Abstract Afropessimism has been critiqued for not aligning with postmodern thinkers by assuming Blackness to be an all-encompassing identity that ignores intersecting identities. The article exemplifies an Afropessimist analysis that does not disregard intersectionality by analyzing the absent Black father myth. Methodologically, this article seeks to align Afropessimism with sociological data concerning fatherhood. The flawed political, economic, and cultural atmosphere that allowed for Black slaves to be perceived as inferior animals persists in the contemporary cultural and economic landscape that frames Black men as inferior fathers. An analysis of fatherhood highlights how there are two ways to discuss issues of Black masculinity. The first is an intersectional approach, which asks Black men how they view their own masculinity as intersecting with their multiple identities. The second is by analyzing the relationship of Black men to the broader cultural notion of masculinity, which posits whiteness as prerequisite. This second method can be done with an Afropessimistic analysis without denying the intersectional thinking of the first method.
Lee Lee Thielemier (Fri,) studied this question.