Table Of Content

Neo-race Realities in the Obama Era Neo-race Realities in the Obama Era Edited by Heather E. Harris Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 2019 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Harris, Heather E., editor. Title: Neo-race realities in the Obama era / edited by Heather E. Harris. Description: Albany : State University of New York, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2018027994 | ISBN 9781438474151 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438474168 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: United States—Race relations—21st century. | Racism—United States. | Post-racialism—United States. | Obama, Barack—Influence. Classification: LCC E184.A1 N368 2019 | DDC 305.800973/0905—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018027994 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents List of Illustrations vii Foreword ix Amardo Rodríguez Acknowledgments xi Introduction xiii Heather E. Harris Part I 1 Obama’s Transformation of American Myths 3 Zoë Hess Carney 2 Transformational Masculinity and Fathering in the Age of Obama: “Roses and Thorns” 23 Shanette M. Harris 3 How Obama’s Hybridity Stifled Black Nationalist Rhetorical Identity: An Ideological Analysis on His Two-Term Third-Space Leadership 53 Omowale T. Elson Part II 4 “Who Gets to Say Hussein? The Impact of Anti-Muslim Sentiment during the Obama Era” 75 Nura A. Sediqe vi Contents 5 The End of AIDS? A Critical Analysis of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy 93 Andrew R. Spieldenner, Tomeka M. Robinson, and Anjuliet G. Woodruffe 6 The President Was Black, Y’all: Presidential Humor, Neo-racism, and the Social Construction of Blackness and Whiteness 109 Jenny Ungbha Korn 7 L’homme de la créolisation: Obama, Neo-racism, and Cultural and Territorial Creolization 131 Douglas-Wade Brunton Notes 145 List of Contributors 147 Index 151 Illustrations Figure 3.1 Convergence Spiral of Identity Complex for Black Nationalism. 64 Figure 3.2 Media-Generated Perceptions of Obama. 67 Figure 4.1 “Do You Believe President Obama Is a Muslim?” 77 Figure 4.2 Public Perceptions toward Religious Groups. 79 Figure 4.3 Countries of Origin. 83 Figure 4.4 Discrimination and Identity. 86 vii Foreword Amardo Rodríguez Our actions and decisions always have consequences and implications. This is why our actions and decisions matter. So when the United States finally elected and reelected a Black man to be President, this had many important consequences and implications. Heather Harris has put together an impressive set of essays that looks at some of these consequences and implications. The essays are organized around the notion of identity, spe- cifically how identity is being negotiated and contested after the election and reelection of the first Black President of the United States. This volume promises to make an important contribution to various discourses about identity, which emerged after the election and reelection of Barack Obama. Indeed, many contend that our first Black President was in no way our first Black President. He was supposedly our first biracial President. His father was just as Black as his mother was White. Compounding this identity controversy is the fact that our first Black President values convergence rather than divergence. He came to prominence claiming that, “There is not a liberal America and a conservative America. There is the United States of America. There is not a Black America, a White America, a Latino America, an Asian America. There is the United States of America.” This convergence trope pervades his most popular speeches. However, to claim that there is no Black America or White America is to make believe that the people who constitute these two groups have the same history and deal with the same challenges and circumstances. This is false by any measure of comparison. Case in point, after full terms, the facts reveal that Black folks economically regressed across the board under ix