The 2008 election offered Americans a rare — and long overdue — opportunity to confront and discuss issues of race. For the most part, that conversation didn’t happen. Presidential Race will serve as a catalyst to kick start that conversation
Presidential Race is an independent documentary that explores racial attitudes in contemporary America. The idea that US electoral would put an African American man in the White House clearly points to a shift in…something. But what? Does it really mean, as many have suggested that we’re now “post race?”
What shifts have taken place since police turned on black children with dogs and hoses, since Martin Luther King gathered hundreds of thousands on the mall to share in his dream of a more equitable America? How did the same country that witnessed Mississippi’s “Freedom Summer” where civil rights workers were beaten and killed just for registering blacks to vote, send a black man to the White House, less than 50 years later? How have American views on race changed? What stereotypes persist? And why should we care?
Senator Obama began his campaign as the first “post-racial” candidate, but early on in the campaign, few people considered Barack Obama a serious contender. Ironically, some those most dubious about Obama’s chances were civil right leaders, veterans of Selma, Little Rock and lunch counter sit-ins.
In contrast, younger voters embracing Barack Obama as the candidate they could most identify with, regardless of their own race or background. We’ll look examine the views of these younger votes and the cultural shifts that have quietly (and not so quietly) taken place over the past four decades, culminating in an electorate that got behind the guy with the white mother, the black father and the funny-sounding name.
Presidential Race will examine just how far we have come - and how far we to go - when it come to race in America.
Most importantly, the film will help facilitate encourage a long overdue and much needed conversation about race that’s both candid and unflinching. Using humor, thought-provoking interviews, and archival footage, Presidential Race will be a catalyst to bring people together and advance dialogue and consciousness around race and race relations.
