Creative Conflict in African American Thought

"Douglass may be claimed by nationalists like Molefi K. Asante as a symbol of militant black messianism, or by George Will as a representative of some vaguely imagined, and yet to be glimpsed, color-blind society. Perhaps one reason for our continuing fascination with Douglass is the amorphous quality of his symbolism. He seems to encompass the continuing ambivalence of black men in America with respect to many issues, including separatism, integration, Afrocentrism, Eurocentrism, and male-female relationships."

Wilson Jeremiah Moses is now one of my favorite historians. A specialist on black nationalism and African-American intellectual history, Moses is blessed with a great wit and accessible style that articulates how and why African-American history, black nationalism, and philosophy matters. Both of these two aforementioned strengths are part of Creative Conflict in African American Thought. Indeed, by placing Frederick Douglass, Alexander Crummell, Du Bois, and Garvey into a broader realm of US, European, and African thought, one sees the importance and innovative character of their ideas and contradictions. Instead of confining these black historical figures to the intellectual ghetto, Moses excels in depicting their contradictory ideas and relationship with the intellectual waves in Europe and the United States. One cannot understand Du Bois without Hegelian idealism, nor can one understand Crummell without understanding Hamilton and the Cambridge idealists. 

Even Booker T. Washington comes out of this as a far more complex and intriguing figure in black history and thought, possibly predating Weber and other white writers on issues related to religion, Protestantism, and wealth. Moreover, by emphasizing the internal contradictions and competing ideas entertained by these intellectuals at various moments in their lives, the reader gains a deeper understanding of black nationalism and pan-Africanism. In fact, the nuances of their contradictions actually ameliorate some of the rather disturbing trends of black nationalism, such as the authoritarian collectivism mentioned in Moses's Golden Age of Black Nationalism. Seeing the parallels of Christian redemption, Eurocentrism, Afrocentrism, and fundamentally undemocratic political ideals expressed by a variety of writers from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Jamaica (Garvey), and the US invalidates quick conclusions on New World black nationalists in relation to Africa. 

As for the above video, it's only relevant to one section of the text, a few chapters on the amazing bundle of contradictions encompassed by Frederick Douglass. Racial spokesman, amalgamationist, abolitionist, opponent of black emigrationism, proponent of Afrocentrism or racial mysticism connecting blacks with Egypt, Frederick Douglass's life is far more engaging than the deified narrative ingrained into our heads through Black History Month specials. In a sense, the decision of Moses to embrace the messy contradictions of these prominent African-Americans is reminiscent of Roxane Gay's Bad Feminist, as well as a challenge to some of the easy or misguided interpretations on the left and the right.