In 2008, Barack Obama's historic victory was heralded as a turning point for the, country. And so it would be-just not in the way that most Americans hoped. The election of the nation's first Black president tanned long-burning embers of white supremacy, igniting a new and frightening phase in a historical American cycle of racial progress and white backlash. American Whilelash charts the return of this bloodstained trend, showing how the forces of white power retaliated against Obama's victory-and both profited from, and helped to propel the rise of Donald Trump. In "a masterful blend of narrative history and empathetic reporting" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), Wesley Lowery uncovers how this vicious cycle is carrying us into ever more perilous territory, how the federal government, has failed to intervene, and how we still might find a route of escape.