New Book
Renowned for his insightful, common-sense critiques of racial politics, Randall Kennedy gives us a shrewd and penetrating analysis of the complex relationship between the first black president and his African-American constituency. Kennedy tackles such hot-button issues as the nature of racial opposition to Obama; whether Obama has a singular responsibility to African Americans; the differences in Obama’s presentation of himself to blacks and to whites; the challenges posed by the dream of a post-racial society; the increasing irrelevance of a certain kind of racial politics and its consequences; the complex symbolism of Obama’s achievement and his own obfuscations and evasions regarding racial justice. Eschewing the critical excesses of both the left and the right, Kennedy offers an incisive view of Obama’s triumphs and travails, his strengths and weaknesses, as they pertain to the troubled history of race in America.
About the Author:
RANDALL KENNEDY is the author of six previous books. He is the Michael R. Klein Professor at Harvard Law School, where he teaches courses on contracts, criminal law, and the regulation of race relations. He is a member of the bar of the District of Columbia, of the American Law Institute, and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He lives in Massachusetts.
The Persistence of the Color Line by Randall Kennedy, read by Cary Hite
The Persistence of the Color Line by Randall Kennedy Reviews:
“[Kennedy] deftly sketches both the infighting among Democrats in the primary season that pitted two strong candidates with equal yet opposing ‘first’ aspirations, as well as the ugly history of race-baiting that winds through American politics from the country’s birth. At times Kennedy’s plainspoken facts seem almost shocking, so degraded has much of our conversation about history become.” —The Boston Globe
“[A] powerful and ruminative book. . . . [Kennedy] has long been among the most incisive American commentators on race. His books . . . seem to be carved from intellectual granite, yet they have human scale. . . . So resonant and so personal. . . . Pay attention too to this book’s many ringing sentences.” —Dwight Garner, The New York Times
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