Race Still Matters: The Reality of African American Lives and the Myth of Postracial Society

414 Pages·2016·2.65 MB·English

by  Yuya Kiuchi

Race
Still
Matters
SUNY series in African American Studies
John R. Howard and Robert C. Smith, editors
Race
Still
Matters
The Reality of African American Lives

and the Myth of Postracial Society
Edited by Yuya Kiuchi
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2016 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 with-
out 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
Production, Ryan Morris
Marketing, Kate R. Seburyamo
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Kiuchi, Yuya, editor of compilation.
Title: Race still matters : the reality of African American lives and the
myth of postracial society / edited by Yuya Kiuchi.
Other titles: Reality of African American lives and the myth of postracial
society
Description: Albany : State University of New York Press, [2016] | Series:
SUNY series in African American studies | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifers: LCCN 2016007296 (print) | LCCN 2016028131 (ebook)
ISBN 9781438462738 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 9781438462721 (pbk : alk. paper)
ISBN 9781438462745 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: African Americans—Social conditions—21st century. |
African Americans—Race identity. | Race discrimination—United States. |
Racism—United States. | United States—Race relations—21st century.
Classifcation: LCC E185.86 .R245 2016 (print) | LCC E185.86 (ebook) | DDC
305.896/073—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016007296
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To Nicki
Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction xvi
Part 1: Race
1: Reverse Racism: A Discursive History 3
Tad Suiter
2: “The Struggle is Real out Here”: The Contextual Reality 41
of Being Black Couples and Families in America
Karlin J. Tichenor
3: Holy Smoke: Church Burnings, Journalism, and 71
the Politics of Race, 1996–2006
Christopher Strain
4: Fear of a Black President: Conspiracy Theory 101
and Racial Paranoia in Obamerica
Travis L. Gosa and Danielle Porter Sanchez
Part 2 : Structural Inequal ity
5: From Orchards to Silicon Valley: African American 133
Suburbanization in the U.S. West, the Black
San Jose Model, 1945–2010
Herb Ruffn II
6: African American Economic Experiences: 163
Income, Occupations, Savings, Investments,
and Social Security Trends since 2000
LaToya T. Brackett
7: Confronting an Enduring Legacy: 193
Health-Care Workforce Disparity
Costellia H. Talley and Henry C. Talley
vii
viii Contents
Part 3 : African American Youth
8: Sustained Inequality: African American 227
Education in a “Postracial” Nation
Daniel R. Davis
9: “Nothing We Could Do or Say”: 255
African American Young Men’s Lived Police Experiences
Rod K. Brunson and Amanda D’Souza
10: African American Youth and the 275
Postracial Societal Myth
Carl S. Taylor and Pamela R. Smith
Part 4 : Popular Culture
11: Leave the Prejudice, Take the Power: 301
Crash, Fruitvale Station, and Race in Hollywood
in the Twenty-First Century
Justin Gomer
12: African American Female Athletic Image: 321
What We Should Take Away from the London
2012 Olympic Games
Rachel L. Myers
13: An Obama Effect? African American 343
Voting Behavior and the Political Symbolism
of a Black President
David C. Wilson, Samantha S. Kelley,
Emmanuel Balogun, Christian Solar, and Sahar Salehi
Contributors 369
Index 37
Preface
Americans agree that slavery was racist. So were Jim Crow laws,
residential segregation in the early to mid-twentieth century, and
disenfranchisement of Blacks. Americans across the color line
also agree that the civil rights movement in the 1950s and ’60s
dramatically changed racial politics in the United States. Suppos-
edly, employers are not allowed to make hiring decisions based on
race. Car dealers should treat white and Black customers equally.
The police should not stop a driver just because he or she is Black.
White students and Black students should have equal access to
high-quality educational resources, including facilities, equipment,
and teachers. The reality is far from what these promises seem to
suggest.
In the nation of collective amnesia and color-blind idealism, many
Americans choose to believe that their nation has finally become a
City upon a Hill. Choosing to believe in this postracial idealism has
pragmatic values. It legitimizes American dreams. Many Americans
idolize the idea of the self-made person. If you work hard enough,
you can attain anything. If race mattered and racism existed, such
a promise is nothing but a mirage. But if one rejects the presence
of racism and believes that postracialism has realized in the United
States, one can truly claim that the United States is the land of
opportunities where anyone regardless of his or her race can be the
next Horatio Alger.
Believing in the postracial idealism also allows Americans to claim
that the country has moved on from its past’s wrongdoings, justifying
their diplomatic efforts to bring freedom and equality to the rest
of the world. It also offers a sense of superiority and fairness that
Americans need as they believe in their assumed role to lead the
world economically, politically, and also morally. Especially after the
turbulent decade of the 2000s, starting with the terrorist attacks on
September11, 2001 and ending with a major economic downturn, the
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