Beyond Black and White: From Civil Rights to Barack Obama

I recently reread this collection. Marable here grapples with the problems of black political thought and action in the post-civil rights era. After the relatively clearcut struggle against Jim Crow, what direction should black politics take? Through examinations of Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition, Ben Chavis's brief leadership of the NAACP, the confirmation of Clarence Thomas, and other episodes of the 1980s and 1990s, Marable handles issues of race and class with sophistication and a calm, even-handed delivery. He is particularly astute on emergent class divisions within black America and their political implications. Highly recommended.