The End of Race?: Obama, 2008, and Racial Politics in America

by Donald R. Kinder, Allison Dale-Riddle

How did race affect the election that gave America its first African American president? This book offers some fascinating, and perhaps controversial, findings. Donald R. Kinder and Allison Dale-Riddle assert that racism was in fact an important factor in 2008, and that if not for racism, Barack Obama would have won in a landslide. On the way to this conclusion, they make several other important arguments. In an analysis of the nomination battle between Obama and Hillary Clinton, they show why racial identity matters more in electoral politics than gender identity. Comparing the 2008 election with that of 1960, they find that religion played much the same role in the earlier campaign that race played in ’08. And they argue that racial resentment—a modern form of racism that has superseded the old-fashioned biological variety—is a potent political force.

Genres: Politics, Race, Political Science, Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published July 15, 1996

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember Professor Kinder when I was a poli-sci major many years ago at the University of Michigan. I'm glad to see that he's still doing research. This is a very good book and contradicts a lot of the simplistic notions in the popular culture about President Obama and race.

[Mills College Library]

324.97309 K515 2012

[Eugene O'Neal]

Absolutely great book on how race impact politics, especially in voting.