Race Men
Race Men by Hazel V. Carby, published by Harvard University Press in November 2000, explores the complex representations of black masculinity within American culture. This 240-page work critically examines the notion of “race men” and challenges the long-standing assumption that a specific type of black male can serve as a representative figure for the entire race. Through a detailed analysis of cultural and political images, Carby highlights how these representations impact both black and white societies while notably excluding women from the discourse.
In this edition, readers will find a thorough critique of black masculinity as articulated by influential figures such as W. E. B. Du Bois, Paul Robeson, and others. Carby delves into various cultural artifacts, including music and literature, to illustrate the social and political implications of these masculine ideals. By examining the works of artists like Miles Davis and the narratives in Hollywood films, she reveals the persistent challenges to conventional masculinity and the ongoing exclusion of women from these discussions. Race Men serves as a significant contribution to the fields of social science, ethnic studies, and gender studies, encouraging a deeper understanding of how societal constructs of masculinity can be transcended.
Official synopsis Publisher
Who are the “race men” standing for black America? It is a question Hazel Carby rejects, along with its long-standing assumption: that a particular type of black male can represent the race. A searing critique of definitions of black masculinity at work in American culture, Race Men shows how these defining images play out socially, culturally, and politically for black and white society–and how they exclude women altogether.
Carby begins by looking at images of black masculinity in the work of W. E. B. Du Bois. Her analysis of The Souls of Black Folk reveals the narrow and rigid code of masculinity that Du Bois applied to racial achievement and advancement–a code that remains implicitly but firmly in place today in the work of celebrated African American male intellectuals. The career of Paul Robeson, the music of Huddie Ledbetter, and the writings of C. L. R. James on cricket and on the Haitian revolutionary, Toussaint L’Ouverture, offer further evidence of the social and political uses of representations of black masculinity.
In the music of Miles Davis and the novels of Samuel R. Delany, Carby finds two separate but related challenges to conventions of black masculinity. Examining Hollywood films, she traces through the career of Danny Glover the development of a cultural narrative that promises to resolve racial contradictions by pairing black and white men–still leaving women out of the picture.
A powerful statement by a major voice among black feminists, Race Men holds out the hope that by understanding how society has relied upon affirmations of masculinity to resolve social and political crises, we can learn to transcend them.
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