Skip to main content
Article
Selective Amnesia and Racial Transcendence in News Coverage of President Obama’s Inauguration
Quarterly Journal of Speech
  • Kristen Hoerl, Butler University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2012
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00335630.2012.663499
Abstract

The mainstream press frequently characterized the election of President Barack Obama the first African American US President as the realization of Martin Luther King's dream, thus crafting a postracial narrative of national transcendence. I argue that this routine characterization of Obama's election functions as a site for the production of selective amnesia, a form of remembrance that routinely negates and silences those who would contest hegemonic narratives of national progress and unity.

Rights

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Quarterly Journal of Speech on 04-24-2012, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/00335630.2012.663499.

Citation Information
Kristen Hoerl. "Selective Amnesia and Racial Transcendence in News Coverage of President Obama’s Inauguration" Quarterly Journal of Speech Vol. 98 Iss. 2 (2012) p. 178 - 202
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/casey_kelly/22/