Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2025
Abstract
In a 2013 paper exploring Black philosophers' contribution to theorizing the erotic, Anika Simpson pointed out that there is a tacit acceptance among Black lovers (and perhaps Black philosophers alike) that “Black love is dead” (Simpson 2013). For what it's worth, despite the growing popularity1 and importance of the notion of “Black Love” among Black folks inside and outside of the academy, the philosophy of love has not recorded many contributions from Black philosophers on the subject. When Black scholars have concentrated on love, there's an observed tendency to conflate Black love with Black marriage. For example, at the turn of the 20th century, W.E.B. DuBois, E. Franklin Frazier, and others believed that legal monogamous Christian marriage was central to racial uplift for Black folks. More recently, historians Tera Hunter (2017) and Dianne Stewart (2020) have both discussed Black love in marital relationships among Black folks. Suffice it to say that among Black Love scholars there has been a tendency to (a) conflate Black love with monogamous marriage or (b) conflate Black love as being synonymous with romantic love. In my view, however, situating discussions of Black love exclusively within discourses of contemporary legal monogamous marriage provides too narrow a scope for analyzing Black love.
Recommended Citation
Clardy, J. L. (2025). Black Love. Journal of Social Philosophy. https://doi.org/10.1111/josp.70021
Comments
Open access to this article is funded by Santa Clara University Library.
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