The Phenomenological Decoupling of “Blackness” from the African Body

Because of the complexity of “blackness” as a human reality, scholars make the distinction between “blackness” and body it describes. However, there has been no clear, sustained scholarly and theoretically informed analysis that has emphasized the distinction between “blackness” and human skin. In Chapter 5 , therefore, phenomenology has been used to decouple “blackness” from the body. To do this, the chapter begins with examples of how the natural attitude, the everyday-ness we take for granted, can obscure or hide the harmful aspects of our quotidian social ideals. This is followed by the critical examinations of the diachronic change in the meaning of words to underscore the fact that “blackness” has moved from being denotative to connotative. Theoretical underpinnings are provided before a critical analysis of the connotative meaning is critiqued. This analysis is then followed by what some scholars have described as a pre-colonial meaning of “blackness” in African societies. A precolonial African “blackness” is then critically examined. The chapter ends with how phenomenology has been used to decouple “blackness” from the human skin.