Sociohistoire des Black Studies Departments

• Main Author: Caroline Rolland-Diamond
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Institut des Amériques 2012-06-01
• Series: IdeAs : Idées d’Amériques
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/ideas/266

This article examines the historical conditions that shaped the development of Black Studies departments within American universities in the late 1960s and 1970s, focusing on the initial challenges these new institutions faced. It begins by viewing these circumstances in relation to the rise of Black Power ideology on campuses throughout the United States in the late 1960s, highlighting the manner in which ideas of black nationalism aimed at improving ghetto conditions were adapted to university institutions that had remained until then largely unaffected by years of student protests. Based on several case studies, my analysis seeks to highlight the different strategies adopted by students and faculty members to promote the institutional legitimacy of Black Studies departments in a context of conservative backlash during the Nixon presidency. I argue that practical exigencies related to the drive for institutional acceptance and financial viability forced these actors to abandon their nationalist or community orientations and to move towards a more traditional academic outlook—a change that became irreversible within an increasingly conservative national political landscape dominated by ideals of colorblindness and individualism.