Synopses & Reviews
The election and reelection of Barack Obama ushered in a litany of controversial perspectives about the contemporary state of American race relations. In this incisive volume, some of the countrys most celebrated and original thinkers on racehistorians, sociologists, writers, scholars, and cultural criticsreexamine the familiar framework of the civil rights movement with an eye to redirecting our understanding of the politics of race.
Through provocative and insightful essays, The New Black challenges contemporary images of black families, offers a contentious critique of the relevance of presidential politics, transforms ideas about real and perceived political power, defies commonly accepted notions of "blackness," and generally attempts to sketch the new boundaries of debates over race in America.
Bringing a wealth of novel ideas and fresh perspectives to the public discourse, The New Black represents a major effort to address both persistent inequalities and the changing landscape of race in the new century.
With contributions by:
Elizabeth Alexander
Jeannine Bell
Paul Butler
Luis Fuentes-Rohwer
Lani Guinier
Jonathan Scott Holloway
Taeku Lee
Glenn C. Loury
Angela Onwuachi-Willig
Orlando Patterson
Cristina M. Rodríguez
Gerald Torres
Review
"Americans of all races and ethnicities need to become racially literate, not postracially blind
the conversation on race continues in a new space."
Lani Guinier, awardwinning contributor to The New Black
Review
"Teeming with critically important reflections on the state of race in America. . . . Whether you agree or disagree with the ideas herein, one thing is for certain: these perspectives ought not be ignored."
Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow
"The New Black is an indispensable guide to thinking ones way through the peculiar institutional complexities of our supposedly postracial moment: the tensions among racial progress in some quarters, fierce backlash in others, the shifting demographics of et?hnicity, the subtleties of denial and unconscious bias, and the reconfigured challenge of civil rights for all Americans."
Patricia J. Williams, columnist at The Nation and James L. Dohr Professor of Law, Columbia University
"These insightful essays refocus our attention on race, helping to dissipate the willed delusion of a postracial society. A must-read, and a fun read."
Ian Haney Lopez, John H. Boalt Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley
"The contributors to this book raise significant questions about the continued relevance of the civil rights ideal and argue persuasively that new ideas are necessary, advancing an important discussion of the shape of race relations beyond the Obama presidency."
Mary Frances Berry, Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania and former chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
"An important contribution. . . . As we transform into a majority-minority nation, The New Black gives us thought-provoking inquiries and frameworks that reflect the racial realities of Americans."
Deepa Iyer, executive director, South Asian Americans Leading Together
Synopsis
The arrival of an African American man in the White House has brought into focus a world of race relations that has changed profoundly since the civil rights movement. At the dawn of what some consider to be a new agethe result of economic, social, environmental, technological, and political shifts in the United States and abroadthere is a growing and vibrant debate both within and beyond communities of color about the complex and evolving politics of race and race relations in America.
In this incisive, accessible volume, a group of eminent public intellectualshistorians, sociologists, syndicated writers, prominent scholars, and well-known cultural criticsmove past the familiar half-century-old framework to challenge conventional wisdom on topics including immigration, images of black women, the changing political power of African Americans and other groups, and the overall terms of debate about race in America.
The New Black represents a major new effort to move the conversation forward and to address more effectively the real inequalities that persist, offering a vital set of innovative ideas and intellectual tools for facing the new century.
About the Author
Kenneth W. Mack is a law professor at Harvard University and the author of Representing the Race. He has written for the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the Baltimore Sun and has appeared on CNN, Anderson Cooper 360, and PBSs Frontline. He lives in Newton, Massachusetts. Guy-Uriel Charles is a law professor at Duke University and the founding director of the Duke Center on Law, Race, and Politics. He lives in Durham, North Carolina.