Black Solidarity

            For my Philosophy of Race course, we were recently assigned to read Tommie Shelby’s “Foundations of Black Solidarity: Collective Identity or Common Oppression?”  In this paper, Shelby argues that sharing a thick collective identity is unnecessary in order for a group of people to be in solidarity with one another. He claims that experiencing shared oppression is sufficient enough for a group of people to be in solidarity. Shelby believes that all African Americans have experienced some degree of oppression, regardless of their gender or class, and this shared oppression is enough to put African Americans in solidarity with each other. This paper was particularly interesting to read, especially after recently reading Zandria Robinson’s This Ain’t Chicago.

            With the depiction of the different souths in This Ain’t Chicago in mind, I believe that Robinson would most likely agree with Shelby’s argument that sharing a strong collective identity is not required in order for a group to be in solidarity with each other. Robinson goes beyond just the intersections of class and gender and discusses how one’s region largely impacts their culture and overall life. Robinson emphasizes how African Americans from different regions within the United States have extremely different cultures and experiences. With a wide variety of different cultures, it would be unrealistic and perhaps unfavorable for all African Americans to share a collective identity. In order for African Americans to share a collective identity, certain subgroups of African Americans would be forced to drop aspects of their identity and adopt new ones. I could foresee this forcing of adapting one’s identity to fit a larger group as oppressive in and of itself. Ultimately, this collective identity would be ineffective because it could intensify intraracial tensions.

            Shelby argues that a collective identity would hinder African Americans coming together to fight racism and oppression. There needs to be room for debate about which politics/strategies should be used when combating racism. Shelby believes that a call for a collective identity would create tensions and debates about what identity African Americans should embrace, and these discussions would overshadow and get in the way of what really matters: figuring out the most effective politics for fighting oppression. This is where this argument gets tricky. In This Ain’t Chicago, Robinson explains how African Americans from the north and south do not always agree on which politics to use. For example, African Americans in the north tend to be more open to respectability politics, while this strategy is not so favorable to many African Americans in the south. I agree with Shelby that there needs to be space for debate about which politics to use and that a collective identity could disrupt of this, however, I do see how politics and strategies are connected to one’s identity. This makes me wonder: would having a collective identity among African Americans be more productive in combating racism even if it is not necessarily preferable? After reading these two texts, I have come to realize that this topic is of black solidarity is extremely complex.