Demonizing a president
Subtitle: the "foreignization" of Barack Obama
By: Martin A. Parlett
Publisher: Praeger, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC
Published: 2014
Place of publication: Santa Barbara, California
Language: eng
Number of pages: 253
ISBN-13: 9781440830556; 9781440830563
Subjects: Public opinion; Politics and government; Psychological aspects; Race relations; Political aspects; Political psychology
Description: "The ascendancy of the first African American president was a watershed moment in American history. In response, President Obama's adversaries have engaged in relentless and systematic mudslinging throughout his campaign and well into his presidency, 'othering' him as a foreign and dangerous political figure. Never before has a presidential candidate been so maligned, by so many, in such a variety of ways--and yet won. This provocative study investigates the unrest behind the Obama campaign and election, and the controversial political machine that causes it. Martin A. Parlett, himself a former campaigner for Barack Obama, examines the role identity politics and racialization play in the anti-Obama movement, shows how foreignization is the latest tool for political dissent, and discusses the ways in which the president has successfully utilized the 'outsider' label to his own advantage. The book questions the popular--and often contradictory--notions of Obama as illegitimate, Muslim, Marxist/Communist, socialist, Kenyan, terrorist, and angry African American. Additionally, chapters trace political marginalization and race throughout history from slavery to Reconstruction to the Civil Rights Movement, concluding with the culture of distrust in the American political psyche since the events of September 11, 2001."--Publisher's Web Site.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 223-240) and index.
Table of contents: title: The "other" in American politics; title: The origin myth: the president from foreign soil; title: Angry, lazy, stupid: the non-white president; title: His name is Hussein: the Muslim terrorist president; title: Communist in chief: the red Obama; title: The outside(r) advantage: social media, participatory culture and a rhetoric of difference.