… was the title of Professor john a. powell’s public lecture last night. He normally teaches at Ohio State, but this semester is here at Wayne State as the Damon J. Keith Distinguished Visiting Professor. The lecture was a generalized talk crafted for the public, and the public really came out for it. The talk focused on myths and realities surrounding America’s being a post-racial country. I’ll remember it largely for his thoughtful examples of how well-intended actions sometimes end up widening and cementing racial disparities: the Highway Act of 1956, the largest public works project up to that time, as an implicit subsidy for later white flight; the G.I. Bill as being of limited value to African Americans in times of largely segregated higher-level education. It was a great lecture and obviously timely, with all the media talk of America being post-racial. (Most recent example I was forwarded today by a party who shall remain nameless: here.)
Anyway, when talking to people afterward, I referred to an electoral map of the most recent election. But no one had heard of it. I was surprised and figured I’d post it here as a sort of public service. The map is about how Obama in 2008 did relative to Kerry in 2004. The blue areas are where Obama did better than Kerry (he obviously did better overall). The red areas are where Obama did worse (Alaska and Arizona are easily explained). A whole series of such maps is available here. Here’s the basic one:
Posted by Chris Lund on October 14, 2009 at 12:03 PM