The Condemnation of Blackness by Khalil Gibran Muhammad

Where do I even begin? This book is very interesting. I'm currently reading and I'll occasionally be posting in this thread re: my thoughts on the book. So far he's stated his thesis. Essentially, the book is arguing about how whites, conservative and progressive alike, have very reductive views of violence in the black community. In the early age of sociological statistics, they used clearly skewed numbers as proof of the "negro problem." Essentially, our inability to ever function on a level equal to whites in society.

Progressives basically pulled a page from Jefferson's book by adopting a very reductive view of black aptitude but thought being of lesser intelligence wasn't a good enough reason for a people to be under the thumb of another. It's definitely made me question the writings of the Booker T. Washington's of the world who advocated for teaching skilled labor. It kinda played into the overall narrative that we weren't capable of much more.

It's also very interesting that DuBois' mentor was one of the main propagators of this theory in the public discourse. I'd be very interested in reading about how he reconciled who he became with the man who gave him his intellectual foundation.

I suggest you cats read it. Muhammad can be a bit verbose, though. It's a very dense read.