Many academic philosophers who are generally interested in social justice
issues pertaining to racial and ethnic minority groups still do not clearly
distinguish between Philosophy of Race and African American philosophy.
And in American public discourse, African Americans are the primary racial
subject. But the existence of other nonwhite groups in the United States and
throughout the world calls for a shared discourse about the plurality of racial
and ethnic injustices endured and resisted. It is therefore now useful to consider Philosophy of Race as a distinct academic subfield. Philosophy of Race
has primarily emerged from African American philosophy, which not only
carries an awareness of injustices suffered by other groups but has since the
1970s raised issues that redound to traditional ethics and political and social
philosophy.
The main aim of this book is to introduce the reader to historical and
contemporary issues in Philosophy of Race, with due regard for its debt to
African American philosophy. African American philosophy has always had
the burden of grappling with the legacy of US black chattel slavery, a burden that is exceptional because of the contrast between the ideals of a great
democratic nation and its harsh realities for black Americans. Part of that
contrast has been evident in a history of white dominance in higher education, perhaps especially among philosophers. The first line of defense against
African American Philosophy was that it was not philosophy, because it
focused too concretely on the experience of one human group. The greater
generality of Philosophy of Race might thereby make it more acceptable to
traditional philosophers. But might scholars of African American philosophy thereby suspect the progressiveness of Philosophy of Race, because it is