John McWhorter

Columns

The Politics Inside Black Pop

By Mark Reynolds

Will black pop artists still see themselves as outsiders now that a black person is President? Will they use their cultural platform to criticize him if need be, just as they did to help elect him? [12 December 2008]

(more Negritude 2.0)

Electoral Relaxation: The Myth of the Hip-Hop Achilles Heel

By Dan Nishimoto

Either Obama's "hip-hop candidacy" makes him appeal to a heretofore disaffected and/or untapped voting bloc, thereby legitimizing his claim as a candidate of hope and change; or this unwelcome connection to a controversial art is a liability. [3 November 2008]

(more Call and Response)