Indledning
Education is one of the most fundamental driving forces in a well-functioning society, and nowadays education is easily available in most of the world's more well-developed countries, including the United States.
But once it looked a lot different, and especially for African Americans in the country, who tragically suffered from oppression and discrimination by the white people in the country.
At that time, it was almost impossible for African Americans to take an education and for decades they fought for equal rights for education and equal rights in general.
Nevertheless, nowadays, many young people, including African Americans, are dropping out of high school or college, and some do not seem motivated to take an education at all, and this is obviously a huge problem for the country.
This particular problem is expressed by Michelle Obama in her “Commencement Address" speech, which she delivered in 2013 at Bowie State University, a public university in Maryland.
But how big is this problem and does Obama have a point? Do some young people take their opportunities for education for granted, and if so, what consequences can it have for the United States
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Uddrag
There are two main themes in Michelle Obama’s speech. The first main theme is the discrimination against African Americans and is primarily seen in the historical section of the speech.
Here, Obama talks about African-American history, and the discrimination they were exposed to at the time, but she also talks about the way they bravely fought against this discrimination: “Other black schools across Maryland were burned to the ground.
Teachers received death threats (…) But despite the risks, understand, students flocked to these schools in droves”. (ll. 92-97). In this quote, she is not only talking about how much African-Americans struggled back then but more importantly, she emphasizes what they did to overcome this struggle.
During her speech, she gives many examples like this, and it clearly shows that she wants to display those who fought against discrimination, as role models.
The second main theme and perhaps the most central theme is the importance of taking an education. The theme appears in both the historical section of the speech, but also in the present-day section.
In the historical section, Obama talks about how much the African Americans struggled to get an education back then.
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