Chapter Overview

"Contradiction" would be the descriptive word to use in summing up the African American experience as the twenty-first century begins its course. Especially evident to this nature of contradiction would be the presidency of George W. Bush, a staunch conservative whose hold on the White House was validated by a vote of the Supreme Court, and not the Electoral College. In response, many African Americans maintained that their right to vote had been neutralized by the judiciary. Yet President Bush was responsible for the appointments of former Gen. Colin Powell, and afterwards Dr. Condoleezza Rice (both African Americans), to the office of American Secretary of State. National surveys through the early years of the new millennium demonstrate a trend in the African American community to perceive their social progress towards true equality as stalled, yet in 2008 America's first African American president, Barack Hussein Obama, was sworn into office on the U.S. capitol, steps before a record-setting live crowd and televised to millions around the world. The American paradox of freedom versus slavery continues to resonate through the years, but clear progress is happening right before our very eyes.

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter you should understand the following:

• Legal challenges to civil rights, real or perceived, in the early years of the millennium, such as the 2000 presidential election, challenges to affirmative action, and demands for reparations
• The impact of continuing social disparities in America along racial lines, such as healthcare, education, economics, and illegal profiling
• The societal impact of Hurricane Katrina, which hit New Orleans in 2005 as the world media watched
• The rise and influence of the Hip Hop generation upon American politics
• The patterns and demographics of African American migration throughout the United States during the years since the end of World War II
• The story behind the election of Barack Obama as the forty-fourth president of the United States