Fading Out Black and White
Racial Ambiguity in American Culture
Abstract
What happens to a country that was built on race when the boundaries of black and white have started to fade? Not only is the literal face of America changing where white will no longer be the majority, but the belief in the firmness of these categories and the boundaries that have been drawn is also disintegrating.
In a nuanced reading of culture in a post Obama America, this book asks what will become of the racial categories of black and white in an increasingly multi-ethnic, racially ambiguous, and culturally fluid country. Through readings of sites of cultural friction such as the media frenzy around ‘transracial’ Rachel Dolezal, the new popularity of racially ambiguous dolls, and the confusion over Obama’s race, Fading Out Black and White explores the contemporary construction of race.
This insightful, provocative glimpse at identity formation in the US reviews the new frontier of race and looks back at the archaism of the one-drop rule that is unique to America.
Schlagworte
Sociology Race Popular Culture Ethnicity Black Cultural Studies American- i–xvi Preface i–xvi
- 1–20 Introduction 1–20
- 21–36 1 Tracing Race 21–36
- 81–106 4 Casting Color 81–106
- 107–136 5 Really Black 107–136
- 137–164 6 Talking About Race 137–164
- 165–168 Coda 165–168
- 173–194 Bibliography 173–194
- 195–206 Index 195–206
- 207–208 About the Author 207–208