Not in Our Lifetimes The Future of Black Politics

Press Release: Not in Our Lifetimes

“Not in Our Lifetimes is vintage Michael Dawson. This book is replete with insights on the black/white public opinion divide in the aftermath of the Katrina crisis. The implications of the increasing class cleavages among African Americans and the growing wave of immigrants for multiracial political alliances are also discussed with authority and remarkable clarity, and provide a backdrop for a compelling argument on why new visions are needed to guide black politics in the twenty-first century. Dawson’s penetrating analysis is a must-read.”

William Julius Wilson

“Taking his patient and prescient eye to modern events, Dawson gives us a clear-eyed look at black America. The popular wish to believe the races are (finally) equal is unsettled in this sober and illuminating account of black political thought. What Du Bois gave us one hundred years ago, Dawson offers us today: an empathetic, but critical look at race relations in America today. This is social scientific truth-telling at its best.”

Sudhir Venkatesh, author of Gang Leader for a Day

Not in Our Lifetimes The Future of Black Politics Michael C. Dawson

Publication Date: November 1, 2011 $26.00 • £17.00 International publication date: December 5, 2011 978-0-226-13862-6 (cloth)

Michael C. Dawson

In the wake of Barack Obama’s election, many figures in the media cheered a new “post-racial” age for American life and politics. As Obama’s re-election campaign gets underway, Michael Dawson is here to tell some hard truths—backed up by hard facts—about the real state of American race relations, African American public opinion, and the current state of black politics. Dawson’s conclusions are surprising, but he argues convincingly that grappling with the reality, rather than accepting the post-racial fantasy, will be fundamental to the future of African American politics, and progressive goals, in the decades to come. Michael C. Dawson is the John D. MacArthur Professor of Political Science and the College at the University of Chicago and the author of Black Visions and Behind the Mule: Race, Class, and African American Politics.

Please contact Levi Stahl at (773) 702-0289 or lstahl@press.uchicago.edu for more information.

IMAGE CREDIT: Political Science @ Chicago