Black Politics, the 2008 Election, and the (Im)Possibility of Race Transcendence

2008 ◽  
Vol 41 (04) ◽  
pp. 739-745 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valeria Sinclair-Chapman ◽  
Melanye Price
Keyword(s):  
Black Politics ◽  
Barack Obama ◽  
The Self ◽  
Keynote Address ◽  
National Convention ◽  
Lasting Impression ◽  
2008 Election

When Barack Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, he was well on his way to claiming the open U.S. Senate seat once held by the only other black Democratic senator since Reconstruction, Carol Moseley-Braun. Although mostly unknown, the self-professed “skinny guy with the funny name,” made a lasting impression. Secure in his own Senate race, Obama, a rising political star, spent much of the fall traveling the country as a surrogate for Democratic candidates.

The Postracial Saint: On Barack Obama

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent W. Lloyd
Keyword(s):  
Black Politics ◽  
Barack Obama ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Self Presentation ◽  
Concepts And Categories ◽  
2008 Election ◽  
Black President

All saints are, in a sense, post-racial. By definition, saints transcend worldly concepts and categories, but in doing so they draw on the specificity of their worldly features. During the 2008 election campaign and in the early days of his presidency, Barack Obama was represented as saintly. Was this merely a metaphor, or is there something about the theological structure of sainthood that captures Obama’s representation (and self-presentation)? By moving back and forth between analysis of Obama’s image and reflection on sainthood, this chapter attempts to move both conversations about black politics and about sainthood forward, helping us racially inflect our understanding of saints and helping us theologically deepen our understanding of the first black president.

The Red and Blue State Divide in Black and White: The Historic 2008 Election of President Barack Obama

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 19-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanes Walton ◽  
Josephine A. V. Allen ◽  
Sherman C. Puckett ◽  
Donald R. Deskins
Keyword(s):  
Barack Obama ◽  
Black And White ◽  
2008 Election

scholarly journals Erosion and Renewal in Democratic Life

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Civil War ◽  
The United States ◽  
Barack Obama ◽  
Current Situation ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
The World ◽  
National Convention ◽  
Democratic Life

Most of us feel that our democratic lives have eroded. We are less civil to one another than at any other time in our history, perhaps short of the Civil War—certainly any period in my lifetime. At the 2020 Democratic National Convention, former President Barack Obama described the nation’s current situation in this way: “Our worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before.” Speakers at both parties’ conventions claimed that the 2020 election is a struggle for the soul of the United States.

scholarly journals Young Voters after the 2008 Election: A Disappearing Act?

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priscilla Southwell
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Barack Obama ◽  
National Election ◽  
Young Voters ◽  
2016 Election ◽  
2008 Election ◽  
Election Studies

<p>This study examines the decline in voter turnout among young voters between the 2008 and 2012 elections. Our findings suggest that those young voters who dropped out of the electorate in 2012 were more likely to express feelings of alienation, as measured by the American National Election Studies indices of trust and efficacy. Such “dropout” voters were also more likely to have voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 election. These findings are crucial, as the level of alienation in the 2016 election appears to be even higher, and may influence the outcome of the election.</p>

The Challenge of Democracy: Explorations in American Racial Politics

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dianne Pinderhughes
Keyword(s):  
Racial Politics ◽  
Barack Obama ◽  
National Convention

I address you on August 28, 2008, on the same evening as the Democratic nominee Barack Obama speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.

The Race of a More Perfect Union

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Brendese
Keyword(s):  
Collective Memory ◽  
Barack Obama ◽  
The Political ◽  
White Americans ◽  
Black And White ◽  
The Past ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
2008 Election

This chapter uses the 2008 election of President Barack Obama to examine racial tensions and divisions present in memory, both between and within black and white Americans. P. J. Brendese’s study of Baldwin addresses the political implications of segregated memory in order to dismantle those unconscious barriers preventing the desegregation of history, narrative, and myth. The chapter goes on to expand Baldwin’s views of history; namely, that the past and present are inextricably and forever bound to one another. Utmost emphasis is placed on understanding both individual and societal histories. In order to move forward, a greater collective memory must be rectified, or else the stark divisions present in America’s remembering speak ill of the potential for future progress.

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