Introduction

Many people think that African-American philosophy in the 20th century only gets going in the 1920s or so with the Harlem Renaissance. Tommy Curry, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh says this is a false statement. He argues that black thinkers preceded the Harlem Renaissance even though many of them participated in it. The idea of presenting a civilized notion of the Negro may have been one way for the west to actually take up the cause of fighting against black inferiority.