Lessons from Obama's speech on race

By Rochelle L. Ford, Ph.D., APR

With the Democratic conventions not scheduled until August, it may be months before we know whether presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama will receive his party's nomination for the 2008 election. Yet even if he does not win, his campaign has succeeded in renewing the discussion of race in America. His March 19 speech addressing this issue, titled "More Perfect Union," provides many lessons for PR professionals.

Lesson 1: Race matters
Obama has dramatically helped unveil racism, the historical impact of slavery, and the continued lack of understanding and sensitivity in America. Peggy A. Lewis, a former communications executive for first lady and current presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and now a broadcast journalism professor at Howard University, says Obama's carefully worded speech demonstrates that, as a nation and as communicators, we can't ignore the far-reaching effects race, racism and slavery have on how wealth is distributed and sustained in the United States. Lewis says we must discuss race sensitively and inclusively, carefully watching for those who need to be encouraged to join the conversation. As Obama said in his speech, certain conversations need to be held in intercultural settings, thus enlarging the scope and depth of the discussion.

Lesson 2: Learn from the fringes
Lewis says Obama's speech offers perspective on race issues. A history scholar, Lewis says the status quo or majority tend to reject views from the fringes - sometimes labeling them radical or extreme. They fear those ideas rather than capitalizing on the opportunity to learn and understand differences and commonalities. To learn these lessons and gain such understanding, we must not be paranoid about race.

Lesson 3: Understanding the context of racial communication
When analyzing any communication but especially interracial or intercultural communication, we must be careful not to exogenously assign meaning or take the words out of context. The context includes the original environment (political, social, economic, religious and historical) in which the words were said, the sender or originator of the message and the audience to whom the message was originally intended. Many commentators and experts on the Black church have tried to explain the rhetoric of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, pastor of Obama's hometown church, by framing it with these elements of context.

Lesson 4: Ease of editing
While context is a necessary part of effective intercultural communication, new technologies make it significantly easier to trim away contextual information. With cell phones capable of digital recording and personal computers capable of high-quality editing, any speech, event, act or communication can be reworked and distributed at a volume never before possible. Charles Fancher, a Howard University PR professor and a former Philadelphia Inquirer PR executive, says in our YouTube generation, anyone can place their versions of reality online. Communicators must construct messages carefully and then monitor how they are being used.

Lesson 5: Thirst for intelligent conversation
Veering from the typical pattern of writing according to talking points to produce sound bites, Obama and his staff have tried new ways to communicate, both his speech on race and the campaign as a whole, Fancher says. Obama's speech, nearly 38 minutes long, provided a platform for real discourse on the subject with multiple layers of complexity. Contrary to what many communicators expect, some media were able to provide well-balanced, thoughtful and comprehensive analysis of the speech - despite its complexities, Lewis says. In the end, the public seeks truth, and PR professionals are obligated to provide it with thoughtful, comprehensive, fact-based information.

Rochelle L. Ford, Ph.D., APR, is associate dean, research and
academic affairs, at Howard University. E-mail: rocFord@howard.edu

Read Diversity Dimensions for:
January 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008