Race, Rhetoric, And Identity: The Architecton Of Soul

by Molefi Kete Asante

In this new collection of insightful essays, the most prolific contemporary African American intellectual and the leader of the Afrocentric school of thought turns his critical attention to the many ways in which modes of communication in American culture have created a dehumanizing African American identity. Asante examines a wide range of cultural phenomena that continue to reflect underlying racial problems, including media distortions, the identity crisis among African Americans, the rhetoric of education, the exploitations of bureaucracies, "the tyranny of reason without passion," African voices expressed through European literary forms, and arguments about justice and reparations.Asante's approach is based on the Afrocentric idea, which treats African people, either on the continent or in the Diaspora, as primarily subjects of African cultural experiences rather than as marginal people confined to the fringes of European or American culture. The advantage of this fresh perspective is that it not only puts people of African heritage on an equal footing with people from other cultures, but it also allows one to evaluate American and European ideas from an African perspective. This reorientation of the facts opens up new insights and new possibilities for creating a truly egalitarian American society.Anyone who wants to understand the complex problem of racism in America will welcome Asante's creative, original, and constructive approach.

249 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2005

About the author

Molefi Kete Asante (born Arthur Lee Smith Jr.; August 14, 1942) is an American professor and philosopher. He is a leading figure in the fields of African-American studies, African studies, and communication studies. He is currently professor in the Department of Africology at Temple University, where he founded the PhD program in African-American Studies. He is president of the Molefi Kete Asante Institute for Afrocentric Studies.

Asante is known for his writings on Afrocentricity, a school of thought that has influenced the fields of sociology, intercultural communication, critical theory, political science, the history of Africa, and social work.He is the author of more than 66 books and the founding editor of the Journal of Black Studies.