Indigeneity, Race, and Ethnicity Studies 325: Afro-Pessimism and Its Critics

This course examines Afropessimism’s controversial claim that it is anti-Blackness rather than white supremacy that governs the production of meaning and value in white civil society. Afropessimism is skeptical of narratives of racial progress, as well as the ability of coalitional alliances to address the roots of racism. We will consider the ontologies underpinning Afropessimism, the opposing contemporary movements with which it dialogues, and the differing visions of social and political change that each offers. We will also evaluate Afropessimism’s definition of the Black experience and its criticism of movements organized instead around commonalities between people of color.