Does after race mean after this world?

ABSTRACT

This piece centrally engages Alana Lentin’s book, Why Race Still Matters, and thinks about it in relation to changing the world. If we undo “race” will we undo racism? Lentin’s charge to undo race raises further questions about this undoing in relation to particular experiences of racism. Along these lines, the piece works through her critique of Afropessimism and thinks through the necessity to take seriously the critique of anti-Black racism as a critical component of imagining a future coalitional politics. Ultimately, one might ask, do we need to undo race in order to undo the world, or do we need to undo the world in order to undo race?

KEYWORDS:

• Race
• racism
• anti-Blackness
• Afropessimism
• coalitional politics

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).