Abstract
The emergence of Barack Obama in American politics has signified to many an important breakthrough in race relations. He has found political success by variously embodying the 'post-civil rights' cultural values of 'colorblindness', 'race-trancendence', 'post-racialism', and racial hybridity. By exploring both the racial politics of past 'post-civil rights' presidential elections, and also the practices of racial discourse animating the 2008 presidential race - particularly the 'Rev. Wright incident' - I critique the cultural logic of 'post-civil rights'. I argue that the values that constitute this cultural logic, although appearing progressive, work to Whitewash the structural realities of urban Black communities, and that particularly in regard to racial politics, Obama represents not change but a further step in the wrong direction.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 212-223 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Western Journal of Black Studies |
Volume | 33 |
Issue number | 3 |
State | Published - Sep 2009 |
Externally published | Yes |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Cultural Studies