We Can't Go Home Again: An Argument About Afrocentrism - Hardcover

Walker, Clarence E.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195095715 ISBN 13: 9780195095715

Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc, 2001

Synopsis

An eloquent, pithy, and impassioned broadside against Afrocentrism by a leading African-American historian.

About this title

Review:

"This is the book to read if you want to understand where Afrocentrism comes from, and why there is practically nothing African about it. As Walker demonstrates with great precision and clarity, its origins can be traced to Europe, and to European fantasies about race and intellectual legacy long since discarded by responsible historians."--Mary Lefkowitz, Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Wellesley College, author of Not Out of Africa and co-editor of Black Athena Revisited"A vital contribution to the contemporary debate over Afrocentrism in particular and identity politics in general. Walker places Afrocentrism in historical context, locating its intellectual roots in the race-based romantic nationalism of the 19th Century, tracing its evolution through the recurrent attempts of black intellectuals to create a 'therapeutic mythology' for an oppressed and embattled people. His concise, well-grounded, and brilliantly written book analyzes the fallacies of Afrocentrist scholarship, and--more importantly--shows how its falsification of history robs black people of their real past, and thereby defeats its 'therapeutic' aim."--Richard Slotkin, author of Gunfighter Nation"In this boldly conceived and well-executed analysis, Walker basically questions Afrocentrism as a form of historical consciousness. Intriguing and challenging, this work will appeal to scholars and students of African American studies and race relations in America."--Library Journal "This is the book to read if you want to understand where Afrocentrism comes from, and why there is practically nothing African about it. As Walker demonstrates with great precision and clarity, its origins can be traced to Europe, and to European fantasies about race and intellectual legacy long since discarded by responsible historians."--Mary Lefkowitz, Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Wellesley College, author of Not Out of Africa and co-editor of Black Athena Revisited "A vital contribution to the contemporary debate over Afrocentrism in particular and identity politics in general. Walker places Afrocentrism in historical context, locating its intellectual roots in the race-based romantic nationalism of the 19th Century, tracing its evolution through the recurrent attempts of black intellectuals to create a 'therapeutic mythology' for an oppressed and embattled people. His concise, well-grounded, and brilliantly written book analyzes the fallacies of Afrocentrist scholarship, and--more importantly--shows how its falsification of history robs black people of their real past, and thereby defeats its 'therapeutic' aim."--Richard Slotkin, author of Gunfighter Nation "In this boldly conceived and well-executed analysis, Walker basically questions Afrocentrism as a form of historical consciousness. Intriguing and challenging, this work will appeal to scholars and students of African American studies and race relations in America."--Library Journal "This is the book to read if you want to understand where Afrocentrism comes from, and why there is practically nothing African about it. As Walker demonstrates with great precision and clarity, its origins can be traced to Europe, and to European fantasies about race and intellectual legacy long since discarded by responsible historians."--Mary Lefkowitz, Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Wellesley College, author of Not Out of Africa and co-editor of Black Athena Revisited "A vital contribution to the contemporary debate over Afrocentrism in particular and identity politics in general. Walker places Afrocentrism in historical context, locating its intellectual roots in the race-based romantic nationalism of the 19th Century, tracing its evolution through the recurrent attempts of black intellectuals to create a 'therapeutic mythology' for an oppressed and embattled people. His concise, well-grounded, and brilliantly written book analyzes the fallacies of Afrocentrist scholarship, and--more importantly--shows how its falsification of history robs black people of their real past, and thereby defeats its 'therapeutic' aim."--Richard Slotkin, author of Gunfighter Nation "In this boldly conceived and well-executed analysis, Walker basically questions Afrocentrism as a form of historical consciousness. Intriguing and challenging, this work will appeal to scholars and students of African American studies and race relations in America."--Library Journal "This is the book to read if you want to understand where Afrocentrism comes from, and why there is practically nothing African about it. As Walker demonstrates with great precision and clarity, its origins can be traced to Europe, and to European fantasies about race and intellectual legacy longsince discarded by responsible historians."--Mary Lefkowitz, Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Wellesley College, author of Not Out of Africa and co-editor of Black Athena Revisited"A vital contribution to the contemporary debate over Afrocentrism in particular and identity politics in general. Walker places Afrocentrism in historical context, locating its intellectual roots in the race-based romantic nationalism of the 19th Century, tracing its evolution through the recurrentattempts of black intellectuals to create a 'therapeutic mythology' for an oppressed and embattled people. His concise, well-grounded, and brilliantly written book analyzes the fallacies of Afrocentrist scholarship, and--more importantly--shows how its falsification of history robs black people oftheir real past, and thereby defeats its 'therapeutic' aim."--Richard Slotkin, author of Gunfighter Nation"In this boldly conceived and well-executed analysis, Walker basically questions Afrocentrism as a form of historical consciousness. Intriguing and challenging, this work will appeal to scholars and students of African American studies and race relations in America."--Library Journal

About the Author:

Clarence E. Walker is Professor of History at the University of California, Davis. He is the author of Deromanticizing Black History and A Rock in a Weary Land. He lives in Davis, California.

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0195095715
• ISBN 13: 9780195095715
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 208