Michael Tesler, associate professor of political science, is No. 11 on the Politico 50 list, a collection of “some of the smartest, most provocative minds in America.” He is being honored for his work on how white racism has long been a potent force in American politics – the 2016 election being no exception. In his book published earlier this year, Post-Racial or Most-Racial?: Race & Politics in the Obama Era, Tesler contends that the 2008 election of Barack Obama triggered a new race-based backlash. The results of a steady stream of polls, studies and analyses as well as Tesler’s own findings during the past year appear to bear this out, charting a correlation between racial resentment and support for Donald Trump.