Are You My People? The Surprising Places This Black Woman Philosopher Did Not Find Community

Author(s)Desirée H. Melton
JournalThe Black Scholar
AbstractMelton reflects on her experiences as a black woman philosopher seeking community and connection within academia. She recounts feeling excluded at philosophy conferences and workshops, despite expectations of finding kinship with other minority and feminist philosophers. The author describes disappointments in interactions with white feminist philosophers focused on narrow ideologies, and minority male philosophers challenged her work and underestimated her role as a thinker. She argues that white women philosophers prioritize racial privilege and minority male philosophers prioritize gender privilege, leaving minority women struggling at the intersection. The author concludes that the most welcoming academic community has been among other black women philosophers and her women students of color, indicating that overcoming exclusion requires acknowledging and relinquishing privilege. This essay encourages open discourse on inclusivity among marginalized groups in philosophy.
This content was generated by artificial intelligence using the text of the original work.
KeywordsBlack feminist philosophy, Intersectionality, Privilege, Racism, Sexism, Exclusion, Academia, Community, Inclusivity
This content was generated by artificial intelligence using the text of the original work.
Date Published Winter 2013
Volume43
Issue4
Pages80-85
URLhttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.5816/blackscholar.43.4.0080
Google Scholar Linkhttps://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=14623856462616047911&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5
Open Access?No

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