eschatological dilemmas i am because we are

8/9/2019 Eschatological Dilemmas I Am Because We Are

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The Eschatological Dilemma: The Problem of Studying the Black Male only as the Deaths that

Result from nti!Black Racism"

By: Dr" Tommy #" $urry

(Forthcoming inI Am Because We Are, eds. Fred L. Hord and Johnathon S. Lee)

%ntroduction:

The sensibilities of the Black American intellectal concerning race ha!e historicall" been cemented to

their ascendenc" #ithin em$ire. Ho# one #rites abot race, offering ho$e for change in o$$osition to the

totalit" of racism, and commnicates an as$iration for the $ossibilities made a!ailable b" American ideals

like freedom, %stice, and e&alit" has se$arated the radical from the $rogressi!e. 'n The Failre of the

Black 'ntellectal, *. Franklin Fra+ier describes Black intellectali+ation as deniggeri+ation of Black

scholarshi$, a retreat from sing Black e-$erience as the fondation of theori+ing the Blackness, or an

em$t"ing of his her/ life of meaningfl and content and ridding him of all 0egro identification.1The

std" of Black folk nder the integrationist milie sho#s the danger Black intellectals, the Black

borgeoisie $ose to or conce$tali+ations of, or thinking abot Blackness, #hich #as described b"

2arter 3. 4oodson5sMiseducation of the Negro(1677). 'n tr"ing to distort the content of Blackness to fit#ithin the confines of disci$linar" std", the std" of Black folk b" the academic class simltaneosl"

reflects the desire of the Black intellectal to be the beneficiar" of anthro$ological histories8$ostracial

$ossibilities of #hite hmanit", #hile se$arating themsel!es as a class from the $athological

re$resentation(s) associated #ith the 0igger #hich inhibit their transcendence. Assimilating canonicalkno#ledge(s) then acts as the means b" #hich life is gras$ed9re!elation, $lling the Black intellectal

a#a" from the #retchedness so#n into the flesh of Black $eo$le and the death of 0iggers. As 4oodson

notes, :ne is reminded of the #ords of Langston Hghes inAsk Your Mama, #here he sa"s that ;the

African !isitor finds that in the American social s$ermarket blacks for sale range from intellectals to

entertainers. Ths, it a$$ears that the $rice of the slo# integration #hich the 0egroes are e-$eriencing

mst he boght at the $rice of ab%ect conformit" in thinking.For these stdies, the #riting

abot, is not enogh. The erasre of the Black male from $hiloso$hical and conce$tal std" is not the

reslt of a failre to attend to, bt rather a deliberate attention to the need to dis$lace8eliminate the


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realities of Black men deaths, and the !iolence against Black bo"s, or children, to enforce the di!ision

bet#een disci$linar" kno#ledge and the $roblem $eo$le obser!ed as ob%ects of std".?

%n the 'iolence of $once(t: nti!Blackness )ntranslated

't is no secret that Black men ha!e been dis$ro$ortionatel" affected b" the deindstriali+ation of

America5s econom" and $o!ert" for a good $art of the Becase #e do not nderstand the actal, #e conce$tali+e the imagined, and remain


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tra$$ed into the imagined narrati!e of Black masclinit", rather than !ie#ers in!ested in the com$le-ities

of Black male life. The territories of antiBlackness, the rban landsca$e, the fedal geogra$h" of the

$olice state, all o$erate to confine Black men to sch $o!ert" and c"cles of abse and death that

theori+ation is des$eratel" needed to accont for the !iolence (economic, $olitical, indstrial) #hich trns

Black men and bo"s into cor$ses. Black masclinit" is conce$tall" confined b" its social reslt9Blackeath9rather than life= socialit". These $atterns of $erce$tion, of colla$sing death into the ndesirabilit"

of thinking the Black male, sstains the disci$linar" dis$osition to#ards Black men generall", and sho#little $ossibilit" that these $eo$le8hmans8li!es can be thoght as more than the cessations of their

e-istence in the minds of most.

For "ong Black bo"s, maleness in a #hite s$remacist societ" is fraght #ith difficlt" and the all too

likel" otcome of death. *!en as men, this raciali+ed masclinit" is ne!er a $rocess leading to anontogenic end, and recogni+ed in codified social identit"= rather the masclinit" im$ressed $on these

bodies is kno#n throgh its ncontrollable e-cess, its lack of matration, demonstrations of the more

$rimiti!e and nci!ili+ed as$ects of a not "et e!ol!ed sa!ager". As 3eoffre" 2anada remarks, The image

of the male as strong is mi-ed #ith the image of male as !iolent. Gale is !irile get confsed #ith male as

$romiscos. Gale as ad!entros e&als male as reckless. Gale as intelligent often gets mi-ed #ith male

as arrogant, racist, and se-istBo"s find themsel!es $lled and tgged b" forces be"ond their control as

the" make the confsing and sometimes $erilos tri$ to manhood.1?

The milie from #hich manhoods$rings is satrated #ith racist caricatres that all seem to legitimate the fear Americans ha!e of Black

men. The images and $erce$tion of Black men as dangeros to societ", #omen, and themsel!es ltimatel"

creates a $attern of thinking that allo#s the seeming ine!itabilit" of death for the "ong Black male to be

%stified. Dnderstanding the relationshi$ bet#een antiBlack racism and the se-alit" of Black maleness

is not sim$l" describing a cltral $attern of antiBlackness im$osed on the li!es of the Black male b" the

larger #hite s$remacist societ", #here the Black bo" is $re!ented from being ca$able of strctrall"

asserting and ideall" emlating the historical identit" $resented as #hite male $atriarch". 'n realit", the

effect of antiBlackness on Black masclinit" is a denatring of Black manhood. The Black male is not a

natrall" born male, se-ed and race #ith $articlarit", bt raced and se-ed $ecliarl", configred as the

base instinct behind negro$hobia in an o!erla$$ing matri- aiming to crtail their economic com$etition

#ith, as #ell as their $olitical radicalit" against, #hite societ". This fear, or cltral intition, e-$ressed

to#ards Black males call $on this societ" to s$$ort the im$osition of death on these bodies, and offerconsent for the rationali+ations the $olice state $resent to the $blic as their %stifications for killing the

Black beast, the ra$ist, the criminal, and the thg. The "ong Black male5s death, the death of Black bo"s,

is merel" an e-tension of this logic, the need to destro" the Black beast cb, before it matres into fll

$atholog". The Black bo", that child, is seen as the $otential to be the 0iggerbeast.

The Se+ual 'iolence %gnored: Racism,s Sodomi-ing of Black Men and Boys

The se-al !iolence of Black men and bo"s has remained a rotine as$ect of racial !iolence. 'n or

e!er"da" li!es, Black men are $blicall" assalted se-all" and e-$osed to the se-al coercion of the

$olice state, bt their stories and these $blic dis$la"s of racism5s se-al com$onent is an na$$roachable

std" nder or crrent disci$linar" arrangement of kno#ledge, s$ecificall" the gender categor" itself. :n

Janar" Cth, arrin Ganning, a 1 "ear old Black bo", #as castrated b" a female $olice officer that

fond him ss$icios. Gr. Ganning #as a child, a straight A stdent, he #as searched, $atted do#n,and then his testicles #ere s&ee+ed b" this #oman of the state so hard that the" r$tred as indicated b"

an adible $o$$ing.1 This is not as ncommon as one might think. Kong Black males are constantl"

sb%ected to se-al assalt and coercion b" their dail" enconters #ith the state, in the seclsion created

on the street throgh $olice interrogations, and nder the aegis of the no# nconstittional sr!eillance

$ractices kno#n as Sto$ and Frisk.1C:n Agst 6th, 166C, Abner Loima, a Haitian man, #as se-all"

assalted b" officer Jstin ol$e in a Brookl"n $olice station. Loima #as arrested for allegedl" striking

ol$e in a cro#d. :nce trans$orted to the $olice station, Loima #as forced into a bathroom, #here


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ol$e grabbed his testicles, kicked him in the groin, and then anall" $enetrated him #ith a bathroom

$lnger. Sho#ing no remorse, or rather the se-al eti&ette of the $olice state to#ards Black men, he

$araded the $lnger arond the station as $roof of his con&est.1E:n Agst


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0n Thomas oster,s 2The Se+ual buse of Black Men under merican Sla3ery4: Engaging Saidiya

5artmann,sScenes of Subjectionon 6endered 6rounds"

4hat does Frederick oglass ask the reader to nderstand abot ensla!ement #hen he confronts 2o!e",the niggerbreaker, in his narrati!eN 's his fight #ith 2o!e" a battle of recognition, or is it oglass5s

refsal to be $h"sicall" and se-all" sb%gated as a sla!eN The rsh of 2o!e" to stri$ oglass naked,his tigerlike fierceness of tearing his clothes, 2o!e"5s #earing ot of his s#itches on oglass5s bod",

the eagerness that 2o!e" sho#s in thisfirst whi$$ingafter telling oglass to stri$ naked9#hat does

this mean to or imagination, or thinking trned to the se-al !iolence of an ensla!ed manNFor "ears,

thinkers ha!e $ointed to the se-al im$lications and homoeroticism $resent #ithin the conditions of

sla!er".


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sensibilities to morall" assert the recognition of gender, as a means b" #hich #e $roblemati+e allegedl"

o!erdetermined racial histories. This se-alit", the heteronormati!e thrst, is not imaginati!e. 't e-ists as

a recollecti!e analog" that casts the terror and immoralit" of or $resent da" thinking abot ra$e

back#ard $on the Black female bod", the stats #e endo# her #ith, and the !iolations of the ensla!ed

#e make $ossible from the !ales #e $ri!ilege in this re!ision.Historicall", ra$e dring sla!er" #as not bond b" se- designations. 4hile Hartmann insists that

se-alit" formed the ne-s in #hich B/lack, female, and chattel #ere ine-tricabl" bond and acted tointensif" the constraints of sla!e stats b" sb%ecting the bod" to another order of !iolations and

#hims,7histor" sho#s that Black masclinit", #as also se-all" absed, and the bod" of these men

and bo"s sodomi+ed throghot the dias$ora. 'n 'ecreating Africa, James S#eet $resents an accont of

an ensla!ed men sbmitting to ra$e for fear of death throghot the 1E thcentr". For e-am$le, he offers

the stor" of a Gina sla!e named LOs da 2osta, #ho/ confessed that one da" #hile he and his master

#ere ot in the #oods, his master forced him to sbmit to anal se-.7CHis master, Ganel Al!ares 2abral,

#as kno#n to ha!e sodomi+ed si- of his former male sla!es in 1C76.7E S#eet also notes thatI

Perha$s the most !iolent se-al assalts of sla!es occrred in Par in the late 1C?@s and earl"

1C@s. Francisco SerrQo de 2astro, heir to a large sgar engenho, #as denonced for sodom" and

ra$e b" no less than nineteen male sla!es, all Africans. Among those #ho #ere assalted #ere

teenage bo"s and married men. As a reslt of these se-al attacks, a nmber of the !ictimssffered from RRs#elling and . . . bleeding from their anses.55 Francisco SerrQo de 2astro

a$$arentl" infected his sla!es #ith a !enereal disease that e!entall" took more than a &arter of

his !ictims to their gra!es.76

4hereas Hartmann correctl" $oints ot that the none-istence of ra$e as a categor" of in%r" $ointed not

to the !iolence of the la# bt to the ensla!ed #oman as a gilt" accom$lice and sedcer,>@she

simltaneosl" ignores that the !iolence and coercion that characteri+ed the ra$e of male sla!es #ere

s"m$toms of a broader $attern of !iolence aimed at forcing male sla!es to sbmit to their masters5

$o#er.>1There #as no reason or %stification $t forth to #arrant the se-al assalt of the Black male

sla!e9his ra$e #as the totalit" of !iolence9the natral e-tremit" of the !iolence of the da". The ra$e of

the Black male sla!e did not $retend to maintain the moral s$eriorit" of the master= it #as com$lete

brtalit" and the animalistic se-al domination of a Black bod" throghot.>


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their beliefs abot his desires, his #ants, and his en%o"ment to e-clde him from being a !ictim of ra$e

and coercion as #ellN

ring sla!er", the se-al coercion of Black men and bo"s #as cltrall" conditioned b" #hite

desirabilit" for Black bodies, and #hite re$lsion to#ards Blackness itself. 0o#here is this as $oignant as

in the case of #hite #omen ra$ing ensla!ed Black men. The call to ndertake the serios std" of #hite

#omen5s brtalit" against ensla!ed Blacks has been $re!iosl" shered b" Sabine Broeck in Pro$ert"I#/hite 3ender and Sla!er", bt fe# ha!e $rsed this line of &estioning.>?Foster arges that the

traditional denial of #hite #omen5s se-al agenc" has contribted to or obscred !ie# of those #hite

#omen #ho se-all" assalted and e-$loited ensla!ed men.>The dominant narrati!e of sla!er" makes

#hite men the cl$rits of se-al assalt, to date there is little to no literatre #hich considers the ra$e of

ensla!ed men and bo"s b" #hite #omen. 4hile mch of the $re!ios research focses on the $lanterclass #hite #oman and her coercion, Foster notes that all #hite #omen cold coerce ensla!ed B/lack

men gi!en the legal and social setting in #hich the" li!ed.>CThe ra$e of ensla!ed Black men #as not

abot $h"sical strength, #omen #ho ma" ha!e been $h"sicall" smaller and #eaker than their !ictims

still/ #ielded a $o#erfl threat.>E

4i!es and daghters of $lanters #ho formed these se-al relationshi$s #ere sim$l" taking

ad!antage of their $osition #ithin the sla!e s"stem. Ha!ing se- #ith their #hite conter$arts inthe inslar #orld of the #hite $lanter class, if e-$osed, #old certainl" ha!e risked o$$robrim,

and e!en gossi$ abot their $blic actions might ha!e marred their re$tations. aghters of

$lanters cold se ensla!ed men in domestic settings, ho#e!er, and retain their !irte and

maintain the a$$earance of $assionlessness and !irginit" #hile seeking se-al e-$erimentation.

'n other #ords, one of the #a"s that some sothern #omen ma" ha!e $rotected their $blic !irte

#as b" clandestine relations #ith black men.>6

Ho# does the histor" of #hite #omen ra$ing Black men and bo"s reconfigre and destabili+e the histor"

of ra$e, the categor" of gender that makes sch anal"sis $ossible, and the arrangement of kno#ledge that

one claims re!eals, as Se-ton and Hartmann maintain, or sb%ect of $ostcolonial resistance9the Black

femaleN Are #hite #omen not ca$able of being se-al assalters, and if #e admit this se-al $o#er of the

#hite #oman ho# #old it com$licate, not onl" the homoeroticism of #hite men ra$ing Black malebodies nder sla!er", bt the heteronormati!e m"ths that crrentl" make seeing the #hite #oman as a

ra$ist of Black men and bo"s an im$ossibilit"N

Some athors ha!e arged that gender itself9the categor" of gender as being s"non"mos to the #oman

is the $roblem. 'n 3reg Thomas5s The %e(ual )emon of Colonial #ower: #an*African +modiment and

+rotic %chemes of +m$ire, he arges that gender is an obstacle to nderstanding the fll reach and e-tent

of ra$e as a dominating act of ensla!ement. He argesI

't is almost im$ossible to locate a te-t of sla!er" #hich does not constre ra$e as the bottom line

factor that differentiates the e-$erience of sla!er" along lines of se-, or gender. Allegedl", the

female can be !iolated, and the male cannot. This assm$tion is nacce$table, if not absrd,

becase it $er!ersel" re&ires heterose-alit" to recogni+e e-$loitation and abse. 0ot onl" is

se-al !iolence redced to #hate!er &alifies as ra$e, narro#l" constred, bt ra$e is also to$enile $enetrations of female bodies, $erha$s not e!en those nless the" reslt in $regnanc" and

offs$ring.?@

4h" then does Hartman choose the Black female sla!e bod" as the sign of ra$eN :ne ma" not configre

se-al !iolence $on the ensla!ed male, or recogni+e the Black male sla!e as gendered, bt thisrecognition does not dis$te the historical facts that se-al !iolence and ra$e did occr. According to

Foster, the ra$e of sla!e men has also gone nackno#ledged becase of the crrent and historical

tendenc" to define ra$e along gendered lines, making both !ictims and $er$etrators relctant to discss


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male ra$e. The se-al assalt of men dangerosl" $oints ot cracks in the marble base of $atriarch" that

asserts men as $enetrators in o$$osition to the $enetrable, #hether homose-als, children, or adlt

#omen.?1 To sa" that #e do not see, or recogni+e the !iolence occrring to this bod" lacking gender, is

not to sa" that se-al !iolence or ra$e did not actall" occr, it is to sim$l" recogni+e alongside the

historical record that the categor" of gender, as de$lo"ed b" Hartmann obstrcts rather than clarifies theactal relations of se-al !iolence and males bodies throgh asserting an ahistorical claim as a-iomatic

rather than actal.

ynter,s 2;o 5uman,s %n3ol3ed


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that demanded to be more than the $etrified $hantasm of the #hite imagination, e-tingishes the idea of

the Black hman the #hite s$remacist #orld demands cannot e-ist. illing Black men #ho dare to

s$eak against and li!e be"ond their $lace erases them from the #orld, making an e-am$le, and lea!ing

onl" their dead melaninated cor$se as a deterrent against ftre re!olts against #hite kno#ledge.

The Black man is not a normati!e sb%ect= there is no shold that does not im$l" his death. He is notca$able of being ca$tred b" thoght nor is he able to be seen in societ". He" P. 0e#ton5s Fear and

obt, $oints ot the ontological $roblem $osed to the thinker aiming to describe and animate the Blackman as a $olitical sb%ect ca$able of $olitical life and social $artici$ation. 0e#ton maintains that societ"

res$onds to the lo#er socioeconomic Black man/ as a thing, a beast, a nonentit", something to be ignored

or ste$$ed on. He is asked to res$ect la#s that do not res$ect him. He is asked to digest a code of ethics

that acts $on him bt not for him.?>The conse&ence of this nonbeing, is dire, as there are no

historical $atterns of rationalit", ethicalit", or ftrit" #hich $ro%ects Black male e-istence into the ftre

9that normati!e $lane of academic thoght. 4hat #old a #orld of li!ing Black male sb%ects look like,

can this #hite s$remacist societ" s$$ort the e-istence of sch a thoght e-$eriment. 4old not the

e-istence of thinking Black men, freed to act #ithot death as the conse&ence of their freedom, not mean

the end of the thoght e-$erimentN 4old the entities that constitte or thoght cease to e-ist in the

realit" of li!ing, free Black men, able to act against the social realit" that ser!es as the backgrond of or

conce$tal realit"N

This normati!e mode of Black sb%ecti!it", or rather the lack of a normati!e mode of $oor Black malesb%ecti!it", is a $roblem of em$ath" %st as mch as it is a $roblem of conce$tali+ation. The Black

intellectal cannot feel mch less see the Black male as a sb%ect thrst into, or $on, ftrit". He

cannot be thoght as acting9an actional man, transformati!e, thinking hman9mch one #ho li!es,

e-$ects life. M"gmt Baman e-$resses a similar concern regarding the conce$tall" othered8ne# $oor,#hich reslt from the rise of the global ca$italist strctre that s$$orts and enables the instittional

!alidation of the kno#ledge $rodced b" ni!ersities as sefl and the $rodcts8stdents as labor in

Legislators and Inter$reters: ,n Modernit"- #ost*Modernit"- and Intellectuals(16E6). Baman clearl"

$ercei!es that toda";s intellectals, #hile the" feel and e-$ress their $it", refrain from $ro$osing to

marr" their thoght #ith this $articlar !ariet" of hman sffering,??Baman interestingl" describes this

as a conse&ence of rationalit" and the cemented dis$ositions of sb%ecti!it". Baman continesI

All in all, $it" takes the $lace of com$assionI the ne# $oor need hel$ on hmane gronds = the"are nfit for grooming as the ftre remakers of the #orld . 4ith historioso$hical indifference

comes disenchantment #ith $o!ert". Being $oor once again seems nromantic. 't contains no

mission, it does not gestate ftre glor". Ps"chologicall", if not logicall" nor historicall", it

a$$ears residal, marginal, alien.?

Baman5s e-$lanation mirrors the concerns for the $oor Black male raised b" 0e#ton as a $roblem ofthoght, or rather nable to be thoght, becase being $oor, Black, and male, resists conce$tion. 4"nter5s

call to re#rite kno#ledge, de$ends on the abandonment of the categories and instittions that $ro$ $ and

s$$ort the #orld as #e kno# it, and or $artialit" to maintain the #orld and the entities in it as #e

kno# it, is the central obstacle to relati!i+ing 4estern GA0.4"nter demands a reformlation of or $o$lar academic nderstandings that accont for ho# #e

e-$lain discorse as acti!el" cltral. This reformlation is not critical is the traditional sense from#hich discorse8langage8kno#ledge is legitimated or semioticall" rele!ant in s$ecific

social8cltral8historical conte-ts, bt that langage is cltral in that discorse births, gi!es legitimac" to

instittions, and s"mbioticall" regenerates sociocltral en!ironments reconfirming the $roblem of

#hite kno#ledge internali+ed b" the learned 0egro, in 4oodson5sMiseducation highlights the

dangers of asserting $o#er8recognition8kno#ledge as GA0 in the matri- of #hite s$remac". 'n Be"ond

the 2ategories of the Gaster 2once$tion (166


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To be effecti!e s"stems of $o#er mst be discrsi!el" legitimated. This is not to sa" that $o#er is

originall" a set of instittional strctres that are sbse&entl" legitimated. :n the contrar", it is

to sggest the e&i$rimordialit" of strctre and cltral conce$tions in the genesis of $o#er.

These cltral conce$tions, encoded in langage and other signif"ing s"stems, sha$e the

de!elo$ment of $olitical strctres and are also sha$ed b" them. The cltral as$ects of $o#er areas original as the strctral as$ects= each ser!es as a code for the other;s de!elo$ment. 't is from

these elementar" cltral conce$tions that com$le- legitimating discorses are constrcted.?C

Baman reminds s the line di!iding ;intellectals; and ; nonintellectals; is dra#n and redra#n b"

decisions to %oin in a $articlar mode of acti!it",?Eso the grammar act9the signif"ing s"stem de$lo"ed

as 4"nter sggests abo!e mst remain conce$tali+ed as cltrall" reif"ing and com$atible #ith the

actal instittions re$resenting the strctres hosing the tools of std". The Black academic borgeoisie

learns to se these categories to sa!e s from death= categories that allo# s to cling to

life8recognition8solidarit" #ith the #orker, or the #oman, or the $rogressi!e, that breathes life into the

thingified sociogenic $rodct of antiBlack racism that is anthro$ologicall" $artici$ating and b"

conse&ence be"ond, or seen as more than, the inanimate $ro$erties of the Black thing. Later in 0o

Hmans 'n!ol!ed, 4"nter concreti+es #hat this relationshi$ bet#een discrsi!e legitimac", and

$o#er, means for the nhmani+ed in #hat she calls historicalracial schema that/ $redefines his bod"

as an im$rit" to be cred, a lack, a defect, to be amended into the Rtre5 being of #hiteness.?6:rconce$tal schema as being American is in fact a distancing from the %obless Black man #ho is targeted

for death. 4"nter5s anal"sis reiterates the economic anal"sis of Bro#n and the larger ontological $oint

made b" 0e#ton5s Fear and obt, she sa"sI

it is this categor" of the %obless "ong black males #ho ha!e been made to $a" the sacrificial

costs (in the terminolog" of ene 3irard;s The Sca$egoat, 16E) for the relati!el" im$ro!ed

conditions since the 16@s that ha!e im$elled man" black Americans ot of the ghettos and into

the sbrbs= that made $ossible therefore the ni!ersal acclamation for the 2osb"H-table T

famil" #ho $ro!ed that some black Americans cold as$ire to and e!en be dra#n inside the

sanctified categor" of Americanness in its $resent form.@

This ascendenc" of s$ecific classes of Black Americans, those Black Americans as$iring to be seen asdifferent from those 0ot Hmans, 0iggers, has been the neglect of Black men and bo"s d"ing, and it

is this necro$hobia that is re#arded and marks the difference bet#een the $lain Black folk and the Black

intellectal. There is a $roblem that emerges in ho# #e assign, describe, and e!alate the conditions of

Black $eo$le. 4e constrain them into categories sitable for anal"sis bt contine to ignore the

limitations and moralities that are $ri!ileged in the std" of these sorts of conditions. 'n short, or

blindness, or indifference to or deaths, bt seeking recognition as life, onl" fels the necromanticrage of #hite s$remacism9the se-al racism, the desire of the Black bod", and the obsession #ith its

death.

To=ards $onclusions:

There is no secret to the $roblem of 4estern thoght, %st as there is no thoght that sim$l" fiats thecom$lete dismantlement of 4estern Gan. 4estern hmanit", the hmanit" $oliticall" asserted $on the

death of Black men and bo"s, is antiBlack. The most immediate task before the Black thinker, the Black

obser!ers of the #orld before them, is the constrction of ne# conce$ts that can s$$ort the meanings of

the actalities set before them in or o#n realities= and in those instances #here or langage, the

grammar of or #orld, cannot s$$ort the #eight of his realit", those strctres, and their cltral

re$resentations mst be dissol!ed. This is a $roblem of (Black) std", not a $ro%ect of sbstittion

(sbstitting one Black sb%ect for the other). The death of Black men and their se-al assalts are not

fancifl, the" are not imagined, bt ha!e no signs that con!e" the !eracit" and force of their meaning. The


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11 | P a g e

Black male, be he a man or a bo", is nthoght. He lacks signification in the langage of gender, and is

erased as a sb%ect8su&ectof interest, "et #e are told this is the natral $rogression of com$assion

clti!ated b" the %orne" to#ards the di!ersit" of thoght9that his erasre from thoght is the moral

reslt of reason trned to sociohistorical kno#ledge, and re!ealing8creating ne# more com$le- sb%ects.

The Black male being nthoght is sold to s as sim$l" being the $rodct of or ne# ethics, ethicalthoght itself. Perha$s in sch a #orld, or rather the configration of this #orld #here ethics can be sed

to describe the $rocess of thinking the Black male child as the cb of the Black male beast9#here Blackmen and bo"s d"ing is not able to be thoght as aberrational is not a #orld for Blackness at all.


12/17

1& | P a g e


13/17

1 *.Franklin Fra+ier, The Failre of the 0egro 'ntellectal, in The )eath of white %ociolog": +ssa"s on 'ace

and Culture(BaltimoreI Black 2lassics Press, 16C7), ?


14/17

not o$$ositionall" fi-ed in 0eal5s thoght, bt these $erformances of Black masclinit" are not directed at the

concreti+ation of #hat Black manhood is in the social. Pointing to Hank 4illis Thomas5s %trange .ruit, if

Thomas5s #ork aims to distrb the comfort of the $re!ailing logics abot black male bodies, it is a $ro%ect that '

share b" sggesting the radical $otential of rendering Rlegible5 black male bodies9those bodies that are all too

real to s9Rillegible5, #hile simltaneosl" rendering so called illegible black male bodies9those male bodies

#e can5t belie!e as real9legible (E). There is a le!el of $erce$tion that is acted $on sociall", ho#, one enforces

their stereot"$es and fears, bt at the le!el of the conditions and constrains of social e-istence or death, these

instittions remain nnamed in 0eal5s #ork. This is not sr$rising gi!en his #ork is on $o$lar cltre, bt thisis an e-am$le of ho# the death of Black men, the $h"sical deaths of Black men are not anal"+ed as the" are the

cessation of Black male $erformance9the im$ossibilit" of being thoght be"ond a cor$se. Similarl", his

$re!ios bookNew Black Man(0e# KorkI otledge,


15/17

1? 3eoffre" 2anada,'eaching u$ for Manhood: Transforming the Li!es of Bo"s in America(BostonI Beacon

Press, 166E, -iii).

1 Abre" 4ilean Police Begin Probe of Teenager5s Arrest, The #hill"1com-Janar" 1E, , accessed

Janar" 16, , htt$I88###.$hill".com8$hill"8ne#s8@11EUPoliceUbeginU$robeUofUteenagerUsUarrest.html .

1C risten 3#"nne, Ho# ;Sto$ and Frisk; 's Too :ften a Se-al Assalt b" 2o$s on Teenagers in Targeted0K2 0eighborhoods,Alternet1com, Janar"


16/17

>, >>.


17/17

>> 'bid., >>.

>? Sabine Broeck, Pro$ert"I#/hite 3ender and Sla!er", 0ender .orum1> ( Foster, The Se-al Abse of Black Gen nder American Sla!er", >?E.

>C 'bid., >1.

>E 'bid.

>6 'bid., > He" P. 0e#ton, Fear and obt, in+ssa"s from the Minister of )efense(DSAI Black Panther Part"), 1?

1E, 1C.

?? M"gmnt Baman,Legislators and Inter$reters: ,n Modernit"- #ost*Modernit"- and Intellectuals

(2ambridgeI Polit" Press, 16E6), 1C6.

? 'bid.

?C S"l!ia 4"nter, Be"ond the 2ategories of the Gaster 2once$tion, in C1L1'1 James4s Carieaned. Henr"

Bhle and Pal Bhle (rhamI ke Dni!ersit" Press, 166.
http://www.genderforum.org/issues/raceing-questions-iii/property/http://www.genderforum.org/issues/raceing-questions-iii/property/

eschatological dilemmas i am because we are

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