Week 9 Ziyu Wang A02

Okamura talks about the transcendence of racial identity in his article "Barack Obama As The Post Racial Candidate For A Post Racial America Perspectives From Asian America And Hawaii". He believes that with Obama's presidential victory in 2008, United States has started its shift into a post-racial America. Now, I think to say the America as a whole has transcended racial identity is too far fetched. Racial discrimination still goes on in every aspect of the society. But I do agree with him that with Obama's election win, lots of Americans are starting to overlook the concept of race in a social stand point, thus begins the post-racial transition of America. In his article, Okamura also states that Obama's win not only marks the first black president in America, but also figuratively marks the first Asian president in America, as Obama, a minority himself born and raised in Hawaii, considered himself an Asian in the sense that he embraces the Asian community. This marks the tipping point of the Asian America because from what I have seen and heard, Asian Americans voted Republican before Obama. This sense of camaraderie definitely hints the post-racialism in the United States. However, we are still far from our goals, as people's sense of this post-racial America is, ironically, divided by race. White population are more likely to think that America is moving toward racial equality, while Black population says otherwise.

Reference:
Jonathan Y. Okamura (2011) Barack Obama as the post-racial candidate for a post-racial America: perspectives from Asian America and Hawai‘i, Patterns of Prejudice,45:1-2, 133-153, DOI: 10.1080/0031322X.2011.5631

Black Voice News. Mid-Terms A Turning Point For Asian Americans. Nov, 18. 2018. Retrieved from:http://blackvoicenews.com/2018/11/18/trump-effect-mid-terms-a-turning-point-for-asian-american-voters/