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Papers by Dalitso Ruwe

Undegrad Seminar on Derrick Bell.

The International Journal of Human Rights, 2024

This essay assesses the recent discourse that has developed around the death of Black males in th... more This essay assesses the recent discourse that has developed around the death of Black males in the U.S. and how these deaths have been animated by anti-misandry. Anti-Black misandry refers to the pathological hatred of Black males. Using the theory of anti-Black misandry, my central argument is that human rights frameworks that centre on arbitrary killings and racial discrimination by agents of the State and private citizens are incapable of capturing that there is a persistent belief framed as a social, cultural, and political right to kill Black male by the State and white vigilantes that governs Black male life in the U.S.

Symposium (Canadian Society for Continental Philosophy), 2022

While essential work in Africana philosophy that illuminates the per- ils of Western constructs o... more While essential work in Africana philosophy that illuminates the per- ils of Western constructs of race and racism has been laid out, schol- arship is yet to excavate genealogies of Africana critiques of Western slavery as distinct philosophical themes that can contribute to the understanding of slavery from the vantage of the subjugated. This article is a call for more theorizations of such genealogies.

Journal of Critical Race Inquiry , 2022

This essay argues that our conversations about Critical Race Theory (CRT) must move beyond critic... more This essay argues that our conversations about Critical Race Theory (CRT) must move beyond criticism of conservative interpretations of CRT and instead advocate for Black youth, as they are the most vulnerable to these attacks. Moreover, I illuminate how conservatives strive to construct, and therefore repress, Black critiques of America as a threat to the national order. This essay is grounded in Derrick Bell's theory of racial realism.

Theory & Event, 2022

In this essay, I argue that since the nineteenth-century, Black males have been deemed pathogenic... more In this essay, I argue that since the nineteenth-century, Black males have been deemed pathogenic/criminals who pose a threat to White civilization, thus are worthy of eradication. This justification, I advance, has roots in nineteenth-twentieth century eugenic theories of Black males as hereditary criminals. Such eugenic theories are prevalent in the writings of white vigilantes, and medical reports of Black males who have died from police brutality. Keywords Black Male Death, Eugenics, Black Male Studies Sam Hose had been lynched, and they said that his knuckles were on exhibition at a grocery store... I turned back to the University… one could not be a calm, cool, and detached scientist while Negroes were lynched, murdered, and starved.-W.E.B. Du Bois, Dusk of Dawn (1920)

Teachers College Record, 2021

Background/Context: The popularity surrounding culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) is notable pr... more Background/Context: The popularity surrounding culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) is notable primarily within language and literacy content areas but is also making its rounds in other disciplines. Because of its assumed objectivity and status, the mathematics discipline has long been a site of disrupting or perpetuating inequity and thus warrants our focus in thinking about how any pedagogical framework influences the success of Black students. We question whether the ideology undergirding CSP is beneficial to the ways in which we seek to educate Black mathematics learners through a philosophy of mathematics education that prioritizes language, and Black English more specifically. Purpose/Objective: The objective of this theoretical paper is to take a closer look at the shift in education research that has drawn attention away from asset-based frameworks, like culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) or culturally responsive teaching, to focus on CSP. We seek to address how Black children may be positioned by the ideologies proposed in CSP, particularly in the way that culture, and Blackness in itself, is performed. Our goal is to highlight potential oversights in this framework and to discuss whether CSP represents a viable solution for Black students, particularly in regard to their mathematics education. Research Design: We elucidate the genesis of CSP and establish its roots as in tension with a Black ontology by tracing the theoretical origins of two scholars known best for its conceptualization.

In this essay, I argue that since the 19 th-century Black males have been deemed pathogenic/crimi... more In this essay, I argue that since the 19 th-century Black males have been deemed pathogenic/criminals who pose a threat to White civilization, thus worthy of eradication. This justification, I advance, has roots in the 19 th-20 th century eugenic theories of Black males as hereditary criminals. Such eugenic theories are prevalent in the writings of white vigilantes, and medical reports of Black males who have since died from police brutality.

While recent U.N. proclamations are significant strides towards global policies that create accou... more While recent U.N. proclamations are significant strides towards global policies that create accountability for more humane treatment of people of African descent, the study of anti-Black stereotypes as generators of violence against people of African descent has a long history in Africana Public Philosophy. Africana Public Philosophy emerges out of the field of Africana Philosophy. Africana Philosophy is meant to encompass philosophical traditions developed by African intellectuals who argue that their genealogies of thought, which do not rely on European philosophical traditions, qualify as philosophical thought and should be studied on their terms. 4 Rooted in these genealogies, Africana public philosophy challenges European justice systems by advancing the claim that they are inadequate to remedy Black life's injustices given the salience of anti-Black propaganda in European philosophical traditions. Anti-Black propaganda is defined as ideas and ideologies that argue that people of African descent and their culture are decadent and a threat to the social fabric of western society. Consequently, the fact that anti-Black propaganda globally legitimizes violence against people of African descent, the most basic question that Africana public philosophy begs, particularly in

In “Between Africa and America: Alexander Crummell’s Moral and Political Philosophy,” Ruwe offers... more In “Between Africa and America: Alexander Crummell’s Moral
and Political Philosophy,” Ruwe offers a spirited defense of
Alexander Crummell’s moral and political philosophy. Ruwe
wants to correct the anachronist reading of Crummell offer
by Anthony Appiah. Ruwe maintains that Crummell created
a Black counter-discourse that argued the supposed racial
superiority of whites, particularly the Anglo-Saxon race,
and the supposed inferiority of Africans was rooted in
imperialism and conquest. As such, Crummell’s philosophy
of race showed that Africans and their civilization could
civilize the Anglo-Saxon race by challenging the imperial
logic of enslaving Africans as laborers for white civilization

Teaching Documents by Dalitso Ruwe

Office Hours: By Appointment Course Description: Recent debates in the U.S and Canada have center... more Office Hours: By Appointment Course Description: Recent debates in the U.S and Canada have centered on concerns about Critical Race Theory and its impact on race-relations and the way history is taught within the K-12 system. This class will be an exploration of the origins of Critical Race Theory beginning with the concerns that Derrick Bell the progenitor of Critical Race Theory had about American education and the legal systems inability to rectify the crimes committed against Black people Grading Interviews/ Dialogue-10 % You will conduct an interview with a person outside (your roommate/ partner/ sibling e.t.c) of the class based on the learning material and a topic you find interesting. The exercise is an opportunity for you to explore the concepts with people outside the classroom and how they might relate to other people's line of work and get their perspective on the issues we discuss as a class. These are 2-3 single space papers.

, the United Nations adopted a resolution that declared that the years from 2015 to 2024 would be... more , the United Nations adopted a resolution that declared that the years from 2015 to 2024 would be the decade of African Descendent Peoples Rights. In these years, all member nations have been tasked with enhancement of human rights for African descendent people focused on three areas: recognition, justice and development. During these years, we have witnessed global social movements decrying contemporary violence that has brought about Black death. These social movements have raised philosophical questions about contemporary rights and Black life. Precisely put these social movements have raised two questions; what relationship does Black life have to democracy and human rights? How does contemporary violence and Black death shape questions of race-relations, intra-communal relations, critiques of State violence and international violence in contemporary Black Political Thought?

This is class is a survey of 18 th-19 th Black Political Thought. We will attempt to understand h... more This is class is a survey of 18 th-19 th Black Political Thought. We will attempt to understand how Black philosophers addressed the question of racial destiny; what role Black intellect and gifts had to play in creating humane structures of civilization that challenged western dehumanization of Black people in slavery. As such we will map out genealogies of Black thought and the organizations that arose from Black activism in the age of slavery.

Traditional philosophical theories of the government role in the day to day lives of citizens arg... more Traditional philosophical theories of the government role in the day to day lives of citizens argues that the function of the government is to persecute citizens who enact crimes against other citizens or the government. In this class, we will take an alternate view that asks the question who holds the government and its agents accountable when it commits crimes against private and foreign citizens? The class will draw from Black criminology critiques that began in the 18 th century that argued that western governments were founded through crimes that were committed against Black people that have become part and parcel of western democracy. As such, we will explore how Black philosophers have interrogated western democracy, the legal system and subsequent propaganda that creates a consensus about annihilating Black movements that challenges the legitimacy of western democracy as the best form of governance for Black people.

Drafts by Dalitso Ruwe