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Reconstructing the "Problem" of Race

University of Utah, Salt Lake City, edmund.fong{at}utah.edu

How should the "problem" of race be conceptualized? This essay attempts to widen our understanding of the problem of race in American political discourse by examining its productive function in grounding the meaning of American liberalism. By tracing this relationship in W. E. B. DuBois's The Souls of Black Folk, Woodrow Wilson's 1913 Gettysburg Reunion Speech, Louis Hartz's The Liberal Tradition in America, and Rogers M. Smith's Civic Ideals, the author argues that as long as race is conceived as the negative referent of American liberal identity, the problem of race will continue to obscure the possibilities for transformative change.

Key Words: politics • history • race • ethnicity • politics

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This version was published on December 1, 2008

Political Research Quarterly, Vol. 61, No. 4, 660-670 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1065912908324588


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Fong, E. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?