7 - On Dreams Deferred and Anger Inhibited

Summary

Chapter Seven offers concluding thoughts and reflections on the major implications from this work. I highlight the most important lessons to be taken away from the fact that smaller proportions of African Americans (and indeed, racial minorities more broadly) feel agentic, entitled, or secure enough to engender and express anger over politics. How should this change the way we think about the roles of emotions in politics? Of the costs of the angry black man/woman stereotype? Of the state of black participation in a political era that seems sure to be defined by rife and rancor for a long time to come? This chapter also identifies indicators of a potential changing landscape in the role of black anger in politics, by highlighting rising black electoral leaders at the national, state and local levels who appear to legitimate black grievance in a manner distinct from previous generations. Is an emerging set of black political figures laying the groundwork for black people to see red over politics to greater effect?