The Knife In Ibram Kendi's The Black Campus Movement

You don’t stick a knife in a man’s back nine inches, pull it out six inches and say you’re making progress.” ~ Malcolm X
As the ideological father of the student led activism that Ibram Kendi notes in his book, The Black Campus Movement: Black Students and the Racial Reconstitution of Higher Education, Malcolm X and his ideology are a perfect reference to decide its success. In his epilogue, Kendi argues that the BCM has pulled the “knife” out several inches since its inception, by either completely eliminating or crippling the four ideologies that made up the racial constitution of higher education: the moralized contraption, ladder altruism, standardization of exclusion, and the normalized mask of whiteness. However, this was no ordinary “knife”. For the knife was poisoned and has taken effect throughout the body and no matter how far you pull that knife, the poison will remain circulating the body and crippling the black community much the same. The creation of this “racial constitution” did not occur by happenstance. It was implemented by an entire culture of racism and supremacy. Higher education simply served as a way to not only validate the culture, but to enforce it, thus becoming a staple of the racist ideals of our nation. …show more content…
Although I agree, I feel that there is an entire culture that has failed to be thoroughly addressed. African-Americans are keenly aware of the fact that laws and other structural changes can often mean nothing if the culture itself has not changed with it. Laws and decrees cannot protect us from everything. This all raises a couple of questions. Does the Black Campus Movement continue on today and if so, what are we fighting to change? Can present day students even rely on the tactics and ideologies of the Black Campus Movement? How do we finally remove the