US today. What that common
sense dictates, is to count as
Black is to count as criminal
and this influences a lot of
social practices including
policing
practices.
What it
m e a n s i s Q&A
that where with
c o m m o n IRAAS
s e n s e i s Alum
p r a c t i c e d , Doug
Blacks are Ficek and
n
o
t Professor
understood Robert
as citizens, Goodinga n d t h e Williams
default
assumption
is
that
they’re not innocent as fellow
citizens. When I wrote about
the Rodney King events, what
struck me was that in neither
liberal or conservative media
outlets, was the thought
entertained that people in the
streets were acting out of
morally informed political
judgement. So what does not
come into view is that these
are your fellow citizens, that
have made moral political
judgement and they are acting
on that judgement.
What books do you
recommend for students that
are interested in philosophy,
but wonder if it’s important
or how can it relate to whats
think about the Negro
problem, how should
conceptualize it, and how
should we understand the lived
experience of white
s u p r e m a c y. To
read
him
philosophically
is to read him
with an eye to the
ways in which
he’s inviting the
reader
to
conceptualize the
issues
of
question, to white
supremacy,
racism, and black
politics.
going on the in the world
today?
RGW: The way you framed
the questions has to do with
the ways philosophy might
matter to how an individual
chooses to live his/her life and
to how we think about social
and political issues broadly
speaking. From the beginning
philosophy has dealt with
these issues.
Reading Plato, Aristotle,
Rousseau ,Hegel, Kant, and
Marx is important because all
of these writers are addressing
these larger questions and
issues.
DF: In your view,
where is the black
intellectual and philosophical
tradition heading,
and what are its prospects?
RGW: That’s a hard question
to answer. I don’t think I have
a good answer and I’m a bit
skeptical of giving an answer
to this question. I can’t say
where things are heading but
what I can say is that there are
young people out there that are
continuing to do the kind of
work we’re talking about. I
hope I can continue to play a
role in training some of them
and that this way of thinking,
that brings the spirit of
philosophy to bare in thinking
about questions about racial
domination and racial injustice
will continue. It’s a hope, but a
hope that has some optimism.
!
!DF:
What do you think
philosophers should do in
response to Ferguson?
RGW: One of the things
philosophers can do, especially
those interested in race theory,
is to think about the way in
which racial common sense
can shape, organize, and reenforce oppressive practices. I
would add that the
contribution philosophy has to
make is not separate from the
contribution that other
disciplines have to make
because an approach to race
theory
must
be
interdisciplinary.
!
!DF: In your latest book, In
the Shadow of Du Bois: AfroModern Political Thought in
America, you explore the
influence and importance of
W.E.B. Du Bois. How do you
read Du Bois, and what does
it mean to read him as a
philosopher?
RGW: Part of what philosophy
is about, is putting into
question ways of doing and
thinking. So when you think
about DuBois, you have think
about how to think about
things such as how should we
!!
!
LISTEN- To hear
Doug’s Interview
with
Robert
Gooding-Williams
click here or visit
h t t p : / / b i t . l y /
iraasgoodingwilliams