Black Philosophy And Race Theory

Black philosophy and race theory proves to be an essential component of society through the writings of figures such as Charles Mills and Ta-Nehisi Coates. Throughout the course of history, the black community has experienced the effects of racism through personal encounters, as well as an entire race as a whole. The ideology of black philosophy provides a perspective that counteracts with the views of white philosophy specifically through the Cartesian and Ellisonian sums, which view basic principles of life with a different perspectives. The separation of values between the white and black communities has contributed to modern day issues of racism that exist in society.

The concept of white philosophy or racism has subsidized the discrimination of the black community both socially as a race and singularly through personal accounts. The philosopher Charles Mills draws attention to the segregation of race by his conclusions that state that much of philosophy is centered around the ideologies and theories of caucasian men. Mills describes philosophy as a conceptual whiteness in which the white perspective is taken as universally true. There is a manifestation of disregard for the African American community’s opinions and experiences. Mills says, “rather, I suggest that a major contributory cause is the self-sustaining dynamic of the “whiteness” of philosophy, not the uncontroversial whiteness of skin of most of its practitioners but what could be called, more contestably, the conceptual or theoretical whiteness of the discipline” (Mills 2). Theoretical whiteness has been used throughout the course of history to discourage the black community’s participation in philosophy. Mills connects philosophical “whiteness” with the Cartesian ...

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...tory, racism been present through issues of politics, philosophy, and other facets of life. Mills brought attention to the separation of black and white philosophy based upon the certain values that existed between the two races during the times of racial discrimination. He also used the theory of the racial polity in order to explain issues such as imperialism and colonialism. Ta-Nehisi Coates focused on more intimate cases of discrimination through the eyes of figures like Clyde Ross, who faced the devastating effects of redlining in his community. Although the government’s plan of redlining certain areas has passed, the consequences of it have ruined the demographics that appeal to a community. By looking more carefully at the African American experience from a philosophical perspective, one may more fully understand the significance of reconceptualizing politics.