Black Women, Black Feminism, and Universalism

I first learned about universal egalitarianism and inclusion from my aunts and my momma. When these women prepare meals, they always consider how they can accommodate family members and guests who have dietary restrictions. In the South, meals tend to feature meat, especially pork. This ingredient is used to flavor vegetables as well. As a child, I remember my aunts and my momma experimenting with making some of their traditionally pork-laden dishes vegetarian or low in salt or sugar if we had folks visiting who had particular dietary restrictions. This is a practice that they continue today. Since my husband cannot eat pork, whenever we visit they set aside a specially prepared pot of collard greens (one of his favorites) that does not have smoked pork in it.

The idea of universalism—that is, to think in terms of the universal—is considered to be the province of white men. This is especially the case in philosophy. Dead white men such as Immanuel Kant, who some might argue is the architect of universalism, are thought to have espoused the view that all people, regardless of their differences from one another, are equal to one another and ought to be treated as such. Some argue that Kant is universally egalitarian, which means that he also is a philosopher who promotes the idea that all people, regardless of their differences, are or ought to be equally included in the universal. This has become the standard interpretation of Kant’s views on race—in that regardless of his racist views, he nonetheless holds that all people ought to be equally included in the universal.

As a philosopher, I am interested in the extent to which this view of universal egalitarianism and inclusion is true in practice. This is why I have addressed my work on Kant in such a way that has challenged this standard reading. Alongside other philosophers such as Robert Bernasconi and the late Charles Mills, I, for example, argue that Kant does not hold a view of universal egalitarianism and that he ought not be interpreted as having such a view in the first place. To the extent that Kant has an idea of race that supports the denigration and oppression of people of color, it is inaccurate to say that Kant’s claims about dignity, personhood, and equality are ideals that extend to people of color. Rather, these are ideals that pertain only to married, able-bodied, cisgendered, Christian, property-owning white men. I am thus invested in thinking about the degree to which we practice equally including all people in our society. One way in which we fail to do so is by limiting the voices we engage with regarding universal egalitarianism and inclusion.

My momma is the master of culinary universal egalitarianism and inclusion. She has the uncanny ability to plan out a meal in which all of the dishes she prepares can be eaten by anyone who comes to the table regardless of their dietary restrictions. The only exception to this, of course, are her meat dishes when we have vegans and vegetarians at the table. My momma starts her meal planning about a week before the big day; she takes an intellectual approach to the task. With a pen, paper, and her brilliant mind, she spends a few days creating a blueprint for what she is going to make. After writing, scratching out, and rewriting out her plan, she alights upon how to create her masterpiece. For a woman who has an extremely busy life, she puts in a tremendous amount of extra effort to make sure that everyone who comes to the table feels comfortable. This is due to her deep belief in inclusion.

It is indeed the case that all of us try to accommodate friends and family at gatherings as best we can when it comes to dietary restrictions. I have to admit that the extent to which I do so usually includes buying a different jar of salsa for the friend who does not like spicy foods or choosing a different restaurant that can accommodate my vegan and vegetarian friends. But I want to underscore that for my momma and my aunts, making adjustments to their dishes takes time, effort, and skill. Meals take at least a day or two to prep and cook. The individual dishes alone take hours to simmer on the stove. By making changes to their meals, these women demonstrate a deep belief in equality, one that supersedes their own comfort and ties to tradition. Their willingness to be inclusive is a deliberate choice, a moral choice.

I am not claiming that the women in my family are the only ones who make adjustments to their meals and sacrifice a lot in doing so. I am also not proposing that only black women take this approach. Rather, as I reflect on my own experience as a Southern black woman, I realize how black women exemplify universal egalitarianism in their practices. Their actions underscore an aspect of universal egalitarianism and inclusion in a way that we so desperately need to emulate. This is to say, for black women, being inclusive means truly including everyone. In the case of my momma, this means that everyone should have something on the table that they can eat regardless of what dietary restrictions they may have.

The longstanding association of universal egalitarianism with thinkers such as Kant, to say nothing of the idea’s inherent problems, has led some people to ask me why I still think that universal egalitarianism is worth considering. Likewise, I am often asked why I try to associate the view with black women and black women’s ways of thinking and practice. Allow me to explain.

I argue that although the ideas of universal egalitarianism and inclusion have long been associated with white male thinkers, these men are not the architects of the ideas, nor do they have the final word on what these ideas entail. Also, their practices do not live up to their ideals. Whether it is true that they came up with the idea of universal egalitarianism or inclusion is of little interest to me; what is indeed true is that they are not the only contributors to the idea. We shape the conversation about universalism based on with whom we choose to engage regarding the topic. Black women and other groups of people have something to say about universal egalitarianism and inclusion, and we can expand the view of universal egalitarianism and inclusion to include these perspectives in the effort to create a better future.

Second, regardless of how we may feel about universal egalitarianism, it is an idea that has had a lot of impact on views about who has personhood and its accorded rights. Put simply, the extent to which one is considered to be part of the universal is a benchmark for their inclusion. In western society, folks are either out or in. While this is unfair, it cannot be ignored. Right now, the world that we inhabit is a world that is deeply influenced by dead white European male thought, a world that largely focuses on who is in or out of the “group.” It is thus imperative to think of ideals such as universal egalitarianism in such a way that includes other perspectives. In this way, the base notions of these ideals can be expanded and challenged. It may be hard or nearly impossible to tear down the world that we have, but that does not mean that we cannot attempt to reform it.

Third, we only further contribute to the habit of overlooking the brilliance of black women if we do not acknowledge their thoughts about universal egalitarianism and inclusion. That is, black women have always contributed to such ideas. As I attempt to bring attention to the ways in which black women’s thoughts and practices demonstrate the ideal is not a new discovery; I am merely acknowledging a truth about their practice. Black feminist writings feature universalism. For example, Alice Walker, in the opening of In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens: Womanist Prose, contends that Womanists are “traditionally universalist” insofar as they realize that people of color are “just like a flower garden, with every color flower represented.” I like to consider the Combahee River Collective as the architects of black feminist universalism. In the “The Combahee River Collective Statement,” the authors state, “We realize that the liberation of all oppressed peoples necessitates the destruction of the political-economic systems of capitalism and imperialism as well as patriarchy.” The Combahee River Collective thus recognized the need to fight against all oppressive systems for the good of everyone, rather than confronting only those systems that directly affect a single group of people.

In the essay “Let Us All Rise Together: Radical Perspectives on Empowerment for Afro-American Women,” Angela Davis states that black women have always sought to fight against oppression alongside men and white women, a practice that goes as far back as the black women’s club movements of the nineteenth century. Davis claims that the phrase “lifting as we climb,” which was the slogan of the black women’s club movement, is embedded in the principle that “must not only determine our struggles as Afro-American women, but also govern all authentic struggles of dispossessed people. Indeed the overall battle for equality can be profoundly enhanced by embracing this principle.” It is thus not new for black women to hold the view that to be truly universal is to include all people. This principle is reflected in their beliefs and their practices, including those of my momma.

Finally, people’s actions are as important as their ideals, and black women’s thought and practices hold some beautiful gems regarding how to go about creating a more inclusive and equitable world. We must listen to them. By listening to black women on this topic, we liberate the concept of universalism from the clutches of dead white male philosophers. The fact of the matter is that the idea and practice of universalism belongs to all of us.

The Women in Philosophy series publishes posts on women in the history of philosophy, posts on issues of concern to women in the field of philosophy, and posts that put philosophy to work to address issues of concern to women in the wider world. If you are interested in writing for the series, please contact the Series Editor Adriel M. Trott or Associate Editor Julinna Oxley.