. I define and refer to Obama’s rhetorical handling of race in his speechmaking throughout the campaign as the rhetoric of race management. By rhetorical race management, I mean the strategic use of race (or obfuscation of race) in one’s discourse to manage or affect the audience’s beliefs or opinions of the listener. From a communication-based standpoint, understanding how race operated in this election requires us to examine the history of racism in the United States as well as critical scholarly work on the subject. Understanding how Obama was able to manage race in his rhetoric is necessary because it forces us to perhaps reexamine and scrutinize the 2008 Presidential election more carefully for several reasons. As rhetorical scholars, if we are in the business of understanding how our icons and politicians can potentially manipulate and use our rhetorical signs and symbols against us—or in spite of us--it is in our best interest to understand why the process occurred and why we allowed it to happen. v I suggest that Obama’s deliberate attempt to weave ideological constructs like patriotism and the American Dream into his campaign strategy obfuscated his representation as the marginalized “other” and created a new political identity that has little to do with marginalization. By examining the theories of scholars like Kenneth Burke, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Walter Fisher, and Dana Cloud, I outline how race and racism historically operated in our political elections, from both a sociopolitical, or quantitative perspective, as well as a critical perspective. By using a multimethod analysis, we are better positioned to understand how Barack Obama successfully played the race card in the Presidential Election of 2008. More importantly, I argue in my conclusion why his use of rhetorical race management, was absolutely necessary if he were to become the first African-American president in a historically racist country. vi Table of Contents Chapter 1: The Rhetoric of a Black President Introduction .................................................................................................................1 Research Questions .....................................................................................................6 Racial Attitudes Prior to the Age of Obama ...............................................................9 Understanding Why the Rhetoric of Race Management is Important ......................28 Literature More Focused on Personal Identity than Substance ................................33 Going Beyond the Conventional Lit Review on Obama ..........................................42 Chapter Preview ........................................................................................................50 Chapter 2: Methodology: Unpacking Race Management ............................................56 Using the Tools of Ideological Criticism ..................................................................60 Biesecker's Take on Burke's Dramatism ...................................................................66 Walter Fisher's Narrative Paradigm ..........................................................................73 Managing the Invisible Power of Whiteness ............................................................76 How Race Influences Politics and Media Framing ...................................................94 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................106 Chapter 3: Historicizing Race Management Prior to Obama ...................................108 Crossover Politicking and the Framing of Tom Bradley ........................................111 The Wilder Effect and Jesse Jackson's Issues .........................................................119 Challenging Conventional Thought in the Presidential Election of 2008 ..................................................................................130 Understanding Racial Suppression…………………………. ................................133 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................142 vii Chapter 4: The Politics of Ideological Construction ..................................................146 The First Crusade: Victory Speech in Iowa ............................................................152 Acceptance Speech at the 2008 DNC in Colorado .................................................156 Obama's Election Victory in Grant Park, Chicago .................................................158 The Birth of the American Dream ..........................................................................162 ABC Spawns a Cultural Hero: Obama's Rhetoric Based on Burkean Tropes ........177 A Tale of Two Cities: The Ironic Investments of MLK vs. Obama .......................190 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................195 Chapter 5: How the Media Managed Race for Obama and Why .............................198 Media Framing in the 2008 Election ......................................................................202 Media Bias ..............................................................................................................207 Soft News versus Hard News: Impact of Both in the Voting Process ....................223 The Internet King ....................................................................................................232 The Marketing of Barack Obama ...........................................................................236 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................239 Chapter 6: Racializing Postmodernism in the Age of Obama ..................................241 A Chicken in Every Pot: The Culture Industry .......................................................245 Performing Post-Racial Prophecy ...........................................................................250 Confirming and Disproving Assumptions and Beliefs ...........................................257 Grappling with the Politics of Race in 2012 ...........................................................260 Research Questions Revisited .................................................................................268 Rhetorical Race Management as a Theoretical Contribution .................................272 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................279 Bibliography.. ..................................................................................................................282 Vita…………….. .............................................................................................................298 viii Chapter 1 Introduction If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. Barack Obama Victory speech in U.S. Presidential election Grant Park, Chicago, November 4, 2008 On November 4, 2008, the United States ushered in one of its greatest moments in race relations when Barack Hussein Obama was elected as this country’s first African- American president. Unfortunately, any assumption that race relations had now reached its zenith height of racial harmony where all men were now equal belies many of the
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