Race Relations and the Presidential Election of 2008
Fall term, Block F
W 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Professor Randall Kennedy
2 classroom credits LAW-45407A
1. Barack Obama and Reverend Wright: Race, Religion and Presidential Politics
What were the racial ideas that animated Reverend Wright's ministry at the Trinity United Church of Christ?
What are the spectrum of perspectives held by observers regarding Barack Obama's relationship with Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Jr.? Did Obama act rightly in dealing with Reverend Wright and the Trinity Church?
2. The Barack Obama Phenomenon
What has enabled Barack Obama to climb to unprecedented heights as an electoral politician who identifies himself as an African American? Does it have to do with changes in the demography of the American electorate? Does it have to do with changes in the attitudes of voters? Does it have to do with Obama's ideological packaging, particularly his appeal for racial "transcendence"? Does it have to do with Obama's complicated racial persona: the child of a Black African man and a white American woman who identifies himself as "black" but not only black and is married to a woman who is widely seen as very black physically, temperamentally, and ideologically?
Is the Barack Obama phenomenon generalizable? Should we expect to see other Obama-like black politicians soon?
3. Clinton Versus Obama; Gender v. Race
What is the spectrum of feminist views regarding the Clinton-Obama contest?
What is the spectrum of racialist views regarding the Clinton-Obama contest?
Are there any positive lessons to be learned from this conflict? Or were the tensions and tactics that arose unavoidable?
4. Race and the Republicans
How is John McCain and the Republican Party dealing with racial issues in the general election? What explains the posture they adopt?
5. In terms of race relations, what can be expected from the new President of the United States? In other words, what are the key racial issues that a President faces in 2008?
6. What is the significance of the 2008 presidential campaign in the history of American race relations? Does it offer encouragement forty years after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. that we shall overcome? Or does it mainly substantiate the pessimistic view that racial fairness in America is a doomed prospect?
The requirements for the course are: participation in class discussion and one ten-page, double-spaced paper.