Black History of the White House: Expanded Edition

Dr. Clarence Lusane is Professor and former Chair of Howard University's Department of Political Science, and is currently the Director of its International Affairs program. He was appointed by the U.S. State Department and the Council of Europe as the U.S. "IndependentExpert" to the Council's European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance, and served 2022-2025. He is also a former Commissioner on the DC Commission on African American Affairs. His books include Twenty Dollars and Change: Harriet Tubman and the Ongoing Fight for Racial Justice and Democracy (City Lights 2022),  and The Black History of the White House (City Lights, 2011) among others. His forthcoming book, Trumping While Black: African Americans, Black MAGA, and the Danger of Racial Authoritarianism, will be published in 2027 with Wayne State Univ Press. Dr. Lusane lives in Washington, DC.

Praise for The Black History of the White House:"The author concludes from his research that there is little doubt the first African American in the White House was a slave. In fact, 25 percent of our presidents were slaveholders. And between the time of slavery and now with our nation's first black president there is a long and storied history of blacks in the White House, from servants to lobbyists to Secret Service agents, reporters, activists, officials and more."—Chicago Sun Times"The Black History of the White House features stories of those who were forced to work on the construction of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. and the White House slaves and servants who went on to write books."—The Philadelphia Tribune"Those who think they know their presidents may be in for surprises in Clarence Lusane's fascinating social history."—USA Today "In eloquent language, Lusane shows how the African American experience helped shape a series of presidential administrations and governmental policies."—Sacramento Bee "Despite the racial progress represented by the election of the first black president of the U.S., the nation's capital has a very complicated and often unflattering racial history. Lusane traces the racial history of the White House from George Washington to Barack Obama."—Booklist"Slaves have toiled in the White House; 25 percent of our Presidents were slaveholders. Lusane reminds readers of the place of the President's house, from its very construction onward, in African American history, a tale all-too rarely told."—Library Journal " . . . carefully documents the travails of a polity in which African-Americans were so essential and prevalent, but that struggled endlessly to maintain, then dismantle, the institution of slavery. . . . A lively, opinionated survey, telling a story that the textbooks too often overlook."—Kirkus Reviews