Could this be the final victory for civil rights, or the first of many to come?
When Henry Louis Gates spoke out about his ridiculous arrest, he stated a truth few Americans?including President Obama?are eager to discuss: there is no such thing as a post-racial America. When it comes to race, the United States has come a long way, but not far enough and not fast enough. Every day, we cope with casual racism, myriad indignities, institutional obstacles, post-racial nonsense, and peers bent on self-destruction. The powers that be, meanwhile, always seem to arrive with their apologies and redress a day late and a dollar short.
This book takes a close look at the lives of African-Americans from diverse backgrounds as Obama?s victory comes to play a personal role in each of their lives. Every tale delves into the complex issues we will have to deal with going forward:
- The many challenges young black men face, such as subtle persistent racism
- The stagnation of blacks vis ? vis whites
- Widespread black participation in the military despite widespread anti-war sentiments
- The decline of unions even as organized labor becomes the primary vehicle for black progress
- The challenges of interracial families
- The lack of good schools or healthcare for the poor
- The inability of well-off blacks to lift up others
Barack Obama will deliver his first official State of the Union address in January 2010, and A Day Late and a Dollar Short will deliver an altogether different picture of the way things really under the first black president.
Table of Content
Acknowledgments.
Introduction.
1 Daisy Mae on the Bayou: The Past Is Still with Us.
2. Made in America: Union Organizing in Chicago.
3. He Doesn’t See What We See: Diop’s Protest in St. Petersburg.
4. Where the Grass is Greener: Linda in the Promised Land.
5. Casualty of War: Tee Green in Baghdad.
6. White Is Not an Abstract Concept: Angela’s Daughters in Appalachia.
7. Little Men: Jewel and Launnie in New Orleans.
8. Dandelions: Eddie’s Freedom in D.C.
9. Watermelon Man: Cecil, Jon, and Ryan In Indianapolis.
10. The Front Man: Lee Moves from South Africa to Brooklyn.
Notes.
Index.
About the author
Robert E. Pierre, a reporter and editor at the Washington Post, has covered politics and social issues at the Post for nearly two decades. He is a former Chicago bureau chief and a key figure in the Post’s 2006 award-winning series, ‘Being a Black Man.’
Jon Jeter has served as a producer for This American Life on NPR and as a Bureau Chief for the Washington Post. He is the author of Flat Broke in the Free Market.
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