African American Perspectives on Political Science

Introduction

I N T R O D U C T I O N WILBUR C. RICH T HIS COLLECTION OF ESSAYS is about political science as seen through the eyes of African American political scientists—their assessment of the subfields, their views about the quality of race-related research and their regrets about the omissions in the literature. The central theme is that race matters in politics, not only nationally but internationally. Because we do not understand race in our own politics, it makes it difficult to comprehend ethnic and racial disputes in other countries. Accordingly, the discipline needs multiple perspectives to keep expanding its blind spaces and to prevent it fom becoming too comfortable with itself. Although not all African American political scientists agree with the Perestroika group’s critique of the discipline, most agree that there is a danger of unconscious insularity in methodology and outlook. For this reason we African American political scientists have a special responsibility to rethink the norms, canons, and directions of the discipline. This collection of essays reflects the concerns of African American political scientists who teach and investigate political behavior. The idea for the volume came to me as I walked through the exhibit hall at an annual meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA). In many ways, the exhibit hall is one of the most interesting parts of the annual meeting. Attendees get a chance to meet old friends, network with new ones, pitch book ideas to editors, and thumb through books. As I was thumbing through the latest version of Political Science: The State of the Discipline (The State), it occurred to me that it is time that African Americans evaluate the discipline. We have been in the profession long enough to assess whether the discipline is headed in the right direction. At meetings of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists (NCOBPS) we often commiserate about the discipline going off track and not dealing with the critical issues facing the nation. I thought it was time to share these ideas. I approached Temple University Press with the idea, and Peter Wissoker encouraged me to send him a proposal. The first task was to select the essay writers. I asked both European and African American political scientists for suggestions. One senior political scientist thought the idea would not work because so many senior African American political scientists were too busy writing books, serving on committees, and taking on administrative assignments in their universities. Another complained about the lack of diversity in subfields focused on by African American political scientists. In his opinion, they were stacked in American government. I discovered that the first reservation had some merit, as some potential writers turned me down for those reasons, but the second reservation was groundless. There are several African Americans in comparative and international relations. Granted these political scientists are not very active in APSA or NCOBPS, but they are very involved in area studies associations. It is true, however, that there are few African Americans with primary university appointments as political theorists. Unexpectedly, the selection process gave me the chance to meet new people . Senior scholars who had never contributed to the earlier versions of The State seemed like a good choice for contributors. Of course, one should never pass up an opportunity to engage younger scholars. The strategy of mixing senior and junior scholars is not without its problems. Some senior scholars were too deep into other projects to write an essay. Others accepted but withdrew as their schedules overwhelmed them. Some young scholars were too busy preparing for tenure to write an essay. After I submitted the first set of names and their abstracts to the publisher, the reviewers suggested other names and topics. A new round of invitations went out to potential contributors. I am recounting the selection process because readers may be interested in the genealogy of this volume. African American Perspectives on the Political Science Discipline is aimed at the growing interest in diversity in higher education and how African Americans fit into academic departments, as well as the overall purpose of the university. The discourse on the future of political science can no longer be left to European American scholars of whom we minority scholars refer to as the “usual suspects.” There is simply too much at stake to do that. These “usual suspects” have been missing too many nuances, following too many circuitous arguments, and reverting the discipline around its...