9.7: Resistance and Mobilization- Politics from Below

In the face of state-sponsored racial projects, communities of color have consistently engaged in political resistance and mobilization. Political participation extends beyond voting. It includes social movements (Black Lives Matter, the DREAMers), legal advocacy (NAACP Legal Defense Fund), and community organizing. These efforts often employ an intersectional approach, as seen in the Movement for Black Lives, which connects police violence to economic justice, LGBTQ+ rights, and disability justice.

The browning of America, where the U.S. is projected to become “majority-minority” around 2045, is a powerful demographic force shaping the political landscape (Frey 2018). This change has triggered both mobilization among communities of color seeking greater political representation and a potent backlash among some White voters, a phenomenon known as racial threat (Blalock 1967), which has been linked to support for restrictive policies and the rise of nativist politics.

Situated in the background of history was the election of Barack Obama in 2008, and arguably the engine of irony that generated so much of the pushback and hateful rhetoric found among this browning of America and other movements that divide along racial lines. Although Obama’s election was a milestone of change, it didn’t actually usher in the dawn of a “post-racial” America. Instead, sociological research indicates that his presidency, rather than ending racism, often exacerbated racial anxieties and spurred a more virulent and explicit White backlash (Tesler and Sears 2010). This underscores the complexity of racial politics and the limitations of symbolic representation in addressing deep-seated structural inequities.