ABOUT THIS BOOK

Barack Obama's campaign and electoral victory demonstrated the dynamic nature of American democracy. Beginning as a special issue of The Black Scholar, this probing collection illustrates the impact of "the Obama phenomenon" on the future of U.S. race relations through readings on Barack Obama's campaign as well as the idealism and pragmatism of the Obama administration. Some of the foremost scholars of African American politics and culture from an array of disciplines--including political science, theology, economics, history, journalism, sociology, cultural studies, and law--offer critical analyses of topics as diverse as Obama and the media, Obama’s connection with the hip hop community, the public's perception of first lady Michelle Obama, voter behavior, and the history of racial issues in presidential campaigns since the 1960s.

Contributors are Josephine A. V. Allen, Robert L. Allen, Herb Boyd, Donald R. Deskins Jr., Cheryl I. Harris, Charles P. Henry, Dwight N. Hopkins, John L. Jackson, Maulana Karenga, Robin D. G. Kelley, Martin Kilson, Clarence Lusane, Julianne Malveaux, Shaun Ossei-Owusu, Dianne M. Pinderhughes, Sherman C. Puckett, Scharn Robinson, Ula Y. Taylor, Alice Walker, Hanes Walton Jr., and Ronald Williams II.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Charles P. Henry is the H. Michael and Jeanne Williams Chair of African American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of Long Overdue: The Politics of Racial Reparations.Robert L. Allen is an adjunct professor of African American studies and ethnic studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of Black Awakening in Capitalist America: An Analytic History.Robert Chrisman is the editor-in-chief and publisher of The Black Scholar.

REVIEWS

"These eminent scholars of African American politics provide rich, multigenerational perspectives on the Obama election and the first year of his presidency. A significant and distinctive contribution to the emerging scholarship on Obama that will be useful in African American studies and political science courses."

--Robert C. Smith, coauthor of American Politics and the African American Quest for Universal Freedom

"Outstanding."--Choice

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part I: The Election

1. Toward a Multiracial Democracy: The Jackson and Obama Contributions

2. Analysis of Black American Voters in Barack Obama’s Victory

3. Dead Certain: The Election of Barack Obama and Its Implications for Racial Politics

4. What Trumped?: Race, Class, Gender, Generation, the Economy, and the 2008 Elections

5. Race, the Presidency, and Obama’s First Year

6. Under Press-ure: Overcoming the Media and Its Mavens?

7. Opportunity Costs: The Impact of the 2008 Campaign on the Legacy of William Jefferson Clinton

Part II: Culture

8. Lest We Forget: An open letter to my sisters who are brave

9. The Ambivalent Embrace of Barack Obama: The Ethical Significance and Social Apprehension of Black

10. Obama, Black Religion, and the Reverend Wright Controversy

11. Race, Religion, and the Race for the White House

12. The New Negro in African American Politics: Barack Obama and the Politics of Racial Representati

13. Barack Obama’s Anomalous Relationship with the Hip-Hop Community

14. Too Black and Too Strong: First Lady Michelle Obama

Part III: Policy

15. President Obama: Freedom Democrat or Neoliberal?

16. Multicultural Hegemony: Globalization and the Obama Doctrine

17. An Affirmative Act?: Barack Obama and the Past, Present, and Future of Race-Conscious Remedies

Epilogue: The Legacy of the Obama Era: A New Electoral Majority?

Contributors

Index