President Barak Obama Philadelphia, 18 March 2008 A More Perfect Union President Barak Obama Philadelphia, 18 March 2008

Introduction In his speech in Philadelphia on March 18, 2008, Barack Obama said of white Americans: "Their experience is the immigrant experience – as far as they're concerned, no one has handed them anything." Obama's observation points to a complex reality of American culture. Many white Americans know their immigrant origins, and others have only a vague idea of their family's origins. Yet the immigrant narrative – a narrative of success through hard work in the face of hardship – is often invoked by white people regardless of their family history. And many people who see the migrant story in their own history are nevertheless quick to reject new immigrants to this country.

After the Speech: What did you think of the speech? Were there particular parts that connected with you? Were there parts that made you uncomfortable or statements with which you disagreed?

Discussion Point: Quote from Obama: "Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience - as far as they're concerned, no one's handed them anything, they've built it from scratch.“ Most white Americans are natural-born citizens and not immigrants - so what do you think Obama means when he says "their experience is the immigrant experience"? Do you think the experience of white Americans is any more an "immigrant experience" than any other ethnic group? Why?  How is the "immigrant experience" of whites the same as, or different from, the experience of people currently coming to the U.S.? Do the differences matter? Why?

Questions What audiences did Obama address in this speech, and what is he telling each audience? Is anyone not addressed? Obama listed some specific barriers that have kept African Americans from accumulating wealth over time. What are they? How would each of these barriers affect a person's ability to prosper? Why does President-elect Obama say that segregated schools "were, and are" inferior schools? What action does he propose to fill the "achievement gap?“ Obama says the experience of whites in this country is the "immigrant experience." What are the characteristics of that experience? How does it differ from the experiences of African Americans and Native Americans? Is it the same as the experience of today's immigrants? Why or why not? How is Obama careful in this speech, and in what passages? Where is he bold? Why? He says, "I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle." What does he mean? What prescription does he provide instead? How does that prescription involve you?