Dark Menexenus: Black Opportunism in an Age of Racial Anxiety

Abstract

Since people of African descent first arrived in America, we have had to contend not only with white oppression but also with our own willingness to undermine each other. This essay offers an alternative reading of the muting of African American scholarship that focuses on the breaking of what Aaron David Gresson, III, calls “the collusive bond.” My analysis suggests that the muting of race-related research can occur on either side of the color line, and that it can be motivated not only by racial antipathy but also by self-interest and opportunism.

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Notes on contributors

Mark Lawrence McPhail

Mark McPhail, Department of Corporate Communication & Public Affairs, Southern Methodist University.