The love of wisdom, aka Philosophy,seeks to study the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline. People can learn fundamental truths about themselves, the world in which they live, and their relationships to both the world and to each other. While Philosophy is a foundational building block for all other academic disciplines, it has been shaped by structural racism, and this shaping has had an effect on its growth, development and its demographic. From the early work of Immanuel Kant in 1781, who famously began his work describing the superiority of Whites over Blacks and Indigenous Peoples, philosophy rests in that foundation (Rutledge,2019). It is important to establish that racism has broad implications for how the entire field of philosophy is practiced.
At present, all members of the discipline should be on notice that racism has historically impacted, and continues to impact their field. Philosophy is highly utilized, built upon and central to the growth and development of other disciplines. An honest analysis of race and racism can make all schools of philosophy, including ethics, political philosophy, and abstract debates of metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and epistemology, all richer fields. For race theorists, philosophy is highly significant for their work, however it has been observed that contemporary philosophy continues to evade a discussion of racism in the field and, as a result,often helps to promote it. At the same time, anti-racist theorists in many disciplines regularly draw on crucial notions of objectivity, rationality, agency, individualism, and truth without adequate knowledge of philosophical analyses of these very concepts (Cook, 2003). Evidently there remains a disconnect.
There remains alack of diversity in the use and recognition of Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) Philosophers in most college level Philosophy classes. For new students studying the field, this leaves them with a misunderstanding of who has contributed to the field. From very early on, Philosophers came from all parts of the globe and had differing epistemologies, that if taken as a whole would create a wider philosophical lens for students to gaze through (Rutledge, 2019).
