Pragmatism, Antiracism, and New Democratic Possibilities

Pragmatism, the philosophy most associated with John Dewey and American democracy, is a philosophical tradition that has waxed and waned in prominence over the past century.The critiques of pragmatism are fairly well known.For example, it is too optimistic and naively hopeful, does not address issues of power and racism, elides the darker sides of human nature, and fails to take seriously structural oppression and white supremacy. 1Yet there has been a resurgence of interest in pragmatism over the past several years, including by several prominent Black philosophers who suggest that despite its limitations, pragmatism can help us to address contemporary racial challenges, particularly ongoing and deeply entrenched racism, anti-blackness, and white supremacy. 2These scholars call for a pragmatism that attends directly to race, racism, trauma, and tragedy.They argue that pragmatism is a uniquely American tradition that can help us with a uniquely American problem, namely, the afterlife of slavery and the enduring racism left in its wake, an ongoing hypocrisy in a country at least expressly committed to civil rights, social justice, equity, democracy, and pluralism.They have helped to renew pragmatism, using it to attend critically to issues of race and racism, what Eddie Glaude Jr. refers to as pragmatism colored a deep shade of blue. 3 Our goal in this essay is to reconstruct and reimagine a pragmatist project that can have the critical edge needed to help disrupt white supremacy.We begin by briefly describing pragmatism, including key elements of this tradition, its strengths, and limitations.We then turn to how several contemporary Black scholars take up pragmatism as a critical project, starting with a deep recognition of and attunement to the tragic elements of our American history.