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Almore Cato, II
Professor Dorris
African American Diaspora Studies
March 31, 2014
African Philosophy American Africana diaspora
!hen loo"in# at African Philosophy, li"e anythin# else, it is essential to place it in conte$t% &he
main issue 'ith philosophical studies on Africans and descendants of Africans is that they are (ein#
e)aluated from a *urocentric perspecti)e% African Americans ha)e (een dominated (y 'estern culture,
ta"in# on their cultural, moral, and ethic ideolo#ies% Assimilation into the American society 'as seen as
the solution for Africans searchin# for their herita#e, 'here in reality there should ha)e (een an
emphasis placed on the philosophy that Africans ha)e descended from+ ,ne cannot (uild upon 'hat is
not there-s% &his paper 'ill loo" at ho' African Philosophy has de)eloped in the psyche of African
Americans, and come to a conclusion on ho' 'ell the philosophy ha)e de)eloped d in the African
descendents%
!hat does it mean to (e an African.American/ Many people mi#ht say it means that you are
racially (lac" and American, (ut this is not nearly sufficient% !hat does it mean to (e American in a
country 'here they ha)e and still are oppressin# African Americans/ !hat does it mean to (e African,
'hen the only connection to Africa is the fact that our ancestors 'ere "idnapped from there and forced
into sla)ery/ &hese are 0uestions that cross the mind of a people 'hom seem to come from no'here%
&he situation from 'hich African Americans came from has caused a disassociation from any sense of
culture% 1ot only does it cause a disassociation from culture, (ut it causes (lac" people to e$amine their
li)es throu#h the scope of someone 'ho is not li"e them% &he emer#ence of African American
philosophy attempts to pro)ide a ne' scope in e$aminin# African Americans% A scope that 'ould (e
put into the conte$t of an African%
African American studies and philosophy is one of the more recent researched areas% 2ecause of
the 'ide dispersement of Africans and different cultures they li)e and come from, there is a (ranch of
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African philosophy called African Diaspora% African Diaspora It has emer#ed (ecause scholars are
(e#innin# to reali3e that e$aminin# from a philosophical perspecti)e 'ill help ans'er fundamental
0uestions re)ol)in# around African Americans% In the 4ournal of 1e#ro 5istory, Palmer defines the
African Diaspora, sayin#
6&he modern African diaspora,at its core, consists of the millions of peoples of African descent
li)in# in )arious societies 'ho are united (y a past (ased si#nificantly (ut not e$clusi)ely
upon 7racial7 oppression and the stru##les a#ainst it and 'ho, despite the cultural )ariations and
political and other di)isions amon# them, share an emotional (ond 'ith one another and 'ith
their ancestral continent and 'ho also, re#ardless of their location face (roadly similar pro(lems
in constructin# and reali3in# themsel)es 8Palmer 309:
&he African diaspora encompasses all of the different African descendants, 'hom each ha)e a uni0ue
e$perience and de)elopment in their ne' home% Palmer 'arns scholars not to #roup the e$periences of
the people of modern diaspora% If culture is so uni0ue that the e$periences of the diaspora people must
(e separated, then it is only lo#ical that philosophical e$aminations shouldn;t (e #rouped to#ether
either%
African American philosophy deri)es from Africana Philosophy, 'hich is a 'ay people 'hom
are considered 6African: and their diaspora critically en#a#e and thin" a(out the ideas of African
culture and the mi$ed cultures 'orld'ide% Amon#st all the 0uestions raised in Africana Philosophy, the
emer#in# central 0uestion is 6!hat does it mean to (e a human (ein#/:% &his area studies o(ser)er,
loo"in# at the pro(lems and difficulty in critically reflectin# on oneself% Philosophical anthropolo#y is
seen as fundamental in understandin# of humanity (ein# called into 0uestion% Palmer says 6&he
conse0uences of lost peoplehood, of denied humanness, are se)ere in that they lead to #roups or "inds
of people (ein# treated as property 8sla)ery9, as 'aste to (e eliminated 8#enocides, holocausts9, as
su(human or animals 8racism9: 8<ordon 149% &he purpose (ehind the focus on philosophical
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anthropolo#y comes from the historical issues 'ith racism and oppression% African diaspora ha)e (een
su(=ect to su(ordination since their coloni3ation% Africana Philosophy loo"s at racial and coloni3ation
efforts that caused people to (e loo"ed do'n upon and #i)en no li(erties or ci)il ri#hts% &he
coloni3ation of Africa is a dispute in itself% 2efore coloni3ation of Africa, the ancient Africans did not
consider themsel)es as Africans% !ith that (ein# said, one has to as" if it is possi(le to include ancient
African concepts and philosophies 'ith Africana Philosophy (ecause technically they 'ere not
6African:% &hey 'ere typically separated (y tri(es, each em(racin# a different cultural and herita#e% In
loo"in# at the pro(lem, this includes 6the relation of the cate#ories >>(lac",: >>African,: and >>reason,:
as 'ell as discourses of African diasporic ori#inality and imitation and the dynamics of Africana
metaphilosophy:8149% 2ecause African Philosophy includes e$aminin# the diasporas in its principle,the
con)er#ence of African and 2lac" is important% 2lac", 'hich is a socially constructed race in America,
has (ecome synonymous 'ith (ein# African% So, ho' does African American philosophy de)elop/
!ith sla)ery suppressin# the spread of African culture, it is easy to see ho' Africa Philosophy
can (e i#nored and for#otten% &his, ho'e)er, 'as not the case% African Americans mana#ed to
transcend and contri(ute to the American society, e)en thou#h they 'ere not seen as part of the society%
,ne of the most nota(le of African American intellectuals is !%*%2% Du 2ois% Du 2ois 'as "no'n for
e$aminin# the process of 2lac" thou#ht in America% 5e 'as one of the pioneers for African American
philosophy, 'ith the idea that 2lac" people 'ere different than any other people, and (ecause of this
they 'ere to (e e$amined different also% In his (oo", The Study of the Negro Problems, Du 2ois poses
the study of ne#ro as a #oldmine for scholarly 'or"% 5e presents the pro(lems of 1e#ro as a social
pro(lem 6the failure of an or#ani3ed social #roup to reali3e its #roup ideals, throu#h the ina(ility to
adapt a certain desired line of action to #i)en conditions of life:8Du 2ois 39% 5e sees social pro(lems as
a relationship (et'een condition and action, and (ecause these t'o thin#s are fore)er chan#in#, so are
social pro(lems% Some people sa' the 1e#ro pro(lem as =ust one thin#, 'hen in reality, it 'as a set of
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pro(lems all (ranchin# off from one another%