U.S. Race Relations

With the election in 2008 of Barack Hussein Obama as president of the United States, there is renewed interest in the African perspective on American politics. It remains to be seen whether Obama’s election triggers abiding change or simply highlights the resurrection of the crucible of race relations in the U.S. as these played out during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. However, Obama’s election has caused a groundswell of attention from around the world focusing on the current state of U.S. race relations. Although it is far too soon to evaluate the full impact that the election of the first African-American president may have on race relations in the United States, it should inform the assessment of this historical event by better understanding how the movement for racial equality that dominated news reports in the U.S. during the 1960s was portrayed for readers living in Africa during that period. During that same period, Africans were themselves engaged in a series of efforts to achieve similar racial equality