Existential disappointment: A sociopolitical theory of black visibility (Toni Morrison)

In this dissertation I draw on traditional and black existential thought to theorize vulnerability as a character or dispositional trait that works against anti-black racism and black invisibility. The first chapter is a review of the treatment of some core existential themes (despair, freedom, and anxiety) by traditional existentialists and some key existential themes (identity, freedom/liberation) by black existentialists. In the second chapter I draw on black invisibility, an important concept in black existential thought, and select Kierkegaardian concepts to develop an original theory of black visibility. I argue that for blacks to be seen, or become visible to whites, both groups should have a vulnerable disposition. For blacks, a vulnerable disposition will contribute to visibility by allowing blacks to experience disappointment. That disappointment is then shared with similarly vulnerable, sympathetic whites who are encouraged to see blacks as individuals worthy of social and political justice. Additionally, the experience of disappointment can allow blacks to avoid feelings of nihilism. Achieving a vulnerable disposition is difficult---Kierkegaardian resignation affords protection from being vulnerable and continually having one's expectations unrealized. The third chapter is an application of the second. In this chapter, I explore how a vulnerable disposition coupled with multicultural education can allow for more productive democratic deliberation; entering into relation with others as a Buberian "You" rather than an "It" can change the dispositional dynamic and foster more open communication between differently situated others. The fourth chapter, also an application of chapter two, recognizes the value of cultural practices for black group autonomy. In this chapter, I argue that some black cultural practices should be protected because they are ennobling practices and can contribute to black group autonomy and visibility. Whites who are sympathetic to black struggles visibility are less likely to appropriate black culture. The final chapter is a phenomenological observation of vulnerability through Toni Morrison's Sula. In my reading the character Sula embodies the kind of vulnerable engagement I describe in previous chapters and comes close to making the Kierkegaardian movement to infinite resignation when her expectations are not realized.