The Preacher and The Politician

Walker (history, UC Davis) presents an otherwise absent historical perspective on race, sexuality and politics in the 2008 presidential election. He examines the context of Jeremiah Wright's remarks in the history of black, liberation-oriented Christianity in America and the specter of black radicalism, and analyzes the changing perceptions around race, mixed-race identities, and inter-racial relations as they were brought out during the 2008 Presidential Election. In an epilogue, Walker argues against the idea that we live in a post-racial society, but asserts that a better future is still possible if we study history and listen carefully to the still marginalized. Included in the end is a reproduction of Obama's speech on race from March of 2008, which he delivered at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. This is a paperbound reprint of the 2009 cloth edition. Annotation Ac2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Clarence E. Walker, Professor of History at the University of California, Davis, is the author ofMongrel Nation: The America Begotten by Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings and We Can’t Go Home Again: An Argument about Afrocentrism. Gregory D. Smithers, author ofScience, Sexuality, and Race in the United States and Australia, 1780s-1890s, is Lecturer in American History at King’s College, University of Aberdeen in Scotland.