Chats: Is Obama Black, Bi-racial, or Post-racial? |
Chats: Is Obama Black, Bi-racial, or Post-racial?
Zócalo: Public Square
2011-09-07
Five Experts Comment on the Politics of Race
Richard Thompson Ford, George E. Osborne Professor of Law
Stanford University
Michael C. Dawson, John D. MacArthur Professor of Political Science; Director of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture
University of Chicago
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Professor of Sociology
Duke University
G. Reginald Daniel, Professor of Sociology
University of California, Santa Barbara
David A. Hollinger, Preston Hotchkis Professor of American History
University of California, Berkeley
As the son of a black Kenyan and a white American, President Obama is biracial. As a symbol of our times, he’s also called post-racial. On his census form, he classifies himself as black. Whatever he is, the categories obsess many Americans. So in advance of Randall Kennedy’s visit to Zócalo, we put the question to some leading academics: Is Obama black, bi-racial, or post-racial?…
He’s Black…
…He’s Black, Unfortunately…
…He’s White, Unfortunately…
…He’s Race-neutral, Unfortunately…
…He’s All and None—But Let’s Give It a Rest…
Read the entire article here.
Tags: David A. Hollinger, David Hollinger, Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, G. Reginald Daniel, Michael C. Dawson, Michael Dawson, Richard Ford, Richard T. Ford, Richard Thompson Ford, Zócalo, Zócalo: Public Square