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AFAM 162: African American History: From Emancipation to the Present

Lecture 25 - Who Speaks for the Race? (continued). In this final lecture, Professor Holloway offers a survey of some of the main themes and ideas of the course, including citizenship, uplift and respectability, political radicalism, cultural politics, and racial symbolism. The final two questions he grapples with are 1) what does it mean to be "post-racial" and 2) how is race used in our society? In order to propose answers to these questions, Professor Holloway examines Barack Obama's election; his 2008 inauguration; and his speech, "A More Perfect Union," given during the campaign. He also provides some examples of the ways raced is used in the American landscape to distract attention from class and gender; to sell products, including Uncle Ben's rice and Aunt Jemima's pancakes; to suggest a progressive commitment to equality; to draw in tourist money; and to heighten emotions, as illustrated by some of the ways that New Orleans' residents were depicted during Hurricane Katrina. In the end, Professor Holloway argues that race is used in ways that are, whether intentionally or by accident, at best simplistic and at worst destructive, often because we are unwilling to talk or think about these issues in complicated ways. He then leaves the students with one final question: how will you use race?
(from oyc.yale.edu)

Lecture 25 - Who Speaks for the Race? (continued)

Time Lecture Chapters
[00:00:00] 1. Introduction and Synthesizing Material Covered So Far
[00:12:39] 2. Barack Obama: The First African American President
[00:25:17] 3. How Is Race Used?

References
Lecture 25 - Who Speaks for the Race? (continued)
Instructor: Professor Jonathan Holloway. Credit List [PDF]. Transcript [html]. Audio [mp3]. Download Video [mov].

Go to the Course Home or watch other lectures:

Lecture 01 - Dawn of Freedom
Lecture 02 - Dawn of Freedom (continued)
Lecture 03 - Reconstruction
Lecture 04 - Reconstruction (continued)
Lecture 05 - Uplift, Accommodation, and Assimilation
Lecture 06 - Uplift, Accommodation, and Assimilation (continued)
Lecture 07 - Migration and Urbanization
Lecture 08 - Migration and Urbanization (continued)
Lecture 09 - The New Negroes
Lecture 10 - The New Negroes (continued)
Lecture 11 - Depression and Double V
Lecture 12 - Depression and Double V (continued)
Lecture 13 - The Road to Brown and Little Rock
Lecture 14 - From Sit-Ins to Civil Rights
Lecture 15 - From Sit-Ins to Civil Rights (continued)
Lecture 16 - From Voting Rights to Watts
Lecture 17 - From Voting Rights to Watts (continued)
Lecture 18 - Black Power
Lecture 19 - Black Power (continued)
Lecture 20 - The Politics of Gender and Culture
Lecture 21 - The Politics of Gender and Culture (continued)
Lecture 22 - Public Policy and Presidential Politics
Lecture 23 - Public Policy and Presidential Politics (continued)
Lecture 24 - Who Speaks for the Race?
Lecture 25 - Who Speaks for the Race? (continued)