Beyond Black: Celebrity and Race in Obama's America

Beyond Black is Ellis Cashmore's compelling appraisal of the impact of black celebrities on the cultural landscape of post-Obama America. In recent years a new variety of African American celebrity has emerged: acquisitive, ambitious, flamboyantly successful and individualistic - the kind of people who are interested in channelling their energies into their own careers rather than causes like racism. ... At the centre of this book lies the question, "do the conspicuously successful and glittering new class of African Americans herald a new post-racial age?" Cashmore's answer takes him to the minstrel shows of the nineteenth century, the Hollywood film industry of the 1930s and today's hip-hop culture. The most valuable product these celebrities sell, according to Cashmore, is a particular conception of America: as a nation where racism has been - if not banished - rendered insignificant. The lives they lead deliver the evidence. Does racism even matter when almost anyone can possess the commodities associated with the celebrities with whom they identify?