Nation of Cowards: Black Activism in Barack Obama's Post-Racial America

Contents

C O N T E N T S· Introduction: Is America a Nation of Cowards or Has Attorney General Eric Holder Lost His Mind? 1 1 The Teaching Moment That Never Was: Henry Louis Gates, Barack Obama, and the Post-Racial Dilemma 23 2 “I Know What’s in His Heart”: Enlightened Exceptionalism and the Problem with Using Barack Obama as the Racial Litmus Test for Black Progress and Achievement 37 3 The Audacity of Reverend Wright: Speaking Truth to Power in the Twenty-First Century 57 4 Setting the Record Straight: Why Barack Obama and America Cannot Afford to Ignore a Black Agenda 83 5 Pull Yourself Up by Your Bootstraps: Barack Obama, the Black Poor, and the Problems of Racial Common Sense Thinking 103· Notes 137· Works Cited 143· Index 151 ix A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S If it takes a village to raise a child, it certainly takes a village to write a book. Therefore, we’d like to acknowledge the family, friends, and colleagues who have been instrumental in helping us to write this book. I, DavidIkard,wouldliketogivespecialthankstoAnouchckaAmbouroue forputtingupwithmethroughoutthisgruelingordeal.Youareanangel. I’d also like to thank my colleagues Rhea Lathan, “Tayo” and Joy Onifade , Alisha Gaines, Maxine Montgomery, Wanda Costen, La Vinia Jennings , Mark Anthony Neal, Tracy Sharpley-Whiting, Richard Mizelle, William Jelani Cobb, Wizdom Powell, Lisa Thompson, and Monica Coleman. Whether you know it or not, you challenge me to think more critically, work more diligently and dream more ambitiously. Lastly, I would like to thank my beautiful children, Elijah and Octavia. You both inspire me to be a better scholar, parent, and overall human being. I am blessed to be your father. I, Martell Teasley, am truly grateful and in debt to members of the Diop Institute for Scholarly Advancement for their challenging intellectualdiscourseandcommitmenttoscholaractivism .Iamparticularly thankful for my colleagues Reiland Rabaka and Zizwe Poe who have expanded my intellectual horizon with each conversation. My biggest and most important support system is, of course, my family. A heartfelt thanks goes to my wife, Tanya, my daughters Aura and Taylor, and our pet dog, Buddy. Without your love, patience, and sacrifice I could never x acknowledgments have completed this project. To my son Martell; love, prosperity, and blessings—stay strong like the hammer but bend like the reed. To my daughters Marquita and Tiara, you bring great joy into my life and I am always thinking of you both; your success and promise to the world means so much to me. To my granddaughter Skye, you make our family ’s future bright. NATION OF COWARDS ...