Commentary: Black Studies – The Never-Ending (Beautiful) Struggle

Much has been written about a former (recently fired) Chronicle of Higher Education (CHE) blogger’s racist, dismissive, and uninformed rant against the discipline of Black Studies—particularly a group of Northwestern University graduate students—but very little scrutiny has been afforded the article that inspired the toxic torrent in the first place.

That would be “Black Studies: ‘Swaggering into the Future’: A New Generation of Ph.D.’s Advances the Discipline,” written by Chronicle reporter Stacey Patton. 

As one who earned the Ph.D. in African American Studies at Temple University, over a decade ago, I have some thoughts on the direction of the discipline beloved by so many … and reviled—and misunderstood—by far too many others.

Let me begin by saying that I am thrilled that Black Studies continues to attract the best and the brightest students at institutions of higher learning around the country. Moreover, I support the efforts of and look forward to one day meeting and perhaps collaborating with some of the scholars profiled, but, after reading and re-reading Patton’s article, there are a few things that must be said.

First, I find unfortunate the choice to elevate to the article title—thus memorializing—Duke University Africana Studies scholar Mark Anthony Neal’s catchy (but curious … and cliché) quote about “elite Black Studies programs” ‘swaggering into the future.’ 

As one commenter observed on the CHE website: “What is described with sensitivity about a topic that is carefully, if not elegantly covered, is announced with words that suggest a group of folks on a street corner or around a basketball court.”  

Not to mention the fact that “Black” is in lower case throughout the article (in keeping with the racist conventions of American journalism).