Black Politicians

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews Toni Morrison's essay describing Bill Clinton as "the first black president". The paper then goes on to discuss how black politicians in general run not only against an actual human opponent or opponents, but also must face the reality of being black in a society that still holds plenty of prejudice against African-Americans, stemming from the days of Southern slavery.

From the Paper:

"Morrison has a powerful and relevant point; black (and/or quasi-black) politicians are seldom if ever scions of the predominantly white power elite, e.g., an Al Gore; George W. Bush; Evan Bayh, Lincoln Chafee; or a Kennedy son, daughter or grandchild -at least not in America. So, as Toni Morrison also implies within her 1998 essay, a black politician in America is seldom if ever "anointed" to office in the way that all too many white ones have been historically (think Adams; Taft; Roosevelt Kennedy), and continue to be nowadays. The two most recent examples of successful white politicians whose fathers (after whom they each, moreover, is named, thereby even increasing, even more, voters' connection of this name to that of (most of the time, anyway) a powerful (white) Washington insider whose son (or sometimes daughter) has simply decided that now is the time to enter the "family business"."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "African Americans in the United States Congress." Wikipedia. December 10, 2006. Retrieved December 10, 2006, from: < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ African_Americans_in_the _United_States_Congress.html>.
• "Barak Obama." Wikipedia. December 8, 2006. Retrieved December 10, 2006, from: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barak_Obama.html>.Constitution of the United States. (2000) Microsoft Encyclopedia Encarta, 1-32.Retrieved December 7, 2006, from Microsoft Works Suite 2000 (CD-ROM), Disc 3.
• "Cynthia McKinney." Wikipedia. December 10, 2006. Retrieved December 10, 2006, from: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_McKinney .html>
• "Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution." Wikipedia. December 4, 2006. Retrieved December 10, 2006, from: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Fifteenth _Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution.html>.
• Klein, Joe. "The Fresh Face". Time. October 23, 2006. Online. Retrieved December 10, 2006, from: <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article /0,9171,1546362,00.html>

More papers on Black Politicians:

• Research Paper # 38122 : "Black Achievements and Social Identity"
• Comparison Essay # 114063 : "Obama: The Post-Civil Rights Paradigm"
• Analytical Essay # 61969 : "Up From Nigger"

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