The Black Presidency ─ Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America

A provocative and lively deep-dive into the meaning of America's first black presidency, and an engrossing analysis of how race and blackness shape our understanding of Barack Obama's achievements, failures-and America's racial future.

From "one of the most graceful and lucid intellectuals writing on race and politics today" (Vanity Fair), an incisive investigation of Barack Obama's groundbreaking presidency, exploring how the politics of race have shaped his identity and career. How has Obama dealt publicly with race-as the national traumas of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Freddie Gray, and Walter Scott played out during his tenure? What can we learn from his major race speeches about his approach to racial conflict and the black criticism it provokes? How has becoming the face of America affected Obama and the nation?

Dyson suggests that the current urge for a "post-racial" world may stem from our desire to avoid painful moral reckoning on race, as he reminds us that Obama has held up his own biracialism as a radiant symbol. And he sheds light on identity issues within the black power structure, telling the fascinating story of how Obama has spurned the traditional black power brokers, significantly reducing their leverage.

President Obama's own voice-from an Oval Office interview granted to Dyson for the book-along with that of Eric Holder, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young, and Maxine Waters, among others, add unique depth to this profound tour of the nation's first black presidency.

MICHAEL ERIC DYSON is a New York Times op-ed contributor, a Georgetown University professor, an MSNBC political analyst, and best-selling author of seventeen books. He is an American Book Award winner, and two-time NAACP Image Award winner. Dyson's writing inspired Vanity Fair to say that he is "one of the most graceful and lucid intellectuals writing on race and politics today."