In reading Watching Jim Crow by Steven D. Classen, I was immediately reminded of the 2008 presidential campaign and subsequent election of Barack Obama. Two of the major themes in Watching Jim Crow, that of understanding the revolutionary power of the medium of television, and the effectiveness of employing grassroots movements in a regional, local, and often student-led effort played critical roles in President Obama’s successful election. Although the revolutionary medium in the case of President Obama was the Internet and not television, in both cases each were understood to be critical to challenging the manipulation and control of larger power structures, be it the federal government and station owners for Medgar Evers, or the political machinery for then Senator Obama. Medgar Evers used television to disrupt the lives of Segregationists by entering the private sanctity of their living rooms, not as an illiterate unkempt but as an “eloquent, intelligent, and respectful black spokesman (p.4)”. On the other hand, then Senator Obama used the Internet to disrupt the ‘campaign playbook’ designed for, and ran by, rich White men by steadily engaging young voters of all backgrounds using a medium already actively utilized by them - through up-to-date emails, facilitating online the organization and collaboration of fellow users for events, and allowing for online political donations of any nominal amount. Both used their respective mediums in ways that made them more accessible, and even reluctantly relatable, to the public at large, thereby altering public perception of race and class.

The employment of grassroots movements in a regional, local, and often student-led level was also contributing factors to the successes of the Civil Rights movement and President Obama’s election. Youth and young adults are often underestimated because they are presumed to effect little change, but the Tougaloo College students, young people who took place in ‘Freedom Summer’ of 1964, and the college students who tirelessly campaigned at the neighbor hood and precinct level door to door for then Senator Obama all used methods of cultural and social agitation to disrupt preconceived notions of race and class. An important discussion question to think about would be: How has the emergence of the Internet, and the availability of access to it, both positively and negatively affect what is consumed as popular culture?