This article explores the idea of âpostracialismâ as it circulated during the candidacy and election of President Barack Obama. Treating postracialism as a visual discourse, I recount a history of post-race moments through depictions of African Americans and describe the visual metaphors used to relay the idea through popular and political commentaries. Using Foss's (199413. Foss , S. K. ( 1994 ). A rhetorical schema for the evaluation of visual imagery . Communication Studies , 45 , 213 - 224 .[Taylor & Francis Online]View all references) rhetorical schema for the evaluation of visual imagery, I critique the New York Post âStimulus Cartoonâ and the New York Magazine âPolitics of Fearâ caricature as representatives of the contemporary postracial climate. These images represent the complicated visual culture of postracialism and the types of cultural tropes that circulate to support its logic. Examining the visual rhetoric of postracialism, I argue that the discourse is unable to communicate race in new ways because its contrived attempt at colorblindness (specific to Blackness) continually relies on a periphery view of the racial past. Whether using a comparative frame for racial progress, historically racial (and racist) imagery, or traditional approaches to race in caricatured illustrations, postracialism asks for a way of seeing that it cannot achieve even within its initial utterance.View full textDownload full textKeywordsBarack Obama, Post-Race, Racial Caricature, Visual RhetoricRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10510974.2011.588075
展开▼
