"The Boundaries of Blackness" Essay by Calwriter

This paper explains that Cohen challenges the notion of a cohesive African-American vote by noting that African-Americans failed to become a strong political force because their political, business, and church leaders focus on imbibing the values of mainstream, middle-class America. The author points out that Cohen argues that, despite the growing threat of AIDS, African-American leadership failed to galvanize the population around this issue, which affects African-Americans as a group, despite categorical differences. The paper states that the Cohen believes that the attitudes of black leaders resulted in a secondary marginalization of gays and lesbians, who, due to their race and sexual orientation, remained among the most disenfranchised citizens.