Summary

Chapter 5 is entitled “How to Unelect a Black President.” When Barack Obama was elected as President in 2008, many Americans believed that this event marked a major turning point in the improvement of the country’s racial politics. Various factors contributed to Obama’s victory, including a high turnout of Black voters, as well as support of young voters and poor voters. The only group that John McCain won by a significant margin was elderly white Christians, a demographic that was not growing. Republicans then decided that, rather than try to appeal to non-white voters, they would simply try to pass legislation that would make it more difficult for non-white people to vote. In the years since Obama’s election, Republicans have launched increasingly intense efforts to curb voting rights for minorities. They have pursued this goal under the false pretense of curtailing...