Week 9
Section A01
In “Barack Obama as the post-racial candidate for a post-racial America: perspectives from Asian America and Hawai‘i”, Jonathan Y. Okamura talks about the false ideas about a new “post-racial era.” During the time when Obama became a part of the Democratic Party primaries, journalists assumed that Obama’s victory meant that they were progressively moving to a time where racism is not prevalent. However, not recognizing that racism is a problem allows for the dominant race to continue being on top of the social hierarchy. This color-blind racism undermines the struggles people of color face. Obama became known as a post-racial candidate, which allowed him to gain the support of Whites, Hispanics and Asians. The neo-conservatives saw this and used his victory to support the false notion that racism does not hinder Black lives from advancing. Learning about this made me realize how many people viewed Obama’s achievement out of context and used it to maintain the status quo. One quote really stuck out to me: “However, while most Americans are quite willing to accept successful African Americans in stereotyped roles, such as entertainers and athletes, if Blacks are to achieve unexpected success in another field, they are ‘subsequently stripped of color’.” I find it interesting how neo-conservatives refuse to associate blackness with non-stereotypical roles and do not see blackness as being empowering. I also did not know that Obama was known as an honorary Asian American. This supports the false notion of the model minority, which states that hard work can easily lead towards a path of success, while belittling the struggles Asian Americans face.
Question: What are neo-conservatives’ view on racism right now, as Donald Trump is president?
Works Cited:
Okamura, J.Y. (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.
(2017, Oct 19.) Racism without Racists (Colorblind Racism). Retrieved from https://blogs.brown.edu/amst-2220j-s01-2017-fall/2017/10/19/week-6-racism-without-racists-colorblind-racism/.
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