Blinded by the Whites: Why Race Still Matters in 21st-Century America (Blacks in the Diaspora)

The election of Barack Obama gave political currency to the (white) idea that Americans now live in a post-racial society. But the persistence of racial profiling, economic inequality between blacks and whites, disproportionate numbers of black prisoners, and disparities in health and access to healthcare suggest there is more to the story. David H. Ikard addresses these issues in an effort to give voice to the challenges faced by most African Americans and to make legible the shifting discourse of white supremacist ideology—including post-racialism and colorblind politics—that frustrates black self-determination, agency, and empowerment in the 21st century. Ikard tackles these concerns from various perspectives, chief among them black feminism. He argues that all oppressions (of race, gender, class, sexual orientation) intersect and must be confronted to upset the status quo. Acknowledgments Introduction: What Does Black Empowerment in the Twenty-First Century Look Like? 1. White Supremacy Under Fire: The Unrewarded Perspective in Edward P. Jones's The Known World 2. Easier Said than Done: Making Black Feminism Transformative for Black Men 3. All Joking Aside: Black Men, Sexual Assault, and Displaced Racial Angst in Paul Beatty's The White Boy Shuffle 4. Boys to Men: Getting Personal about Black Manhood, Sexuality, and Empowerment 5. Rejecting Goldilocks: The Crisis of Normative White Beauty for Black Girls 6. "Stop Making the Rest of Us Look Bad": How Class Matters in the Attacks against the Movie Precious Epilogue: So What Does It All Mean? Notes Bibliography Index The scholar and author posits that the election of Barack Obama gave political currency to the (white) idea that Americans live in a post-racial society. But the persistence of racial profiling, economic inequality between Blacks and whites, disproportionate numbers of Black prisoners, and disparities in health and access to healthcare suggest there is more to the story. -- Description from dust jacket flap The scholar and author posits that "the election of Barack Obama gave political currency to the (white) idea that Americans now live in a post-racial society. But the persistence of racial profiling, economic inequality between blacks and whites, disproportionate numbers of black prisoners, and disparities in health and access to healthcare suggest there is more to the story"--Dustjacket flap