Black Elephants in the Room: The Unexpected Politics of African American Republicans (George Gund Foundation Book in African American Studies)

What Do You Think Of When You Hear About An African American Republican? Are They Heroes Fighting Against The Expectation That All Blacks Must Vote Democratic? Are They Uncle Toms Or Sellouts, Serving As Traitors To Their Race? What Is It Really Like To Be A Black Person In The Republican Party? Black Elephants In The Room Considers How Race Structures The Political Behavior Of African American Republicans And Discusses The Dynamic Relationship Between Race And Political Behavior In The Purported 'post-racial' Context Of Us Politics. Drawing On Vivid First-person Accounts, The Book Sheds Light On The Different Ways Black Identity Structures African Americans' Membership In The Republican Party. Moving Past Rhetoric And Politics, We Begin To See The Everyday People Working To Reconcile Their Commitment To Black Identity With Their Belief In Republican Principles. And At The End, We Learn The Importance Of Understanding Both The Meanings African Americans Attach To Racial Identity And The Political Contexts In Which Those Meanings Are Developed And Expressed--provided By Publisher. From Many To Few -- Beyond Uncle Tom -- Race Doesn't Matter -- Black Power Through Conservative Principles -- Like Crabs In A Barrel -- Whither The Republican Party. Corey D. Fields. George Gund Foundation Imprint In African American Studies. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 253-264) And Index. What do you think of when you hear about an African American Republican? Are they heroes fighting against the expectation that all blacks must vote democratic? Are they Uncle Toms or sellouts, serving as traitors to their race? What is it really like to be a black person in the Republican Party?
 
Black Elephants in the Room considers how race structures the political behavior of African American Republicans and discusses the dynamic relationship between race and political behavior in the purported “post-racial” context of US politics. Drawing on vivid first-person accounts, the book sheds light on the different ways black identity structures African Americans' membership in the Republican Party. Moving past rhetoric and politics, we begin to see the everyday people working to reconcile their commitment to black identity with their belief in Republican principles. And at the end, we learn the importance of understanding both the meanings African Americans attach to racial identity and the political contexts in which those meanings are developed and expressed. "What do you think of when you hear about an African American Republican? Are they heroes fighting against the expectation that all blacks must vote democratic? Are they Uncle Toms or sellouts, serving as traitors to their race? What is it really like to be a black person in the Republican Party? Black Elephants in the Room considers how race structures the political behavior of African American Republicans and discusses the dynamic relationship between race and political behavior in the purported 'post-racial' context of US politics. Drawing on vivid first-person accounts, the book sheds light on the different ways black identity structures African Americans' membership in the Republican Party. Moving past rhetoric and politics, we begin to see the everyday people working to reconcile their commitment to black identity with their belief in Republican principles. And at the end, we learn the importance of understanding both the meanings African Americans attach to racial identity and the political contexts in which those meanings are developed and expressed" ... Provided by publisher What do people think of when they hear about an African American Republican? Are they heroes fighting against the expectation that all blacks must vote democratic? Are they Uncle Toms or sellouts, serving as traitors to their race? What is it really like to be a black person in the Republican Party? This book considers how race structures the political behavior of African American Republicans and discusses the dynamic relationship between race and political behavior in the purported “post-racial” context of US politics. Drawing on vivid first-person accounts, the book sheds light on the different ways black identity structures African Americans' membership in the Republican Party. Moving past rhetoric and politics, the everyday people working to reconcile their commitment to black identity with their belief in Republican principles can be seen. And at the end, the importance of understanding both the meanings African Americans attach to racial identity and the political contexts in which those meanings are developed and expressed is illuminated. What do people think of when they hear about an African American Republican? Are they heroes fighting against the expectation that all blacks must vote democratic? Are they Uncle Toms or sellouts, serving as traitors to their race? What is it really like to be a black person in the Republican Party? This volume considers how race structures the political behaviour of African American Republicans and discusses the dynamic relationship between race and political behavior in the purported 'post-racial' context of US politics What do you think of when you hear about an African American Republican? Are they heroes fighting against the expectation that all blacks must vote democratic? Are they Uncle Toms or sellouts, serving as traitors to their race? What is it really like to be a black person in the Republican Party? This book considers how race structures the political behaviour of African American Republicans and discusses the dynamic relationship between race and political behaviour in the purported 'post-racial' context of US politics ACKNOWLEDGMENTS CONTENTS Introduction CHAPTER ONE. From Many to Few CHAPTER TWO. Beyond Uncle Tom CHAPTER THREE. Race Doesn’t Matter CHAPTER FOUR. Black Power through Conservative Principles CHAPTER FIVE. Like Crabs in a Barrel CHAPTER SIX. Whither the Republican Party Conclusion METHODOLOGICAL APPENDIX NOTES REFERENCES INDEX