Nation of Cowards: Black Activism in Barack Obama}}}s Post-Racial America [Hardcover]

In a speech from whichNation of Cowardsderives its title, Attorney General Eric Holder argued forcefully that Americans today need to talk morenot lessabout racism. This appeal for candid talk about race exposes the paradox of Barack Obama's historic rise to the US presidency and the ever-increasing social and economic instability of African American communities. David H. Ikard and Martell Lee Teasley maintain that such a conversation can take place only with passionate and organized pressure from black Americans, and that neither Obama nor any political figure is likely to be in the forefront of addressing issues of racial inequality and injustice. The authors caution blacks not to slip into an accommodating and self-defeating post-racial political posture, settling for the symbolic capital of a black president instead of demanding structural change. They urge the black community to challenge the social terms on which it copes with oppression, including acts of self-imposed victimization.

Read anexcerptfromNation of CowardsListen to anIU Press podcastwith the authors about their book.

Straight talk on racial inequality in the US today

David H. Ikard is Associate Professor of English at Florida State University and author ofBreaking the Silence: Toward a Black Male Feminist Criticism. His blog Nation of Cowards (nationofcowards.blogspot.com) takes up contemporary racial topics and engages a wider intellectual and activist community.

Martell Lee Teasley is Professor and Chair of the Department of Social Work at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

A clarion call to our nation's conscience. Free from overly academic jargon, but full of powerful wordplay and brilliant juxtapositions, this book is a fascinating toulƒ@