Event Host: Department of Political Science
Short Description: Melanye Price, political science alumna (PhD, 2003) and author of the new book, The Race Whisperer: Barack Obama, will present at the Department of Political Science colloquium, Thursday, Jan 19, 12:30 p.m., Room 2130 Derby Hall. Price is associate professor of Africana studies at Rutgers University.
Melanye Price, political science alumna (PhD, 2003) and author of the new book, The Race Whisperer: Barack Obama, will present at the Department of Political Science colloquium, Thursday, Jan 19, 12:30 p.m., Room 2130 Derby Hall. Price is associate professor of Africana studies at Rutgers University.
Synopsis of Price’s talk: I will discuss the framing of my new book, The Race Whisperer: Barack Obama. I will focus specifically on the role of race and policing in the Obama administration through a close examination of the controversial arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates. I argue that political fallout of this event shaped the President's understanding and approach to public racial discussions. By extension, it also had a profound impact on his engagement with the Movement for Black Lives, commonly referred to as Black Lives Matter. In the end, the actions of President Obama, Professor Gates and BLM all speak to questions of democracy, citizenship, and belonging that have endured for generations in the African American community.
