African-American Identity in the Age of Obama

The Takeaway

In a new book,  Professor Michael Eric Dyson explains how he described Barack Obama’s attitude toward African-American identity during the 2008 election. “[W]hat I’ve noticed is that he’s proud of his race, but that doesn’t capture the range of his identity. He’s rooted in, but not restricted by, his blackness.” A  new book, “Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness?”, examines that concept, and the complicated identity of the 40 million African-Americans in the U.S. today. The book’s author,  Touré, fiction writer, music critic, and correspondent for MSNBC, defines “post-blackness” and gives examples of it in modern America.

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