AFRICAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

Catalog description

This Political Theory course introduces students to the different ideological traditions drawn upon by black Americans in challenging oppressive political institutions and social inequities. Because African American thought is rooted in concrete struggles for liberation, the course offers students a unique lens from which to appreciate the interdependency of thought and action. This rootedness in movements for change means that black thought sheds critical light on underrecognized contradictions and ambiguities in American political culture. By reading primary texts the students will have an opportunity to work through the tensions inherent to key American ideals like freedom, equality, individualism, justice, self-reliance, patriotism, and progress, exploring together how the African American experience provides a framework for both black and non-black Americans to reimagine modern democracy. Readings include selections from classic figures such as Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and Martin Luther King, Jr., alongside lesser known, but equally important figures, such as the manifestos of black laborers in the Reconstruction era, the activist writings of black women amid the anti-lynching campaigns of the 1890s and early 1900s, and the letters of black youth involved in the voting rights movement of 1964 known as Freedom Summer.