| Looking through the history of racial resistance movements, one will inevitably find instances in which activists have engaged in resistance strategies, even when the odds were against them. One example I focus on in this paper is the decision by Frederick Douglass to physically fight back against his slave master. Given the likelihood he would face severe consequences in his decision to fight back, what motivated his decision to do so? If Douglass did not survive the fight, would there have been value in his decision to fight back? This paper suggests that there is a value to resistance, independent of any material results that may follow, and proposes a distinctive strategy that requires both a pragmatic and expressive component of resistance, in order to address practical concerns of the status-quo while still taking seriously the recognition of shortcomings that accompany piecemeal reforms. |
