American Antiracisms

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

In 2023, it is difficult to avoid the language of antiracism, and harder still to discern its politics. Is racism a matter of structure or intention? Culture or economics? What does racial justice look like? And what exactly are those structures anyways? Moving from the civil rights movement of the 1960s to the George Floyd Uprisings of 2020, this course introduces students to the history behind a freighted term. We will read classic and contemporary texts of antiracism, tracking how American activists, politicians, artists, and scholars wrestled with these questions in the twilight years of the welfare state, mass industry, and securely waged employment.