Barack Obama and the African-American Empowerment examines the evolution of black leadership and politics since the Civil Rights Movement. It looks at the phenomenon of Barack Obama, from his striking emergence as a successful candidate for the Illinois State Senate to President of the United States, as part of the continuum of African American political leaders. The reader also examines the evolving ideals about the roles of government and the economy in addressing the historic disadvantages experienced by many African Americans. Here, some of the nation's most influential intellectuals bring together original scholarship to look at the future of national politics and American race relations.
Author(s): Kristen Clarke
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 276
Contents......Page 6
Introduction: Racializing Obama: The Enigma of Postblack Politics and Leadership......Page 8
I: Background to the New Black Politics......Page 20
1 System Values and African American Leadership......Page 22
2 The Limits of Black Pragmatism: The Rise and Fall of David Dinkins, 1989–93......Page 32
3 City Politics and Black Protest: The Economic Transformation of Harlem and Bronzeville......Page 50
4 Toward a Pragmatic Black Politics......Page 72
5 On Black Leadership, Black Politics, and the U.S. Immigration Debate......Page 80
6 The Political Orientations of Young African Americans......Page 88
7 The Case for a Neo-Rainbow Electoral Strategy......Page 98
8 The Ethics of Colin Powell......Page 112
II: The Meaning of Barack Obama......Page 128
9 First Lady in Black: Michelle Obama and the Crisis of Race and Gender......Page 130
10 The Race Problematic, the Narrative of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Election of Barack Obama......Page 140
11 From Idol to Obama: What TV Elections Teach Us about Race, Youth, and Voting......Page 156
III: The 2008 Presidential Campaign and Beyond......Page 168
12 Race, Postblack Politics, and the Democratic Presidential Candidacy of Barack Obama......Page 170
13 Sovereign Kinship and the President-Elect......Page 190
14 You May Not Get There with Me: Obama and the Black Political Establishment......Page 202
15 Barack Obama and the Black Electorate in Georgia: Identifying the Disenfranchised......Page 216
16 Barack Obama’s Candidacy and the Collateral Consequences of the “Politics of Fear”......Page 232
17 The Struggle Continues: Combating Voting Discrimination in the Obama Era......Page 248
About the Editors and Contributors......Page 270
G......Page 274
W......Page 275
Y......Page 276
