Description: Blackness is a prized commodity in American pop culture. Marketed to white consumers, it invites whites to view themselves in a mirror of racial difference, while remaining "wholly" white. From sports to literature, film, and music to investigative journalism, Eric Lott reveals the hidden dynamics of this self-and-other racial mirroring.
Brief description: Eric Lott is Professor of English and American Studies at the Graduate Center, City University of New York.
Review Quotes: The 'Black Mirror' does not exactly reproduce blackness; it activates fantasies of blackness that are crucial to the reproduction of white national selfhood. Lott begins with a timely, uncannily lucid account of Barack Obama's usage of cross-racial mirrorings throughout his presidency. This book is poised to intervene in the most difficult and significant of contemporary and political questions. A monumental achievement.--Donald Pease, Dartmouth College