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The Price of the Ticket: Barack Obama and the Rise and Decline of Black Politics
The historical significance of Barack Obama's triumph in the presidential election of 2008 scarcely requires comment. Yet it contains an he won a victory as an African American only by denying that he should discuss issues that target the concerns of African Americans. Obama's very
success, writes Fredrick Harris, exacted a heavy cost on black politics.
In The Price of the Ticket , Harris puts Obama's career in the context of decades of black activism, showing how his election undermined the very movement that made it possible. The path to his presidency began just before passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, when black leaders began to discuss
strategies to make the most of their new access to the ballot. Some argued that black voters should organize into a cohesive, independent bloc to promote both targeted and universal polices; others urged a more race-neutral approach, working together with other racial minorities as well as
like-minded whites. This has been the fundamental divide within black politics ever since. At first, the gap did not seem serious. But the post-civil-rights era has accelerated a shift towards race-neutral politics. Obama made a point of distancing himself from older race-conscious black leaders,
such as Jesse Jackson- and leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus-even though, as Harris shows, he owes much to Jackson's earlier campaigns for the White House. Unquestionably Obama's approach won support among whites, but Harris finds the results troublesome. The social problems targeted by an
earlier generation of black politicians--racial disparities in income and education, stratospheric incarceration and unemployment rates--all persist, yet Obama's election, ironically, marginalized those issues, keeping them off the political agenda. Meanwhile, the civil-rights movement's militancy
to attack the vestiges of racial inequality is fading.
Written by one of America's leading scholars of race and politics, The Price of the Ticket will reshape our understanding of the rise of Barack Obama and the decline of a politics dedicated to challenging racial inequality head on.
success, writes Fredrick Harris, exacted a heavy cost on black politics.
In The Price of the Ticket , Harris puts Obama's career in the context of decades of black activism, showing how his election undermined the very movement that made it possible. The path to his presidency began just before passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, when black leaders began to discuss
strategies to make the most of their new access to the ballot. Some argued that black voters should organize into a cohesive, independent bloc to promote both targeted and universal polices; others urged a more race-neutral approach, working together with other racial minorities as well as
like-minded whites. This has been the fundamental divide within black politics ever since. At first, the gap did not seem serious. But the post-civil-rights era has accelerated a shift towards race-neutral politics. Obama made a point of distancing himself from older race-conscious black leaders,
such as Jesse Jackson- and leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus-even though, as Harris shows, he owes much to Jackson's earlier campaigns for the White House. Unquestionably Obama's approach won support among whites, but Harris finds the results troublesome. The social problems targeted by an
earlier generation of black politicians--racial disparities in income and education, stratospheric incarceration and unemployment rates--all persist, yet Obama's election, ironically, marginalized those issues, keeping them off the political agenda. Meanwhile, the civil-rights movement's militancy
to attack the vestiges of racial inequality is fading.
Written by one of America's leading scholars of race and politics, The Price of the Ticket will reshape our understanding of the rise of Barack Obama and the decline of a politics dedicated to challenging racial inequality head on.
232 pages, Hardcover
First published May 11, 2012
18 people are currently reading
214 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 10, 2012
This book provides an excellent history of the Black experience within electoral politics in light of the Presidency of Barack Obama and makes a significant statement on the meaning of the Obama presidency within that tradition.
December 9, 2012
As political analysis, I think the book is first rate. Frederick C. Harris does a great job of dissecting the Obama phenomenon.
He uses the history of race-neutral politics and the politics of respectability to brilliant effect.
That history is very instrumental for understanding the new Black politician and clearly illuminates how Obama got elected,
and why Black people soundly supported him, even to their own detriment.
The one shortcoming, that is somewhat glaring to me, is the inability, or perhaps, the unwillingness of the author to indicate to the readers where as a political science expert the author stands in all of this. The explanations from his perspective of what happened is great and appreciated, but, are these strategies, in his opinion, helpful or hurtful to the black community and why?
I think his opinion in these things would have made for a more engaging read, and could have drawn the readers into a silent debate.
Instead, we are left with essentially the story of what happened, the historical framework of why
it was able to happen and how it will continue to happen, if "The price of the ticket" remains cheap.
Some may suggest, his explanations are his opinions, but a careful read will suggest otherwise.
Yes, obviously when one explains anything, the explanation contains one's own opinions,
but I' m talking about an explicit condemning or condoning of certain political strategies,
especially because you are a political science professor.
So, to me that is important, because we all can have an explanation,
but the professorial explanation tends to hold more weight and by extension his declaration of judgement.
Having said that, I find the effort worthy of 4 enthusiastic stars, and would have gone 5, if the author shared a bit more of his thinking and his personal persuasion.
He uses the history of race-neutral politics and the politics of respectability to brilliant effect.
That history is very instrumental for understanding the new Black politician and clearly illuminates how Obama got elected,
and why Black people soundly supported him, even to their own detriment.
The one shortcoming, that is somewhat glaring to me, is the inability, or perhaps, the unwillingness of the author to indicate to the readers where as a political science expert the author stands in all of this. The explanations from his perspective of what happened is great and appreciated, but, are these strategies, in his opinion, helpful or hurtful to the black community and why?
I think his opinion in these things would have made for a more engaging read, and could have drawn the readers into a silent debate.
Instead, we are left with essentially the story of what happened, the historical framework of why
it was able to happen and how it will continue to happen, if "The price of the ticket" remains cheap.
Some may suggest, his explanations are his opinions, but a careful read will suggest otherwise.
Yes, obviously when one explains anything, the explanation contains one's own opinions,
but I' m talking about an explicit condemning or condoning of certain political strategies,
especially because you are a political science professor.
So, to me that is important, because we all can have an explanation,
but the professorial explanation tends to hold more weight and by extension his declaration of judgement.
Having said that, I find the effort worthy of 4 enthusiastic stars, and would have gone 5, if the author shared a bit more of his thinking and his personal persuasion.
June 17, 2014
More polemical than analytical, The Price of the Ticket is a much less successful version of Thomas Sugroe's Not Even Past. Both books set out to contextualitze Obama's rise to power, setting it against the history of African American politics. The major difference is that Harris uses the book as an opportunity to play inside black politics and pontificate on topics ranging from black liberation theology to Booker T. Washington. He's opinionated (and on more than a few occasions ungrammatical). Sugrue's a lot better. I'll leave it there.
November 15, 2023
A fascinating analysis on the cost of electing Barack Obama on Black America, the “politics of respectability,” what it takes for a Black politician to win a national election, and the convergence of Black politics, religion, culture, and history! He published this in 2012, but it felt like a preface to the 2016 election.
July 12, 2013
As a white reader woefully ignorant of the history of black politics, this book was a much needed primer. Sadly, I wasn't even familiar with the phrase the "politics of respectability" although of course I knew the concept through such personalities as Bill Cosby and Chris Rock. The author takes Obama to task for putting too much emphasis on blacks taking personal responsibility while failing to address the systemic causes that keep so many blacks in poverty. But there were remarkably few suggestions as to what exactly Obama should be doing. There was mention of job programs in inner cities, some nebulous suggestions about criminal justice reform, and, unless I missed something, that was about it. Perhaps such job programs are a good idea, but from my perspective I don't see how much good they would do when so many black youth leave high school completely unemployable. My wife has worked as an aide here in Columbus Ohio, and she says in the black high schools the students do whatever they please and the teachers are scared of them. We recently had quite the scandal when it was found that teachers were falsifying the grades of black students so that they could graduate. This is surely not helping! Probably it is true that Obama could be doing more to help the situation, but I think the author overstates his case.
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January 26, 2016Super interesting because it's a totally new perspective for me--is it fair to say that Obama is really just a descriptive and symbolic representative for the black community because his explicitly race-neutral campaign actively avoided targeting race-specific issues in terms of legislation and policy? And could symbolic representation be important in black politics, if less important than substantive? All tough questions!! But ya this book makes you reevaluate obamas role as a black politician.
April 17, 2016
A good, short read that serves as an introduction into the way black politics work in America. It always reads as a brief political-biography of Obama, and the author also lays out his grievances towards Obama's lack of policies aimed at the black community (even if his presidency isn't over yet).
June 9, 2013
Not really knowing to much about black politics this book definitely did a good job walking me through the tops and the times of who what when and where.
April 6, 2017
This work places Obama's election within a larger historical context. Harris follows the history of black political engagement and outlines the continued tensions between independent black politics and coalition-building politics. Harris concludes that Obama's election is an example of coalition building politics and that his race-neutral stance has not done much to improve race relations.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews