Buzzflash
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Mixx it!
RedditOBAMA: GREAT BLACK/WHITE HOPE
Chicago
Gary Younge's "The Obama Effect" [Dec. 31] offers insight into the senator's cross-racial appeal and that of others of the constructed "new generation of black leadership." As Younge states, "race is...a performance," and Barack Obama and his cohorts have mastered the act to become viable candidates--that is, to appeal to whites. Their race must be presented not as a source of contention but as a symbol of hope. Obama reminded us of this in his victory speech in Iowa, when he reiterated this feel-good theme: his biography, beginning with a black Kenyan father and a white American mother, is possible only in America.
Subscribe Now!
The only way to read this article and the full contents of each week's issue of The Nation online is by subscribing to the magazine. Subscribe now and read this article -- and every article published since for the past five years -- right now.
There's no obligation -- try The Nation for four weeks free.
- Get The Nation at home (and online!) for 68 cents a week!
- If you like this article, consider making a donation to The Nation.
- Reprint this article. Click here for rights and information.
RSS