{"id":48665,"date":"2016-08-15T20:18:08","date_gmt":"2016-08-15T20:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mixedracestudies.org\/?p=48665"},"modified":"2016-08-15T20:18:08","modified_gmt":"2016-08-15T20:18:08","slug":"barack-obama-and-immigrant-blackness-a-catalyst-for-structural-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/?p=48665","title":{"rendered":"Barack Obama and Immigrant Blackness: A Catalyst for Structural Change"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/ijdar.cgpublisher.com\/product\/pub.283\/prod.5\" target=\"_blank\"><em><strong>Barack Obama and Immigrant Blackness: A Catalyst for Structural Change<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/ijdar.cgpublisher.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">The International Journal of Diversity in Organizations, Communities and Nations: Annual Review<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/ijdar.cgpublisher.com\/product\/pub.283\/prod.2\" target=\"_blank\">Volume 12<\/a> (2012)<br \/>\npages 33-42<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/leebebesimms\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Kirin Wachter-Grene<\/strong><\/a>, Acting Instructor of Literature<br \/>\n<em>New York University<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This essay builds upon an argument I make in my article \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mixedracestudies.org\/?p=42509\" target=\"_blank\">Beyond the Binary: Obama\u2019s Hybridity and Post-Racialization<\/a>\u201d to read <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Barack_Obama\" target=\"_blank\">Barack Obama<\/a> through post-colonial scholar <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Homi_K._Bhabha\" target=\"_blank\">Homi Bhabha\u2019s<\/a> theory of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hybridity#Hybridity_in_post-colonial_discourse\" target=\"_blank\">hybridity<\/a>\u201d to advance \u201cpost-<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/bichromatic\" target=\"_blank\">bichromatic<\/a> racialization.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Barack_Obama\" target=\"_blank\">Obama\u2019s<\/a> cultural identity is more complex than the limited bichromatic (black\/white) ways\u2014such as \u201cmultiracial\u201d or \u201cAfrican American\u201d\u2014it is imagined to be. He can be read as a hybrid individual, understood in a multiplicity of ways including as non-bichromaticly multiracial in which his blackness is derivative of African, not African-American heritage, and as a second-generation immigrant. Hybridity values difference without trying to systematize it into hierarchical classifications, thus it suggests potential for structural change to the concept of black racialization. Some may regard the complexity of Obama\u2019s cultural identity to be a moot point due to a consideration that in 2013 his public persona is no longer capable of being discursively manipulated regarding race. However it is crucial to remember that cultural understandings of powerful public figures are never static concepts. All subjects remain full of discursively transformative possibilities. This article therefore seeks to advance a discourse that may eventually complicate the predominant manner in which subjects are categorized as black in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>Read or purchase the article <a href=\"http:\/\/ijdar.cgpublisher.com\/product\/pub.283\/prod.5\/index_html?manage_tabs_message=Product+added+to+order+-+click+%27Your+Cart%27+in+the+top+right+corner+to+view+your+shopping+cart+and+proceed+with+your+order%21\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Barack Obama and Immigrant Blackness: A Catalyst for Structural Change The International Journal of Diversity in Organizations, Communities and Nations: Annual Review Volume 12 (2012) pages 33-42 Kirin Wachter-Grene, Acting Instructor of Literature New York University This essay builds upon an argument I make in my article \u201cBeyond the Binary: Obama\u2019s Hybridity and Post-Racialization\u201d to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,63,8413,1196,8,20],"tags":[5627,24745],"class_list":["post-48665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-barack-obama","category-communications","category-literary-criticism","category-media-archive","category-usa","tag-kirin-wachter-grene","tag-the-international-journal-of-diversity-in-organizations-communities-and-nations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48665"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48666,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48665\/revisions\/48666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}