America Is Not Post-Racial

Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Racism, and the 44th President

Algernon Austin

• Publisher: Praeger
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN:
  9781440841255
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781440841262
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Discrimination & Race Relations
• Index: Social Sciences

This book is the first in-depth examination of the 25 million Americans with the most intense hatred of President Obama—arguably the most Republican-friendly of recent Democratic presidents—and what the mindsets of these "Obama Haters" teach us about race and ethnicity in America today.

Despite the fact that President Obama was raised by a white mother and white grandparents, and has two degrees from Ivy League universities, he has still been subject to intense racial hatred from a large number of Americans. Even after Obama's presidency, the "Obama Haters"—and their xenophobia, Islamophobia, and racism—will continue to shape American politics.

America is certainly not post-racial, argues author Algernon Austin, PhD, a noted sociologist and author on racial issues who consults on race, politics, and economics in Washington, DC. In this book, he uses the Obama Haters as an appropriate jumping-off point to consider what strategies might begin to reduce racial animosity in the United States—a real concern, considering that demographic trends are likely to exacerbate and escalate race-based hatred in our society.

Austin sets the stage for the discussion by establishing that President Obama is hardly liberal in the eyes of liberal political activists, raising the question of why Obama is so intensely hated by some conservatives. He then compares the views of the Obama Haters—estimated to be some 25 million strong—with conservatives, moderates, and liberals who are not Obama Haters. The author shows how the Obama Haters are distinctly more xenophobic, Islamophobic, and racist than political conservatives who are not Obama Haters, underscoring the fact that the Obama Haters are motivated by more than just conservatism.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction: Obama-phobia in America
• Chapter 1 Why Obama Haters Should Love Obama
• Chapter 2 The Not-Post-Racial Election
• Chapter 3 Angry, Afraid, and Cold: Defining the Obama Haters
• Chapter 4 Obama Haters' Racial Attitudes
• Chapter 5 Othering Obama, Part I: Xenophobia among Obama Haters
• Chapter 6 Othering Obama, Part II: Islamophobia among Obama Haters
• Chapter 7 Hot Tea: Obama Haters and the Tea Partiers
• Chapter 8 Thinking Like a Hater
• Chapter 9 The Future of Hate
• Afterword
• Appendix
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index