From Lynch-Mobs to Dog-Whistles: Color-Blind Racism in the Obama Era; Sociologist Eduardo Bonilla-Silva on the October 22nd ‘Left of Black’
In an era that some tried to define as “Post-Race,” many commentators have been quick to point out the “dog-whistle” racism that has become a feature of our national politics, particularly in relation to the re-election campaign of President Barack Obama. It is a state of politics that Duke University Sociologist Eduardo Bonilla-Silva recognized nearly a decade ago in his ground breaking study (now in it’s third edition) Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States. Bonilla-Silva cautions us though, that those dog-whistles—from Joe Wilson’s “You Lie” outburst to President Obama’s depiction as the “welfare President”—are part of an “old racism,” that while important to address, often obscures the ways that the “new racism,” a color-blind racism is impacting the lives of people of color
With his signature humor, Professor Bonilla-Silva, currently the Chair of the Sociology Department at Duke University, joins host and fellow Duke University colleague Mark Anthony Neal in the Left of Black studio in a wide ranging conversation about the Obama Presidency, the importance of the Black Left and the insidiousness of “color-blind” racism.
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Left of Black airs at 1:30 p.m. (EST) on Mondays on the Ustream channel: http://tinyurl.com/LeftofBlackhttp://tinyurl.com/LeftofBlack
Viewers are invited to participate in a Twitter conversation with Neal and featured guests while the show airs using hash tags #LeftofBlack or #dukelive.
Left of Black is recorded and produced at the John Hope Franklin Center of International and Interdisciplinary Studies at Duke University.
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Follow Mark Anthony Neal on Twitter: @NewBlackMan
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