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Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: The Persistent Complexities of Race and Politics in the US

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Gooding-WilliamsRobert: In the Shadow of Du Bois: Afro-Modern Political Thought in America. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009. Pp. 368. $35.00.)
WalkerAnders: The Ghost of Jim Crow: How Southern Moderates Used Brown v. Board of Education to Stall Civil Rights. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Pp. 256. $34.95.)
BassAmy: Those About Him Remained Silent: The Battle over W. E. B. Du Bois. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2009. Pp. 232. $24.95.)

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Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2011

D. Osei Robertson
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Extract

Although the United States has elected an African American president, since that election there have been numerous indicators that racism remains a persistent, and complex, issue in America. Shortly after President Obama took office, for example, renowned Harvard University professor Henry “Skip” Gates was arrested for being uncooperative with the responding officer when police mistook him for a burglar at his own home. This incident served as a small reminder of the resilient nature of racism in the United States. More importantly, there has been an increase in the number of hate groups since 2008, and the proposed plans for an Islamic cultural center near the site of the former World Trade Center have initiated a wave of anti-Islamic sentiment. Despite the hope that Barack Obama would usher in a new era in race relations, it seems as though his election has brought to the surface tensions that some people assumed had disappeared. Among scholars of black politics, race serves as the central construct. In some cases, race serves as a lens through which other variables such as class and gender are filtered. In other cases, race serves as the key independent variable explaining a number of factors that influence the lives of blacks. Each of the texts reviewed in this essay examines issues of race to varying degrees, and each one reveals the complex nature and long-lasting impact of race on American society.

Type
Review Essay
Information
The Review of Politics , Volume 73 , Issue 2 , Spring 2011 , pp. 305 - 322
Copyright
Copyright © University of Notre Dame 2011

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References

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