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Africana
Studies hosts Howard University’s Gregory Hampton
Eileen M. Rafferty ‘06
Focusing on the theme, “Black Men Fenced In: A
Plausible Black Masculinity,” professor Gregory Hampton of Howard
University delivered a speech on Oct. 7 relaying his perceptions on the
attainability of black masculinity.
“A black man, past or present, is stuck in paradox. If a black man
is too masculine, white Americans find him a threat, and he is punished.
On the other hand, if a black man shows any sign of subordinate behavior,
he is defined as lazy,” Hampton explained. “Therefore, masculinity
is a shifting mask of performance that must be worn constantly.”
According to Hampton, literature uses characters and plot to replicate
culture, history and American principle; so to further illustrate the
notion of black masculinity, he incorporated August Wilson’s “Fences”
and Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” into his speech.
He did this by using textual evidence to prove that the criterion of masculinity
is so extreme that even “the hard-working, red-blooded white American
male falls short of achieving manhood.”
Hampton firmly believes that despite race, a male child must have some
comprehension of masculinity, and this should be sought through an individual
identity process. “This identity should transcend the traditional
processes associated with man-making. It must begin with the deconstruction
of blackness, manhood and of its counterpart in the American imagination.”
Hampton has written critical essays and published numerous articles. His
specialty is African-American science fiction, but he has been working
on the idea of black masculinity for several years.
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