Toward a Pragmatic Black Politics

Abstract

The election of Senator Barack Obama as the fourty-fourth president of the United States has changed the contours of African American politics for years if not decades to come. His election, in many ways, symbolizes the maturation of black politics; from the protest tradition through the process of incorporation as players in the political system to the possible beginings of a process of normalization. As a style of politics rooted in protest and the quest for dignity and full citizenship, is black politics turning a corner and entering a new phase that spells the demise of its existence in the American political landscape? Will black politics become like the politics of other ethnic groups, such as the Irish and the Italians, in which individuals from the group benefited from ethnic voting patterns and inter- and intragroup connections as a stepping stone up the political ladder without making direct policy demands on behalf of their kin? Is it possible that black politics will vanish into the vast ocean of mainstream American politics?