Communication Studies, Department of

 

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

5-2012

Citation

Quarterly Journal of Speech 98:2 (May 2012), pp. 178–202.

doi: 10.1080/00335630.2012.663499

Comments

Copyright © 2012 National Communication Association; published by Taylor & Francis. Used by permission.

Abstract

The mainstream press frequently characterized the election of President Barack Obama the first African American US President as the realization of Martin Luther King’s dream, thus crafting a postracial narrative of national transcendence. I argue that this routine characterization of Obama’s election functions as a site for the production of selective amnesia, a form of remembrance that routinely negates and silences those who would contest hegemonic narratives of national progress and unity.

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