Black as brown: The 2008 Obama primary campaign and the U.S. Browning of terror

Abstract

Given the U.S.-led War on Terror and post-September 11, 2001 constructions of terrorism, we argue that the 2008 Obama primary campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination unfolded within a context that relegated him to the category of "brown(ed)." That is, while it is true that Senator Obama may be considered the first African American (or mixed race) presidential candidate of a major U.S. political party, we claim that the U.S. public was positioned - during the primary season - to view Obama as a "brown(ed), " in addition to a black, body. We articulate browned bodies as bodies that are: 1) perceived as a threat to both the U.S. government and the social fabric of the country, 2) rendered as being in opposition to the post-September 11, 2001 notion of Americanness, and 3) placed under strict rhetorical, legal, or physical containment. The process of browning places members of specific groups into a sort of social quarantine, where they are contained and held up for governmental and public scrutiny. The browning of Obama occurred systematically via questions regarding his patriotism, name, religion, and citizenship. The significance of these particular sorts of questions is that they establish the body of Obama as a terrorist threat against the United States. © 2008 Springer Science + Business Media, LLC.