Critique of Black Reason: Considerations, the BLM Movement, and Implications for Equality

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Critique of Black Reason by Achille Mbembe is a very radical piece that challenges readers to reevaluate the ways in which our society understands race, Blackness, and efforts for equality. Though some sections of this book may elicit discomfort and/or disagreement, Mbembe offers groundbreaking intellectual contributions to consider when imagining a just future.

One of the major themes of the book centers on the construction of race and Blackness. Race and Blackness were invented through violent European processes (e.g. slavery, colonization, apartheid, etc.). Critique of Black Reason explains that these constructed identities serve to justify the dehumanization and exploitation of specific groups of people, and that Blackness, in particular, was produced as the epitome of the “racialized other.” Mbembe also explains that although Blackness is not “real” (as it is a social construction), it is reified in two ways: Blackness is reified (1) by those in power as a tool of oppression and exploitation, and (2) by Black folx as a form of empowerment.

The Reification of Blackness as a Tool of Oppression and Exploitation

The legacies of the construction of Blackness continue to manifest into the present; Black people continue to experience racism differently and more intensely than non-Black POC. For example, Black communities face elevated rates of police violence, displacement, and housing, educational, and workplace discrimination, as well as more disparities in wealth (e.g. household wealth, income, homeownership, debt) and health (as result of decades of systemic inequality in American economic, housing, and health care systems).

The statistics clearly show that Black people continually experience atrocious, structural forms of discrimination. But we must not confuse Blackness as the cause of systemic and systematic oppression. Mbembe explains that the European construction of racism and anti-Blackness is the cause of systemic and systematic oppression. More plainly, being Black is not the cause of experiencing structural oppression and exploitation; our world’s contemporary institutions (rooted in racist and anti-Black ideologies), are the cause of this structural oppression and exploitation. The upkeep of our global capitalist institutions actively works to maintain racism - the survival of capitalism is dependent on the survival of racism.

The Reification of Blackness as a Form of Empowerment

In addition to the reification of Blackness as a tool of oppression and exploitation, Blackness can also provide a sense of empowerment for the Black community. This empowerment may be embodied in notions such as ethnic and racial pride, which can serve as a protective factor against discrimination. According to professor and psychologist Dr. Danice L. Brown, promoting cultural pride and the teaching of heritage and history is significantly associated with resiliency among African Americans.

However, Mbembe challenges this reification of Blackness: Although Blackness has served as a form of empowerment – an understandable protective factor to racism and oppression – Mbembe argues that a simple reversal of the original, dehumanizing perception of Blackness to a reclaimed, positive perception of Blackness will not rid the world of racism. Rather, Mbembe asserts that we must rid our imagination and world of all racialized thinking in order to move away from a racialized world and achieve true equality.

Implications for Equality

Mbembe takes a very interesting approach when imagining an anti-racist world. Critique of Black Reason offers the idea that racism dehumanizes the racist as much it dehumanizes those who experience racism. Therefore, anti-racism is a re-humanizing project for everyone. It is important to note, however, that this does not mean our goal is to re-humanize everyone to fit the standard of Whiteness – it is about embracing multiplicity and understanding what is in common between everyone in the world. More importantly, Mbembe emphasizes that in order to successfully fight racism and capitalism, we need to be a world in common and come together in solidarity.

The Black Lives Matter movement is putting this idea of solidarity into practice. According to the Black Lives Matter website, the BLM network centers those who have been marginalized within Black liberation movements. BLM involves “a collective of liberators who believe in an inclusive and spacious movement.” Furthermore, BLM works to “affirm the lives of Black queer and trans folks, disabled folks, undocumented folks, folks with records, women, and all Black lives along the gender spectrum.”

In an interview with BLM co-founder, Alicia Garza, she addresses the ways in which BLM includes a broad set of causes (e.g. stopping police violence, advocating for domestic workers, mobilizing women, building Black political power):

“What unites [these movements] for me is that everyone right now is longing for something different, something better. In the midst of all of the grief and rage and pain, there's a hopefulness. There is a longing for who we can be together. This movement crosses so many others, which shows that we can build new kinds of communities where everybody can belong, and where everyone can be valued and where everybody can be powerful.”

Keep Learning!

Critique of Black Reason is a very profound and radical piece that challenges our perceptions of the world and the fight for liberation. However, it is significant to remember that this is just one perspective offered by a Black scholar. We must continue to think critically, educate ourselves, share resources, and make active efforts to transform our mindsets and our world.

In addition to Critique of Black Reason, here is a brief list of other works written by Black authors:

• The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

• Chokehold by Paul Butler

• Freedom Is A Constant Struggle by Angela Davis

• The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

• Between the World and Me by Ta-Neshisi Coates

• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

• The Black and the Blue by Matthew Horace

• Driving While Black by Gretchen Sorin

• The Fire This Time by Jesmyn Ward

• How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

• Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad

• Nobody by Marc Lamont Hill

• Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi

• When They Call You a Terrorist by Patrisse Khan-Cullors & Asha Bandele

• The Black Woman, An Anthology by Toni Cade Bambara

• Playing in the Dark by Toni Morrison

• In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens by Alice Walker

• Sula by Toni Morrison

• Thick by Tressie McMillan Cottom

• Black on Both Sides by C. Riley Snorton

• How We Fight For Our Lives by Saeed Jones

Because this is not an exhaustive list, many important sources are not included. Please feel free to comment and/or contact us if you have additional recommendations!

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