On the Dialectical

Relationship of Philosophy to
African-American Studies
A Materialist Assessment on The Black
Scholar and Its Intellectual Legacy

JOHN H. MCCLENDON III

iven the intellectual and academic

legacy of The Black Scholarsince its
advent in November 1969I think it is saliently apropos that this historic journal now
devote its pages to a special issue on the examination of how philosophy is related to
the African-American experience with the
objective of clarifying the road to AfricanAmerican liberation. Born in the dialectical conflict of the Black liberation movement and the ancillary struggles for radical
transformation of the conditions surrounding African-American education. The Black
Scholar, in my view, became a beacon light
for scholars, students, and activists in consistently forging a link between the struggles
within different Black (internationally focused) communities.' Through its various
special topics. The Black Scholar facilitated,
for instance, connecting African-American
movements such as Black Power and the
myriad of student struggles for Black Studies^on US campusesto the African diaspora and also with the liberation movements
in Africa.^

For example, in its first issue devoted

to "Black Studies" (September 1970), The
Black 5c/jo/ar featured an interview with the

108

THEBLACKSCHOLAR

West Indian Marxist and Pan-African ist C. L.

R. James. James offers a number of critical
suggestions about the content and method
of Black Studies in the United States. James
actually went against the grain of the prevailing trendinclusive of previously published articles in The Black Scholarwhich
articulated the need for formulating a distinctively Black ideological perspective as
foundational to Black Studies and AfricanAmerican liberation.-'
James opposed the notion that there was
something akin to "The Ideology of a Black
Social Science" wherein scientific inquiry
was subordinated to Black ideology or that
we must by some means forge "The Way to a
Black Ideology" as articulated by Abdul Alkalimatand Floyd B. McKissick, for instance.
Philosophically a materialist, James understood that scientific inquiry was grounded
on the objective foundation of philosophical
materialism, dialectically conceived. James
rejected the view that Black Studies required
a uniquely formulated Black perspective
(Black ideological viewpoint) on the world
or that the study of the Black experience was
in principle mutually exclusive of the scien-

John H. McClendon III is a professor of

philosophy at Michigan State University.
He is the author of C. L R. James's Notes
on Dialectics: Left Hegelianism or Marxism-Leninism (Lexington Books, 2005) and
the coauthor with Dr. Stephen Ferguson
of Beyond the White Shadow: Philosophy,
Sports and the African American Experience (KendaW Hunt, 2012).

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tifie analysis of white/European ideology/

history. James argued:
When I give classes on history 1 use certain books, and I always use Du Bois' Black
Reconstruction. Not because it deals with
black history or because he is a black man,
but because that is one of the finest history
books ever written by anybody. To this day,
i don't know any book which deals with the
history of the Civil War in the way that Du
Bois' book does. That is black studies. Otherwise, black studies is a lot of nonsense.
James further stated:
And I should like to say that I don't believe
in race as a basis for intellectual dissension.
But I believe that it is black men, black
men who live in the black community, who
are connected with it and have the black
experience and are sensitive to it, who are
best able to do the kind of studies the black
race needs. They are not the only ones able
to make such studies, but they are best able
to do an analysis, not only of black people,
but of white people who were concerned
with the black experience.''
Although his arguments were counter to the
subjectivist notions of Black racialist/nationalist ideology, James was not solitary in
his efforts at a critical summation of Black
Studies. Hence we have a plethora of articles (from varied academic and ideological
positions) on education and Black Studies,
penned in the pages of The Black Scholar.^
Not only did The Black Scholar signal the
Pan-Africanist scope of Black liberation, but

John H. McClendon

we also discover persistent critical analysis

of the elements affixed to the materialist underpinnings of Black oppression. Namely,
we uncover The Black Scholar's unyielding
opposition to the scourge of white supremacy, racism, colonialism, and neocolonialism, and this was often brought to the fore
by highlighting the adjoining role of material
(political economic) forms of international finance monopoly capitalism. The critique of
African, Caribbean, and African-American
class exploitation and national oppression
with its adjoining connections to capitalism
and imperialism was not lost on a number of
its early contributors.''
During its formative years (when the institutionalization of programs in the field of
African-American studies was prominent)
The Black Scholar arguably proved to be one
of the pioneering and foremost journals in
creating a deeply needed outlet for an intellectual culture of critical discourse. Hence,
at this early juncture, 7^e Black Scholar provided a rather fruitful and dynamic scholarly
channel for meaningful dialogue, erudite
discussion, and rigorous debate as well as
ongoing substantive theoretical inquiry into
this burgeoning area of inquiry.''
In addition to Pan-Africanism, the very
first issue of The Black Scholar addressed
topics such as Black culture, education,
and revolution as well as the significance
of Black Studies curriculum.^ In the same
year as this inaugural issue, Robert L. Allen
published his Black Awakening in Capitalist
America, which offers an insightful documentation about the role of corporate capitalist financing of certain elements of the
Black Power movement. Shortly thereafter.

On the Dialectical Relationship of Philosophy to African-American Studies 109

Allen would join The Black Scholar editorial board and currently is senior editor. The
inclusion of Allen amplified the leftist anticapitalist orientation of The Black Scholar.'^
I still own the inaugural issue, "The Culture of Revolution." I contend that President
Skou Tour's profoundly insightful philosophical essay, "A Dialectical Approach to
Culture," stands out as one of the premier
contributions and formidable introductions to the presentation of the dialectical
materialist philosophical analysis of African culture, particularly in the throes of the
anti-imperialist struggle. Within the context of the Black Studies movement in the
United States, concerns about the nature
of Black culture, at that time, were pivotal
in the ranks of the black liberation movement. The clarion call for idealist forms of
cultural nationalism, both as an ideological perspective for Black liberation and as
the philosophical bedrock of Black Studies,
was hotly debated in the pages of The Black
Scholar.^ Jour's essay gave us penetrating
insights into how culture was dialectically
adjoined to a materialist philosophical approach. Tour argues:
The creation of material values, the creation of spiritual values, the creation and
development of this global culture progresses continuously despite momentary
slowing-down, stagnation and setbacks.
Material culture production and spiritual
cultural production are dialectically linked
and exercise a reciprocal influence on
each other. But the absolute priority rests
with material production, which itself participates directly in man's concrete action.

110 THEBLACKSCHOLAR

Tour further comments:

To meet the needs of all, material action
must have tactics, and strategies, and intellectual effort to action, a certain degree of
planning, both criticism and self-criticism
in light of the results, and a methodology
bringing into play a whole series of intellectual operations. Culture is a material
and spiritual acquisition, both the product
and price of action.^'
As with C. L. R. James's commentary on
Black Studies, Tour's materialist dialectical
treatment of culture would open the philosophical door to a vision of Black Studies
that would go beyond the confinement of
a narrow Black cultural nationalism. The
critical commentary of Tour was a refreshing outlook not only on African culture but
also on how to explicate the general principles for outlining a materialist inquiry into
the substance of culture as affixed to social
and political development, especially in
the material transformation of nature and
relations of production, albeit fettered by
the yoke of imperialism and class struggle.
Within the contours of class struggle and
the fight to overcome imperialist hegemony,
the dialectics of the creation of material
and spiritual values, Tour informs us, cannot be sustained without giving priority to
material conditions and material values.
Hence, according to Tour, the idealist concept of erecting "A Black Value System," as
represented by Maulana Karenga and Amiri
Baraka, remained a purely Utopian and reactionary project.'-^ Ultimately Baraka would
reach similar political conclusions and

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adopt the same philosophical perspective as

On the Value of a Materialist Critique

and Theory and Method in AfricanAmerican Studies
In terms of method of inquiry, Tour presents
to us some valuable gems of philosophical
thought, which we can immediately transfer
to our discussion on African-American studies. It is precisely the problem of "intellectual effort to action" that dynamically and
concretely connects philosophy to AfricanAmerican studies, that is to say, in the particular fashion of a materialist philosophical
project; for this project seeks to attach theory and practice with the practical (pol itical)
aim of Black liberation. Given the material
locus and critical function of "intellectual
effort to action," it follows that such effort
toward "action" draws us immediately into
the material/practical realm or what Tour
identifies as "the creation of material values." Thus "action" as the "creation of material values" cannot be removed from the
pressing ideological concerns and political
objectives linked to the practical tasks of
liberation as an objective interest, which in
turn is the upshot of our stance in advocating the dialectical materialist philosophical
analysis.^'*
Concomitantly, we must insistin conjunction with Tourthat the context of
"both criticism and self-criticism in light
of the results, and a methodology bringing
into play a whole series of intellectual operations," is at the core of the philosophical

John H. McClendon

question of how theory and method must

function to frame the contours of AfricanAmerican studies. Ideological criticism or
critique along with theory and method are
decisive conceptual issues for anchoring
the framework of African-American studies.
Moreover, I submit they are keys to establishing, from a materialist perspective, how
we actually define what constitutes AfricanAmerican studies. Of import to our discussion is the looming philosophical task and
need for locating where a critique originates
vis--vis empirical, conceptual, and ideological levels of criticism.^^
By ideological critique, I mean a level of
criticism that aims to disclose the worldview
attached to a given set of formulations, theses, paradigms, or theoretical frameworks.
Ideological critiques are therefore directed
at the fundamental presuppositions, assumptions, and presumptions shaping and
grounding one's formulations, theses, paradigms, or theoretical frameworks. If and
only if the fundamental presuppositions,
assumptions, and presumptions engaged
are foundationally different than those informing the critique, then what results is an
external criticism. Consequently, by external
criticism 1 mean a critique, which is foundationally different from the ideology under
review. Here by definition external criticism
is synonymous with ideological critique.
In contrast, if the critic shares the same
ideological commitments with the one under
scrutiny, what occurs is an internal criticism
and de facto we do not have an ideological critique. Instead the criticism is either an
empirical critique, at the level of observation
and factual matters, and/or it is a conceptual

On the Dialectical Relationship of Philosophy to African-American Studies 111

critique calling into question the issues relating to logical reasoning, theoretical consistency, systemic conceptual contradictions,
and interpretative evaluations adjoined to
given formulations, theses, paradigms, or
theoretical frameworks. In African-American
studies (AAS), William R. Jones imparts to
us one of the first scholarly efforts in utilizing this method of internal criticism. Jones's
powerful text Is God a White Racist? is an
illuminating (internal) critique of Black liberation theology.'^
Ideological critique, however, need not
be devoid of empirical or conceptual criticism. The only qualification is that in the
case of ideological critique, we discover
all conceptual criticism follows from an
external vantage point. Matters of logical
reasoning, theoretical consistency, systemic
conceptual contradictions, and interpretive
evaluations affixed to and adjoined with
given formulations, theses, paradigms, or
theoretical frameworks derive ultimately
from ideological differences or fundamental
divergences in worldview.
There is also another instance of Internal criticism, which does not rely upon the
prima facie exclusive utilization of empirical and/or conceptual critique. The key
concept here is the caveat, prima facie. If
it is assumed one is engaged in ideological critique or external criticism, and yet,
for whatever reason, the critic overlooks or
fails to comprehend there are in fact shared
ideological commitments, with the ideology
under investigation, then this putative ideological critique Is objectively an internal criticism. The prior bi-conditional stipulation (if
and only if the fundamental presuppositions,
assumptions, and presumptions engaged are

112 THEBLACKSCHOLAR

foundationally different than those informing the critique) cohesively outlines the conditions for ideological critique. Given we
operate with a bi-conditional stipulation,
then such requirements are both objectively
and absolutely mandatory.'^
What we have in this second instance of
internal criticism is a contradiction between
intended ideological functions and objectively rendered ideological practices. This is
what I designate as the dialectics of ideological critique in AAS. The dialectical contradiction of intended ideological critique and
de facto ideological commitment of racial/
racialist ideologues to bourgeois ideology
is the substance that forms the basis for this
essay. The racial/racialist critique is constituted in a kind of dichotomized theoretical
modus operandi, wherein Black intellectual/
cultural paradigms stand contra white intellectual/cultural paradigms.'" Subsequently,
despite all intended purposes, this modus
operandi undermines the critique of white
supremacy and racism when understood
as forms of bourgeois ideology. Hence, this
kind of critique defaults in its attempt to be
specifically Ideological in character.''
Over the years, since its founding, the
pages of The Black Scholar have allowed
various thinkers to demonstrate how Marxism-Leninism is concretely a philosophy
of liberation. Thus, from the philosophical
standpoint of Marxism-Leninism, People's
College, "A Study Program: Imperialism and
Black Liberation," Wilber Haddock's "Black
Workers Lead the Way," and Amiri Baraka in
"Needed: A Revolutionary Strategy" point us
to strategies for Black liberation in the United
States. Additionally, Frank Wright's "The National Question: A Marxist Critique" accents

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how African-American national liberation

is theoretically rooted in a Marxist analysis
of African-American national oppression.
Amilcar Cabral's "The Guiean Revolution:
The Struggle HasTaken Root" and Julia Herv
in her "Kwame Nkrumah: His Last Views of
African Struggle" explicate via Marxist philosophical analysis the course of African liberation. Marxist philosopher Angela Davis's
"Rape, Racism and the Capitalist Setting"
accents the nature of Black women's triple
oppression and the road toward revolutionary transformation and liberation. For all of
the aforementioned (along with Walter Rodney, C. L. R. James, and Skou Tour), Marxist dialectical materialist philosophy has the
practical aims of concrete struggle for social
transformation and liberation from oppression and exploitation.
In conclusion, the philosophical task we
face today in AAS is to uproot the dangerous ideological weed of idealism. How can
we do this? We must use as our theoretical
instrument the philosophy of dialectical materialism. Furthermore, issuing from this instrument will be the understanding that the
real nature of ideological critique rests not in
the putative Black/white antithesis. Instead
we will see that politically the contradiction
is the left in opposition to the right. More
concretely, this mandates an ideological critique from the standpoint of Marxism-Leninism as our scientific world outlook.

Notes
1. I capitalize the word "Black" when making reference to people of African descent. For a
number of years, it was customary to use this in

John H. McClendon III

regard to the word "Negro." Over a number of

generations, there was a consistent fight to capitalize the word "Negro" as a way of establishing
racial respect and dignity. Since the word "Black"
has now come to replace "Negro" as the contemporary convention, I follow in that tradition with
the capitalization of "Black." For a further discussion of this issue, see Richard B. Moore, "The
Name 'Negro'Its Origin and Evil Use," in Richard B. Moore, Caribbean Militant in Harlem: Collected Writings, 1920-1972, eds. W. Burghardt
Turner and Joyce Moore Turner (Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 1988): pp. 223-239.
See also John H. McClendon, "Black/Blackness:
Philosophical Considerations," in Encyclopedia
of the African Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and
Culture, ed. Carol Boyce Davies, vol. 3 (Santa
Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2008): pp. 198-203.
2. For an overview of the themes and debates
in The Black Scholar, see John H. McClendon III,
coauthor of "The Changing Tone of Three Black
Periodicals" in Faustine C. Jones, The Changing
Mood in America (Washington, DC: Howard
University Press, 1977). See, for example, Nathan Hare, "The Challenge of a Black Scholar,"
The Black Scholar, 1, no. 2 (1969): 58-63; Nathan Hare, "From the Publisher: A Torch to Burn
Down a Decadent World," The Black Scholar 2,
no. 1 (1970): 2-5.
3. Floyd B. McKissick, "The Way to a Black
Ideology," The Black Scholar 1, no. 2 (1969): 1417; C. L. R. James, "The Black Scholar Interviews:
C. L. R. James," The Black Scholar 2, no. 1 (1970):
35-43; Abd-I Hakimu Ibn Alkalimat, "The Ideology of Black Social Science," The Black Scholar
1, no. 2 (1969): 28-35.
4. C. L. R. James, "The Black Scholar Interviews: C.L.R. James," The Black Scholar 2, no. 1
(1970): 3 5 ^ 3 .
5. Robert Allen, "Politics of the Attacks on
Black Studies," The Black Scholar 6, no. 1 (1974):
2-7; Phil Hutchins, "Report of the ALSC Conference," The Black Schoiar 5, no. 10 (1974): 48-53;

On the Dialectical Relationship of Philosophy to African-American Studies 113

Darlene Clark Hie, "The Black Studies Movement: Afrocentric-Traditionalist-Feminist Paradigms for the Next Stage," The Black Scholar 22,
no. 3 (1992): 11-18; Roosevelt Johnson, "Black
Administrators and Higher Education," The Black
Scholar 1, no. 1 (1969): 66-76; William H. McClendon, "Black Studies: Education for Liberation," The Black Scholar 6, no. 1 (1974): 1525;
Robert Staples, "Racial Ideology and Intellectual
Racism: Blacks in Academia," The Black Scholar
15, no. 2 (1984): 2-1 7; LukeTripp, "The Political
Views of Black Students During the Reagan Era,"
The Black Scholar 22, no. 3 (1992): 45-52; Alvin
Poussaint, "The Black Administrator in the White
University," The Black Scholar 6, no. 1 (1974):
8-14; Bobby Seal, "An Appeal from Prison: Revolutionary Action on Campus and Community,"
The Black Scholar ^, no. 2 (1969): 4-7.
6. Amilcar Cabrai, "The Cuinean Revolution:
The Struggle Has Taken Root," The Black Scholar
4, no. 10 (1973): 28-31; Eldridge Cleaver, "Education and Revolution," The Black Scholar 1,
no. 1 (1969): 44-52; C. L. R. James, "The Black
Scholar Interviews: C. L. R. James," The Black
Scholar 2, no. 1 (1970): 35-43; Stokely Carmichael, "Marxism-Leninism and Nkrumahism,"
The Black Scholar 4, no. 5: (1973): 41-43; Angela Y Davis, "Rape, Racism and the Capitalist Setting," The Black Scholar 9, no. 7 (1978):
24-30; Wilbur Haddock, "Black Workers Lead
the Way," The Black Scholar 5, no. 3 (1973):
43_48; Julia Herv, "Kwame Nkrumah: His Last
Views of African Struggle," The Black Scholar 4,
no. 10 (1973): 24-27; Phil Hutchins, "Report
of the ALSC Conference," The Black Scholar 5,
no. 10 (1974): 48-53; Cheddi Jaggan, "Cuyana
at the Crossroads," The Black Scholar 5, no. 10
(1974): 43-47; Clarence J. Munford, "The Fallacy
of Lumpen Ideology," The Black Scholar 4, no.
3 Ouly/August 1973): 47-51; Clarence J. Munford, "imperialism and Third World Economics:
Part One of Two Parts," The Black Scholar 6, no.
7 (1975): 15-25; Earl Ofari, "A Critical Review

114

THEBLACKSCHOLAR

of the Pan-African Congress," The Black Scholar

5, no. 10 (1974): 12-15; People's College, "A
Study Program: Imperialism and Black Liberation," The Black Scholar 6, no. 1 (1974): 38-42;
Walter Rodney, "Contemporary Political Trends
in the English-speaking Caribbean," The Black
Scholar 7, no. 1 (1975): 15-21; Frank M. Wright,
"The National Question: A Marxist Critique," The
Black Scholar 5, no. 5 (1974): 45-53.
7. Cerald A. McWorter, and Ronald Bailey,
"Black Studies Curriculum Development in the
1980s: Its Patterns and History," The Black Scholar
15, no. 2 (1984): 18-31; Robert Allen, "Politics of
the Attacks on Black Studies," The Black Scholar
6, no. 1 (1974): 2-7; Molife Kete Asante, "African
American Studies: The Future of the Discipline,"
The Black Scholar 22, no. 3 (1992): 20-29; "Black
Studies: A Review of the Literature," The Black
Scholar 2, no. 1 (1970): 52-55; Melba Joyce Boyd,
"The Legacy of Darwin T. Turner and the Struggle
for African American Studies," The Black Scholar
41, no. 4 (2011 ): 11 -16; Eldridge Cleaver, "Education and Revolution," The Black Scholar 1, no. 1
(1969): 44-52; Angela Davis, "Reflections on the
Black Woman's Role in the Community of Slaves,"
The Black Scholar 3, no. 4 (1971 ): 2-15; Darlene
Clark Hine, "The Black Studies Movement: Afrocentric-Traditionalist-Feminist Paradigms for the
Next Stage," The Black Scholar 22, no. 3 (1992):
11-18; Manning Marable, "Blueprint for Black
Studies and Multiculturalism," The Black Scholar
22, no. 3 (1992): 30-35; McClendon, "Black
Studies: Education for Liberation"; and Sydney
Walton, "Black Studies and Affirmative Action,"
The Black Scholar 6, no. 1 (1974): 21-28.
8. Stokely Carmichael, "Fan-Africanism
Land and Power," The Black Scholar 1, no. 1
(1969): 36-43; Eldridge Cleaver, "Education and
Revolution," The Black Scholar 1, no. 1 (1969):
44-52; Nathan Hare, "The Challenge of a Black
Scholar," The Black Scholar 1, no. 2 (1969): 5863; Sidney Walton, The Black Curriculum: Developing a Program in Afro-American Studies (East

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Palo Alto, CA: Black Liberation Publishers, 1969);

phen C. Ferguson II, "The Utopian Worldview
Preston Wilcox, "The Black Curriculum: Devel- : of Afrocentricity: Critical Comments on a Reacoping a Program in Afro-American Studies by
tionary Philosophy," Socialism and Democracy
Sidney F Walton (review by)," The Black Scholar
25, no. 1 (2011): 44-70; Eugene C. Holmes, "A
1,no. 1 (1969): 85-86.
Philosophical Approach to the Study of Minor9. Robert L Allen, Black Awakening in Capitality Problems," Journal of Negro Education 38,
ist America (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1969);
no. 3 (1969): 196-203; John H. McClendon III,
"Nathan Hare Resigns from The Black Scholar:
"On the Nature of Whiteness and the Ontology
Charges Black Marxist Takeover," The Black Panof Race: Toward a Dialectical Materialist Analyther 13 (1975): 12; Robert L. Allen, "Forty Years
sis," in What White Looks Like: African AmeriLater: Reflections on the Writing of 'Black Awakcan Philosophers On the Whiteness Question,
ening in Capitalist America," The Black Scholar
ed. George Yancy (New York: Routledge, 2004);
40, no. 2 (2010): 2-10.
Clarence J. Munford, Production Relations, Class
10. Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), "A Black
and Black Liberation: A Marxist Perspective in
Value System," The Black Scholar 1, no. 1 (1969): : Afro-American Studies (Amsterdam: B. R. Grner,
54-60; Eldridge Cleaver, "Education and Revolu- : 1978); Robert Young, "Putting Materialism Back
tion," The Black Scholar 1, no. 1 (1969): 44-52.
into Race Theory: Toward a Transformative Theory
For an overview, see John H. McClendon III,
of Race," Red Critique 11 (Winter/Spring 2006),
coauthor of "The Changing Tone of Three Black
redcritique.org/WinterSpring2006/index.html.
Periodicals" in Faustine C. Jones, The Changing
15. For a more in-depth discussion of this isMood in America (Washington, DC: Howard
sue, see McClendon, "Black and White or Left
University Press, 1977), .
and Right? Ideological Critique in African Ameri11. Skou Tour, "A Dialectical Approach
to Culture," The Black Scholar 1, no. 1 (1969): .
11-26.
12. Ibid., pp. 11-26. See also Tour, "Sekou
Tour's Speech to the Congress," The Black
Scholar 5, no. 10 (1974): 23-29. For a similar
argument, see Stephen C. Ferguson II, "The Utopian Worldview of Afrocentricity: Critical Comments on a Reactionary Philosophy," Socialism
and Democracy 25, no. 1 (2011 ): 44-70.
13. See, for example, Amiri Baraka, "Black
Liberation Is a Struggle for Socialism," Unity and
Struggle 4, no. 2 (1975).
Amiri Baraka, "Some Questions About the
Sixth Pan-African Congress," The Black Scholar 6, no. 2 (1974): 42-46.
:
14. For a materialist analysis within AfricanAmerican studies, see Angela Y. Davis, "Women
and Capitalism: Dialectics of Oppression and
Liberation," in The Angela Y. Davis Reader, ed.
Joy James (Maiden, MA: Blackwell, 1998); Ste-

John H. McClendon III

can Studies," American Philosophical Association

Newsletter on Philosophy and the Black Experience 2, no. 1 (2002): 47-56.
16. See Jones, Is God a White Racist? I should
add that in more general terms, my notion of critique falls within the philosophical tradition of
Cerman dialectical criticism. With his three Critiques, Kant initiates this conception of critique,
on an idealist basis. Hegel offers a seminal and
even more advanced contribution to this dialectical practice, albeit while remaining within the
confines of idealism. It is, of course, Karl Marx's
materialist conception of history and dialectics
that represents the apogee of dialectical critique,
viz. we have the advent of a scientific mode of
analysis for social relations and history. And it
should not be lost on the reader how this idea
of critique is prominently part of the subtitle to
Marx's magnum opus. Capital. See V. I. Lenin,
"What the 'Friends of the People' Are and How
They Fight Social Democrats," in Collected Works

On the Dialectical Relationship of Philosophy to African-American Studies

115

(Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1973); and Paul

Murray, Marx's Theory of Scientific Knowledge
(Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press International, 1990). See also McClendon, "Black and
White or Left and Right?"; and McClendon, "Materialist Philosophical Inquiry and African American Studies," Socialism and Democracy 25, no. 1
(2011): 71-92.
17. Charles W. Mills is a more recent exemplar of how internal criticism masquerades as
ideological critique. Mills fervently argues that
his political theory of The Racial Contract is in
"the best tradition of oppositional materialist
critique of hegemonic idealist social theory."
Nevertheless, Mills states that he "criticizes the
social contract from a normative base that does
not see the ideals of contractarianism themselves
as necessarily problematic but shows how they
have been betrayed by white contractarians." For
Mills, the problem is not that contractarianism is,
more fundamentally, a form of bourgeois ideology; his concern is only that contractarianism has
been corrupted by "white contractarians." What
becomes immediately transparent is that Mills
undermines his own claim to "oppositional materialist critique." Mills's assumption is simply that

116

THEBLACKSCHOLAR

contractarianism is formally a credible political

theory; and with the injection of a black perspective as content, the path is paved for the ideological critique of white supremacy. Mills's black
philosophical perspective of contractarianism or
his racial contract theory thus assaults white supremacy from, nevertheless, within the confines
of contractarianism. I argue, along with Marx,
contractarianism is a form of bourgeois ideology.
Charles W. Mills, The Racial Contract {\thaca, NY:
Cornell University Press, 1997), pp. 129-130.
18. See, for example, Molefi Asante, The Afrocentric Idea (Philadelphia: Temple University
Press, 1987); M. Karenga, "Black Studies and
the Problematic of Paradigm: The Philosophical
Dimension," Journal of Black Studies 18, no. 4
(1988): 395-414.
19. For a critique of Asante's Afrocentricity
as a distinctive form of idealism rooted in religious mythology, read James Palermo, "Reading
Asante's Myth of Afrocentricity: An Ideological
Critique,"
www.edu/PES/97_pre/palerno.html.
See also McClendon, "The Afrocentric Project:
The Quest for Particularity and the Negation of
Objectivity," Explorations in Ethnic Studies 18,
no. 1 (1995).

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