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Charles W. Mills' “Racial Contract” Theory and Resistance To CHARLES W. MILLS’ “RACIAL CONTRACT” THEORY AND RESISTANCE TO SYSTEMIC RACISM by BECKY NEHER (Under the Direction of Christine J. Cuomo) ABSTRACT This dissertation shows that Charles W. Mills’ theory of the “Racial Contract” provides a conceptual foundation for resisting systemic racism. Several objections to the usefulness of Mills’ theory are considered and ultimately rejected. My arguments demonstrate how Mills’ theory elucidates connections between actions at the local/personal level and policies on the socio-structural level, as well as between cognitive and emotional norms and systemic social and institutional practices. Mills’ account of racism illustrates how resistance can be effectively directed against oppression within these connections. My project contributes to political philosophy and the philosophy of race and racism by showing how Mills’ notion of dissent can ground strategies aimed at structural change. INDEX WORDS: social contract theory; political; epistemic; oppression; injustice; power; ideology; agency; emotions; segregation; intersectionality; colorism; education; solidarity CHARLES W. MILLS’ “RACIAL CONTRACT” THEORY AND RESISTANCE TO SYSTEMIC RACISM by BECKY NEHER BA, University of Georgia, 2012 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2017 © 2017 Becky Neher All Rights Reserved CHARLES W. MILLS’ “RACIAL CONTRACT” THEORY AND RESISTANCE TO SYSTEMIC RACISM by BECKY NEHER Major Professor: Christine J. Cuomo Committee: Victoria Davion Piers Stephens Electronic Version Approved: Suzanne Barbour Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia December 2017 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation could not have been completed without the support of many people. My sincerest gratitude goes out to my major advisor, Christine J. Cuomo, whose careful editing, advice, and encouragement are in evidence throughout the whole of this project. I am grateful to the Department of Philosophy and to the University of Georgia Graduate School Fellowship and Dean’s Award for support that has been crucial to my academic career. Thanks are also due to my committee members, Victoria Davion and Piers Stephens, as well as to all the professors over the years who have helped guide my intellectual development. Thank you to my peers in the Philosophy Department, with whom I have shared arguments and from whom I have learned and benefitted. I am also appreciative of the help of Kyle Whyte, who took the time to correspond with me and email me loads of papers in the early stages of my dissertating endeavors. Thank you to my parents, Mike and Kathie, who have always encouraged my intellectual development, and whose support throughout my life has laid the foundation for my ability to pursue and achieve my goals. Last but not least, warmest thanks to my partner Kerry, who salved my frustrations and bolstered me in periods of lowered confidence, and whose companionship is my treasured joy. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iv CHAPTER INTRODUCTION. ..............................................................................................................1 1 CHARLES W. MILLS’ “RACIAL CONTRACT” THEORY Introduction ............................................................................................................14 The “Racial Contract” ............................................................................................18 The “Racial Contract” and mainstream social contract theory ..............................22 First component of Mills’ thesis: The Racial Contract is political ........................29 Mills on Rawls .......................................................................................................30 Second component of Mills’ thesis: The Racial Contract is moral .......................40 Third component of Mills’ thesis: The Racial Contract is epistemological ..........46 Mills’ theory as a politically subversive conceptual framework ...........................49 Conclusion: The “Racial Contract” as a guide for understanding resistance ........65 2 BEING WHITE AND THEORIZING ABOUT RACISM Introduction ............................................................................................................68 Abstract universal legislation .................................................................................69 Theorizing as located .............................................................................................72 Standpoint theory ...................................................................................................75 Incorrigible hermeneutical ignorance and epistemic oppression ...........................81 v Challenging hermeneutical ignorance ....................................................................87 Conclusion .............................................................................................................91 3 THE “RACIAL CONTRACT” AS A BASIS FOR RESISTANCE Introduction ............................................................................................................93 Mainstream contract talk........................................................................................94 Agency and resistance within systems of oppression ..........................................102 Subversive contract talk .......................................................................................109 How whites’ acts of dissent can utilize power as a resource against racism .......116 Outlaw emotions ..................................................................................................123 Dissident speech...................................................................................................132 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................141 4 COMPLICATING AND INFORMING DISSENT Introduction ..........................................................................................................142 Intersecting oppressions .......................................................................................143 Complicating and informing dissent ....................................................................149 Colorism and the black-white binary ...................................................................159 Segregation ..........................................................................................................164 Epistemic evasion, racialized moral psychologies, and lawful emotions ............180 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................191 5 CONSENT AND DISSENT WITHIN EDUCATION Introduction ..........................................................................................................193 The “Racial Contract” and consent within education ..........................................196 Segregation and school funding ...........................................................................202 vi Curricula ..............................................................................................................207 The school-to-prison pipeline ..............................................................................214 Dissent within education ......................................................................................220 Challenging hermeneutical ignorance through curricular choices.......................223 Anger....................................................................................................................228 Solidarity ..............................................................................................................234 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................242 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................243 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................250 vii INTRODUCTION “Freedom is a constant struggle.” -Saying from the 1965 Civil Rights Movement “So why must we always concentrate on color?” asks Paul Weiss, a white philosopher. He poses this rhetorical question to the black author and social critic James Baldwin on a 1968 episode of The Dick Cavett Show. In the context of the discussion, it is clear that Weiss is denying the relevance of race to an analysis of the social issues of the time. Following in Weiss’ vein, in the 2010s white folks often similarly assert that people of color who mention or discuss race and racism are “playing the race card”1 – that is, disingenuously affirming the existence of racism, not in order to make factual claims, but to leverage their (ostensibly) misperceived victimhood for personal gain. Indeed, 21st century America has been characterized within prevailing assessments as the era of “colorblindness”, a time in US history where race no longer matters and “racism is dead” (Feagin, 2010, p. 91). White folks thus often claim that, not whites, nor society and its institutions, but “blacks are racist”,2 and other nonwhites are racist, because people of color insist, disingenuously and cynically (so the story goes), on concentrating on race and
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