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The Fragility of Post-Racial Ideology in American (Visual) Culture

Racist Backlash to Obama's Election

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From “Post-Racialism” during the Obama era, to Racism and White Supremacy during the Trump Era
Unfortunately, the idea that America has reached a post-racial society erases the fact that we cannot escape the history of racism that White Americans have created to oppress people of color. These racist ideologies that were once very overt and situated in the daily lives of Americans, have become more subtle and less noticed and have transformed into an institutionalized form of racism, where these racist ideologies have been transcribed into the political, social, and economic realms of America. The systemic racism seen today in America, with hits hidden agenda, has led to the belief that we are living in a post-racial moment, leading many white American’s to believe that issues that disproportionately affect people of color in the United States do not have to with race. Through examining the timeline and its accompanying visual culture that surrounded of the election of President Obama, and his two terms in office, to the election of Donald Trump and the aftermath that is currently unraveling, exposes how the U.S. population believed that America had achieved post-racialism after the election of Obama and how that belief has been transformed and been rejected following the years up until the election of Donald Trump, where we are now at our furthest from post-racial thinking.
   With the historical election of President Obama in 2008,
the American liberal population, which was already playing with the ideology of colorblindness, believed that American society has finally eradicated its “race problem,” and had entered into an era of post-racialism. This idea emerged out of the though that because the American population had the ability to elect an African American man as President of the United States, then “what has been deemed as progress by people of color in this country, apparently translates to the end of racism.” The theory and ideology of colorblindness, of which, “race is only skin color,” props up and goes hand in hand with the idea of post-racialism. These two ideologies, which completely ignore the fact that race and skin color have been deeply embedded into the fabric of American social, political, and economic structures, present a dangerous situation of ignoring and looking past the disproportionate inequalities that have effected people of color in America since the country’s “birth.” This idea also promotes white privilege and safety, by focusing on the fact that race in America is no longer an issue that needs to be dealt with, and perpetuates the problematics of ignoring the daily microagressions and institutional racism that people of color have been made to live with.’
   On the other hand, while many were cheering and celebrating President Obama bringing in the post-racial era of American society, there were other American’s who were actively opposing his election, outraged over the fact that an African American could hold the Presidential office. The protests that resulted operated by “using the vilest anti-black stereotypes,” such as a Midwestern man making a sign that said: “Hang in there Obama,” accompanied with an image of a noose, evoking the legacy of white supremacy, and the history of the KKK’s violent attacks targeted at Black individuals. The backlash against Obama continued throughout his entire time in office, and are evidence of the fact “that Obama was and remains an unstable signifier of black masculine otherness, and one, moreover, who troubles the privileged status of the white Western subject.” This backlash further shows the fallacy in thinking that America had achieved post-racialism.
   While many believed that Obama’s presidency meant that America was post-racial, a closer look at his administration in office exposes that this ideology is only based on taking race out of the equation or being “colorblind,” which ignores the fact that race and racism work on deep structural levels in the US. During Obama’s time in office major issues of institutionalized racism were not addressed as problems that are effecting people of color, of which continue to support the power structures and dynamics that have been present for centuries, which in turn keep racial hierarchies in place. This post-racial ideology failed to see the “entrentched patterns of poverty, segregation, gaps in educational attainment and achievement, racial identity formation, and disparaging racial stereotypes,” that are still operating in the present. Further, the Obama administration continued to play a part in the racialized criminalization of individuals, seen through the ever-growing number of mass incarcerated Black and Brown people, and Obama’s nickname “deporter in chief,” gained through his deportation policy that resulted in 2.5 million individuals being deported from the U.S., a number that exceeds all the other presidents who have proceeded him.Another major factor that plays into dismantling the belief of post-racialism in America, can be seen through the backlash against the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, through the rhetoric of the “All Lives Matter,” and “Blue Lives Matter,” rhetoric. BLM came out of calling attention to the police violence and murder of Black and Brown individuals, and the failure of the U.S. justice system to indict the perpetrators of this abuse. The adverse response to BLM exposes the fragility of post-racialism by showing how white Americans are still unable to see how racial hierarchy has historically produced violence and oppression against certain individuals.
   The final unraveling of post-racial ideology came with the election of Donald Trump in 2016, a man who was at the front of challenging Obama’s citizenship, and whose campaign was built off of a racist rhetoric towards nonwhite individuals, evidenced through his feelings towards immigrants and Muslims. The themes of the protests that followed Trump’s election focused on calling out his rhetoric of blatant racism and the normalization of white nationalism, such as posters stating “Fight Racism” and chants about Trump’s affiliation with the KKK. Because of his open racist rhetoric, America saw a safety blanket fall around alt-right individuals who support white supremacy, the KKK, and neo-Nazism. Many white liberals were confused how the American population could let this happen, which points further to the inability to recognize the systemic and institutional forms of racism that make up American society.
   All this information amounts to the failure of post-racialism in America. As a society who has moved from slavery, to segregation, to mass incarceration, it is obvious that we are not post-race, especially when people of color have been continually disenfranchised, regardless of what president is in power.
The Election of Obama
With the historical election of President Obama in 2008, the American liberal population, which was already playing with the ideology of colorblindness, believed that American society has finally eradicated its “race problem,” and had entered into an era of post-racialism. This idea emerged out of the thought that because the American population had the ability to elect an African American man as President of the United States, then “what has been deemed as progress by people of color in this country, apparently translates to the end of racism.”1 The theory and ideology of colorblindness, of which, “race is only skin color,” props up and goes hand in hand with the idea of post-racialism.2 These two ideologies, which completely ignore the fact that race and skin color have been deeply embedded into the fabric of American social, political, and economic structures, present a dangerous situation of ignoring and looking past the disproportionate inequalities that have affected people of color in America since the country’s “birth.” This idea also promotes white privilege and safety, by focusing on the fact that race in America is no longer an issue that needs to be dealt with, and perpetuates the problematics of ignoring the daily microaggressions and institutional racism that people of color have been made to live with.3,4
On the other hand, while many were cheering and celebrating President Obama bringing in the post-racial era of American society, there were other American’s who were actively opposing his election, outraged over the fact that an African American could hold the Presidential office. The protests that resulted operated by “using the vilest anti-black stereotypes,” such as a Midwestern man making a sign that said: “Hang in there Obama,” accompanied with an image of a noose, evoking the legacy of white supremacy, and the history of the KKK’s violent attacks targeted at Black individuals.5 The backlash against Obama continued throughout his entire time in office, and are evidence of the fact “that Obama was and remains an unstable signifier of black masculine otherness, and one, moreover, who troubles the privileged status of the white Western subject.”6 This backlash further shows the fallacy in thinking that America had achieved post-racialism.