Isidore hall biography of barack obama
Post-Racial America: New Myth for a New Age?
1Bridging the partisan divide in Washington and forging a more united, “post-racial” America were defining themes of Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign. Yet despite the evocative power of his “post-race” narrative—which, incidentally, complements the nation’s myth of meritocracy—Obama’s election has not produced a more perfect union. In fact, America’s first black president finds himself presiding over a deeply polarized citizenry. Throughout the 2008 campaign season, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, and anti-”foreigner” rhetoric fueled angry town hall meetings; aroused suspicions about Obama’s citizenship status; and turned the race for the presidency into a mythic battle between “real” Americans and socialists and terrorists.1 As the next presidential campaign heats up, news of gridlock in Washington and discontent on Main Street dominates the headlines. An appealing narrative of “post racial” harmony may have swayed the 2008 election Obama’s way, but it is the language of fear and suspicion that exerts influence in its wake and threatens Obama’s chance at a second term.
2This essay considers the so-called “Obama effect”2 as a discursive shift that revises and misappropriates identity politics. My analysis focuses attention on differentiation processes that disguise racialist ideology by disavowing or inverting a conventional black/white paradigm. In particular, I examine the deployment of three principle selfing/othering strategies in the age of Obama: the resurgence of code words for “race”; the reconfiguration of “passing” tropes in political discourse; and the emergence of “whiteness” as an endangered identity. I hope to show that these rhetorical sleights-of-hand exploit post-racial discourse in order to dismantle decades of progressive civil rights legislation in the United States.
3Stuart Hall theorizes national identity as a discourse that shapes our collective self-image and encourages us to a President of the United States from 2009 to 2017 For other uses, see Barack Obama (disambiguation). "Barack" and "Obama" redirect here. For other uses, see Barack (disambiguation) and Obama (disambiguation). Barack Obama Official portrait, 2012 Barack Hussein Obama II Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African-American president in U.S. history. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004. Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. He graduated from Columbia University in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and later worked as a community organizer in Chicago. In 1988, Obama enrolled in Harvard Law School, where he was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. He became a civil rights attorney and an academic, teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. In 1996, Obama was elected to represent the 13th district in the Illinois Senate, a position he held until 2004, when he successfully ran for the U.S. Senate. In the 2008 presidential election, after a close primary campai "Barack" and "Obama" redirect here. For other uses, see Barack (disambiguation) and Obama (disambiguation). Barack Hussein Obama II (bə-RAHKhoo-SAYNoh-BAH-mə; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the United States. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004. Obama was born in 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii, two years after the territory was admitted to the Union as the 50th state. Raised largely in Hawaii, Obama also spent one year of his childhood in Washington State and four years in Indonesia. After graduating from Columbia University in 1983, he worked as a community organizer in Chicago. In 1988 Obama enrolled in Harvard Law School, where he was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. After graduation, he became a civil rights atto On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law. As it went through Congress, the legislation faced forceful resistance. Individuals and organizations opposing the ACA circulated propaganda that varied from photographs of fresh graves or coffins with the caption “Result of ObamaCare” to portrayals of President Obama as the Joker from the Batman movies, captioned with the single word “socialism.” The arguments embedded in these images have striking parallels to cartoons circulated by physicians to their patients in earlier fights against national health care. Examining cartoons used in the formative health care reform debates of the 1940s provides a means for tracing the lineage of emotional arguments employed against health care reform. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law on March 23, 2010. As it went through Congress, the ACA faced forceful opposition from individuals and organizations armed with images that varied from photographs of fresh graves or coffins with the caption “Result of ObamaCare” to portrayals of President Obama as the Joker from the Batman movies, captioned with the single word “socialism.” This use of imagery to portray universal health care reform as socialist was by no means a new tactic. From 1939 through 1962, the American Medical Association (AMA) focused much of its political and monetary power on arguing that any type of government health care system would be socialist, costly, bureaucratic, a hindrance to scientific progress, and detrimental to the doctor–patient relationship. As part of its opposition, the National Physicians’ Committee for the Extension of Medical Service, a lobbying organization closely associated with the AMA, commissioned and distributed cartoons direct
Barack Obama
In office
January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017Vice President Joe Biden Preceded by George W. Bush Succeeded by Donald Trump In office
January 3, 2005 – November 16, 2008Preceded by Peter Fitzgerald Succeeded by Roland Burris In office
January 8, 1997 – November 4, 2004Preceded by Alice Palmer Succeeded by Kwame Raoul Born
(1961-08-04) August 4, 1961 (age 63)
Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.Political party Democratic Spouse Children Parents Relatives Obama family Education Occupation Awards Full list Signature Website Barack Obama
Barack Obama 44th President of the United States In office
January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017Vice President Joe Biden Preceded by George W. Bush Succeeded by Donald Trump United States Senator
from IllinoisIn office
January 3, 2005 – November 16, 2008Preceded by Peter Fitzgerald Succeeded by Roland Burris Member of the Illinois Senate
from the 13th districtIn office
January 8, 1997 – November 4, 2004Preceded by Alice Palmer Succeeded by Kwame Raoul Personal details Born Barack Hussein Obama II
(1961-08-04) August 4, 1961 (age 56)
Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.Political party Democratic Spouse(s) Michelle Robinson (m. 1992) Children Parents Relatives See Family of Barack Obama Education Awards Nobel Peace Prize(2009)
Profile in Courage Award(2017)Signature Website “A Campaign Won as a Public Issue Will Stay Won”: Using Cartoons and Comics to Fight National Health Care Reform, 1940s and Beyond
Abstract