Evolving Black Identity in 21st Century America
The discourse of “black America” was significantly changed by the first decade of the 21st century. The first reason for this was that the community of discriminated people became more diverse at the expense of members of other marginalized races. Secondly, African Americans started associating with other identities, including class, gender, sexuality, and generational dimensions.
Therefore, black America had no unified message and had to change its approach. The number of elected African American officials in politics was on record compared to earlier periods. However, the division of the Black community was evident with the emergence of African American conservatives, socialists, liberals, and libertarians (Deborah et al. 1567).
In culture, historians indicate a new post-black art characterized by artists who did not want to be labeled “black.” However, they were interested in exploring blackness (Deborah et al. 1565). Finally, the black church was modified by departing from the social justice model. These churches appealed not just to African Americans but to all Americans. Such a message gave rise to a rhetorical reference to a nonracial appeal, resulting in two terms for Republican George W. Bush.
Defining and Debating the Post-Racial Era
The term “post-racial era” was used to describe the impression that racial equality had become a reality after Barack Obama’s victory in the presidential election. It was perceived that the victory of an African American candidate meant that the dream of Martin Luther King Jr. had come true because people began to judge others by the content of their character (Deborah et al. 1606). However, the reality showed that racial discrimination and racial profiling are still the major problems of American society (Deborah et al. 1607). As a result, the nation entered this period divided.
One side argued that racial equality had come, so the racial issue was becoming an irrelevant agenda. For example, during this period, the coalition of right-wing forces headed by Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan gained popularity because they reflected such political reasoning (Deborah et al. 1612). The other side disagreed and pointed to current racial issues as well as President Barack Obama’s culturally “white” background. For example, an active supporter of pro-Black policies was the scholar Cornell West, who accused Obama of limited attention to the high rate of black unemployment in 2011 (16%). It seems that such “post-racial era” discourse differed from earlier periods but produced high polarization in US politics.
Work Cited
White, Deborah, et al. “Chapter 15 African Americans and the New Century” Freedom on My Mind: A History of African Americans, edited by Deborah White, Mia Bay and Waldo E. Martin Jr., Bedford/St. Martins, 2016, pp. 1547-1634.