The Return of Political Oratory?

According to Jodi Kantor's article in today's "New York Times," Barack Obama "stood apart" from his colleagues when he was a law professor during his 12 years at the University of Chicago Law School. Some of Kantor's "inside details" about Obama's academic performance include Obama's suprising disinterest in publishing within academe and snubbing colleagues. However, he broke ground in offering courses on race and law among students who embraced him for his sharp skills in argument as well as for his approachable manner in teaching law, especially within the context of race. According to Kantor:

"His [Obama's] most original course, a historical and political seminar as much as a legal one, was on racism and law. Mr. Obama improvised his own textbook, including classic cases like Brown v. Board of Education, and essays by Frederick Douglass, W. E. B. Dubois, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, as well as conservative thinkers like Robert H. Bork."

In addition to a featured syllabus, the article also drew my interest because of Obama's reverence for Frederick Douglass, which was a remembered by a former student. According to Kantor:

"Byron Rodriguez, a real estate lawyer in San Francisco, recalls his professor’s admiration for the soaring but plainspoken speeches of Frederick Douglass.

'No one speaks this way anymore,' Mr. Obama told his class, wondering aloud what had happened to the art of political oratory. In particular, Mr. Obama admired Douglass’s use of a collective voice that embraced black and white concerns, one that Mr. Obama has now adopted himself."

Obama indeed read my mind about the existence of the art of political oratory. Throughout his campaign, Obama has reminded us that he has achieved and now joined an important place within a diverse African American rhetorical tradition, which includes Douglass, DuBois, hooks and West. Even if he doesn't win the election, he has still made history.

Also, Obama has brought back eloquence. However, some are asking if that eloquence is supported by action. There can be no doubt that Obama's efforts in teaching race and law is evidence that his rhetoric is one about action.

Check out the article for yourselves:

"Teaching Law, Testing Ideas, Obama Stood Slightly Apart"