Black Masculinity in the Obama Era provides an in-depth examination of the current state of black males and identifies the impact of living in the Obama era. In the era of the first black president, Barack H. Obama, this book gauges the status of black masculinity and provokes discourse to discover whether his election and presence has had an influential impact on black male achievement. A purposeful sample of black males was asked, what does it mean to be a black male in the 21st century? Throughout the interviews with black males, we learn that the 'Obama Effect' has not had the intended impact on black male achievement and black males continue to be plagued by structural and cultural forces that have historically burdened their plight and level of achievement.
"William Hoston's Black Masculinity in the Obama Era seeks to understand the racial discrimination and disparities that have highlighted the struggles of Black males. Too often the black male has been presented in the context of double-consciousness; race as a social construct in congruence with the dichotomy of skin-color, a black juxtaposed against a white binary; a psychosexual matrix a black male (a biological species) but not a black man; and psychohistory a study of the changing meaning of symbols. Hoston, instead, shapes a study of institutional parameters that impact the black man." Ronald Dorris, Professor of African American & Diaspora Studies and English, Xavier University of Louisiana, USA