Inclusive Scholarship: Developing Black Studies - Ford Foundation

52 Inclusive Scholarship: Developing Black Studies in the United States
Power.” “Black Power” advocates believed it possible to negotiate with and
otherwise relate to Whites on the basis of power; cultural nationalists like
Maulana Ron Karenga of UCLA did not. Like the “Black Power” advocates,
Karenga placed great emphasis on community building among Blacks, but
he went further in assuming two nations and two cultures—one White and
one Black. Even while attached to the university Karenga was deeply antagonistic
to it, especially to its efforts to be helpful to Black people. His model
was a colonial one: Blacks, as he saw it, were emerging from colonial status
into nationhood. The university’s proper role, he maintained, was (1)“nonintervention”
in the Black community, with no efforts to influence it or
shape it; (2) separation—as an institution of the former colonizing power,
the university should deliver financial and technical aid but only as Black
people demanded it; and (3) the creation of a movement to civilize White
people. While such notions were not central to Black student thought, they
did inform some of the rhetoric. 33 As we shall see, such ideological presuppositions
defined the form as well as the style the new programs took.
Typical Models
The models on which Afro-American studies programs were built were influenced
by ideology and conditions on individual campuses. Naturally,
each particular form had intrinsic strengths and weaknesses.
The Program
From an academic point of view, the “program” approach has been the
most successful. It acknowledges the interdisciplinary character of Afro-
American studies by using faculty from established departments. It relies
on the president and the dean to guarantee the program through budget allocations
to the departments involved. While a faculty member’s appointment
may be principally to offer courses and service to Afro-American
studies, his or her membership remains within the department of discipline.
By definition, all senior faculty in a program are jointly appointed to