Audiobook3 hours
A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win
Written by Shelby Steele
Narrated by Richard Allen
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
()
About this audiobook
From the New York Times bestselling and controversial author Shelby Steele comes an illuminating examination of the complex racial issues that confront presidential candidate Barack Obama in his race for the White House, a quest that will be one of those galvanizing occasions that forces a national dialogue on the current state of race relations in America.
Steele argues that Senator Obama is caught between two classic postures that blacks have always used to make their way in the white American mainstream: bargaining and challenging. Bargainers strike a "bargain" with white America in which they say, "I will not rub America's ugly history of racism in your face if you will not hold my race against me." Bill Cosby's sitcom in the 1980s was the classic example of bargaining. Obama also sends "bargaining" signals to white America, and whites respond with considerable gratitude-which explains the special aura of excitement that surrounds him.
But in order to garner the black vote-which is absolutely necessary for victory in the primaries and the general election-Obama must also posture as a challenger. Challengers are the opposite of bargainers. They charge whites with inherent racism and then demand that they prove themselves innocent by supporting black-friendly policies, such as affirmative action. If whites go along with this-thereby proving their innocence-they are granted absolution by the black challenger.
The current black American identity is grounded in challenging. Obama must therefore posture as a challenger to win the black vote. However, challenging threatens Obama's white support. But bargaining threatens his black support. Thus, he is bound. He walks in an impossible political territory where any expression of what he truly feels puts him in jeopardy with one much-needed constituency or another. Only a kind of two-sided political mask, or an "above politics" posture, keeps the wolves at bay.
Steele argues that Senator Obama is caught between two classic postures that blacks have always used to make their way in the white American mainstream: bargaining and challenging. Bargainers strike a "bargain" with white America in which they say, "I will not rub America's ugly history of racism in your face if you will not hold my race against me." Bill Cosby's sitcom in the 1980s was the classic example of bargaining. Obama also sends "bargaining" signals to white America, and whites respond with considerable gratitude-which explains the special aura of excitement that surrounds him.
But in order to garner the black vote-which is absolutely necessary for victory in the primaries and the general election-Obama must also posture as a challenger. Challengers are the opposite of bargainers. They charge whites with inherent racism and then demand that they prove themselves innocent by supporting black-friendly policies, such as affirmative action. If whites go along with this-thereby proving their innocence-they are granted absolution by the black challenger.
The current black American identity is grounded in challenging. Obama must therefore posture as a challenger to win the black vote. However, challenging threatens Obama's white support. But bargaining threatens his black support. Thus, he is bound. He walks in an impossible political territory where any expression of what he truly feels puts him in jeopardy with one much-needed constituency or another. Only a kind of two-sided political mask, or an "above politics" posture, keeps the wolves at bay.
Author
Shelby Steele
Shelby Steele is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and Stanford University, and is a contributing editor at Harper's magazine. His many prizes and honors include the National Book Critics Circle Award, an Emmy Award, a Writers Guild Award, and the National Humanities Medal.
More audiobooks from Shelby Steele
White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shame: How America's Past Sins Have Polarized Our Country Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to A Bound Man
Related audiobooks
My Bondage and My Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5God, Trump, and the 2020 Election: Why He Must Win and What’s at Stake for Christians if He Loses Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/59 Presidents Who Screwed Up America: And Four Who Tried to Save Her Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5They're Not Listening: How The Elites Created the Nationalist Populist Revolution Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Edmund Burke: The First Conservative Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Freedom Agenda: Why a Balanced Budget Amendment Is Necessary to Restore Constitutional Government Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop: The Case for Multiparty Democracy in America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Diversity Delusion: How Race and Gender Pandering Corrupt the University and Undermine Our Culture Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Short Life and Curious Death of Free Speech in America Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Two Treatises of Government Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why the Right Went Wrong: Conservatism From Goldwater to the Tea Party and Beyond Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hostile Takeover: Resisting Centralized Government's Stranglehold on America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJFK and the Reagan Revolution: A Secret History of American Prosperity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Republican Like Me: How I Left the Liberal Bubble and Learned to Love the Right Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Why White Liberals Fail: Race and Southern Politics from FDR to Trump Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBroke: The Plan to Restore Our Trust, Truth and Treasure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5United States of Socialism: Who's Behind It. Why It's Evil. How to Stop It. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Best Worst President: What the Right Gets Wrong About Barack Obama Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Presidential Misconduct: From George Washington to Today Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Great Society: A New History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dupes: How America's Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives for a Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Revolt!: How to Defeat Obama and Repeal His Socialist Programs Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Stupid Black Men: How to Play the Race Card - and Lose Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Crooked Path to Abolition: Abraham Lincoln and the Antislavery Constitution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fast and Furious: Barack Obama's Bloodiest Scandal and Its Shameless Cover-Up Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Outrage, Inc.: How the Liberal Mob Ruined Science, Journalism, and Hollywood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Let's Be Reasonable: A Conservative Case for Liberal Education Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Seven Deadly Virtues: 18 Conservative Writers on Why the Virtuous Life is Funny as Hell Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Trials of Zion: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Political Biographies For You
Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lincoln Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Enough Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Five Presidents: My Extraordinary Journey with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Benjamin Franklin Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fear: Trump in the White House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mornings on Horseback Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Benjamin Franklin: An American Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5V Is For Victory Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Peril Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unbelievable: My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The White House Plumbers: The Seven Weeks That Led to Watergate and Doomed Nixon's Presidency Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Romney: A Reckoning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dressed for a Dance in the Snow: Women's Voices from the Gulag Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Watergate Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A House in the Sky: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Assassination Vacation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for A Bound Man
Rating: 3.4444444277777775 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
18 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5So often we hear people discount an opinion because those offering it aren't a woman, are not the same race, or have not shared the same experience as those they are discussing. Well, as Shelby Steele opines about then-presidential candidate Barack Obama, no one can discredit his theories based upon not understanding his background on a personal level. Mr Steele goes to length to share in Obama's background, as a biracial son.This book is offers a window into the mindset of Barack Obama as man who cannot win pleasing both black and white Americans due to his genealogy. Political leaning does come into play, but it is not a main thrust behind Mr Steele's idea as to why potential President Obama is stuck between races.Delving into his past, not by any speculation but by the words he wrote to convey his past in Dreams from My Father, Shelby Steele deconstructs Barack Obama's dilemma and struggle to appeal to all voters without alienating himself from any contingent. The second part of the book is spent discussing the two styles of blacks; the Bargainers or Iconic Negro and the Challengers. Both "types" are represented in familiar faces and Mr Steele does a thorough job of explaining his rationale behind modern day race relations.I would say this book is only somewhat dated (as I read it near the end of President Obama's first term), it is interesting to read the anticipation of Barack Obama's run for the Oval Office, but also to reflect back on his campaign and see his effort in retrospect.