Title: The Black presidency
Subtitle: Barack Obama and the politics of race in America
Description: Michael Eric Dyson delivers a provocative exploration of the politics of race and the Obama presidency. Barack Obama's presidency unfolded against the national traumas of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Freddie Gray, and Walter Scott. The nation's first African American president was careful to give few major race speeches, yet he faced criticism from all sides, including from African Americans. How has Obama's race affected his presidency and the nation's identity? Dyson explores whether Obama's use of his own biracialism as a symbol has been driven by the president's desire to avoid a painful moral reckoning on race. And he sheds light on identity issues within the black power structure, telling how Obama has spurned traditional black power brokers, significantly reducing their leverage. Perhaps most movingly, Dyson illuminates the transformative moments, especially in his second term, when Obama has publicly embraced his blackness and used it as a powerful lens onto America, black and white. President Obama's own voice--from an Oval Office interview granted to Dyson for the book--along with that of Eric Holder, Al Sharpton, and Andrew Young, among others, adds depth to this tour of the nation's first black presidency.--Adapted from book jacket.
Subjects: Politics and government, Race relations, Influence, Racism, Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.), Race, Political aspects, African Americans, Obama, barack, 1961-, African americans, politics and government, United states, race relations, United states, politics and government, 2009-2017, nyt:race-and-civil-rights=2016-03-13, New York Times bestseller, New York Times reviewed, Relations raciales, Aspect politique, Racisme, Noirs américains, Politique et gouvernement, 71.62 ethnic relations (sociology), 89.57 political participation, Ethnische Beziehungen, Rassenpolitik, Relations interethniques, Umschulungswerkstätten für Siedler und Auswanderer