The Bob Graham Center for Public Service provides a wide variety of programs for students and the larger public on topics related to public service, public leadership and civic engagement.
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Paint the White House Black: Barack Obama and the Meaning of Race in America with Michael Jeffries
February 17, 2016
Dr. Michael Jeffries, associate professor of American Studies at Wellesley College, spoke about his latest book, Paint the White House Black: Barack Obama and the Meaning of Race in America. Dr. Jeffries approaches Obama’s election and administration as common cultural ground for thinking about race. He uncovers contemporary stereotypes and anxieties by examining historically rooted conceptions of race and nationhood, discourses of “biracialism” and Obama’s mixed heritage, the purported emergence of a “post-racial society,” and popular symbols of Michelle Obama as a modern black woman. In so doing, Jeffries casts new light on how we think about race and enables us to see how race, in turn, operates within our daily lives.
This discussion was part of a two-day symposium on “An Assessment of the Obama Presidency” hosted by African American Studies.
This event was sponsored by African American Studies, the Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere, and the Bob Graham Center for Public Service.
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