The Case for Rage

Starred review from September 13, 2021
UC Riverside philosophy professor Cherry (UnMuted) makes a bold and persuasive call for using rage to combat racial injustice. Drawing connections between “value, respect, and anger,” Cherry argues that being angry at racism implicitly shows that the racially oppressed are worthy of respect and have value. Inspired by the poet and activist Audre Lorde, Cherry advocates in particular for “Lordean rage,” which “aims for change” and is “informed by an inclusive and liberating perspective.” She finds examples of Lordean rage in the words and actions of Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr. (who once claimed that “riots are the language of the unheard”), and James Baldwin, among others, and contrasts the “respect” given to displays of entitled anger by Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh and other white men and women with the denial of African Americans’ right to anger. Cherry lucidly distinguishes between different forms of rage, and makes clear that anger “must appropriate, motivational, productive, and resistant” in order to be effective as an antiracist tool. With its incisive readings of classical philosophers, contemporary politics, and even Saturday Night Live sketches, this accessible, passionate, and meticulously argued case is a must-read.

September 1, 2021
A philosophical manifesto defending anger as an effective instrument of protest against racism and oppression. "I do not remember my first kiss. I do not remember the first book I ever read. I do remember the first time I was angry. And it was at racism." So writes philosophy professor Cherry, recounting the day a classmate deployed the N-word against her for the first time. Her anger has not abated in the years since, even as manifestations of White supremacy proliferate. But what is one to do with that anger, even as well-meaning allies counsel people of color to respond with polite, calm counterargument? "Anger can be a force for good on the battlefield for justice," writes the author. "We must remember this in the face of urges to abolish it altogether." While one philosopher with whom she takes particular issue, Martha Nussbaum, calls anger "a bad strategy and a fatally flawed response," Cherry unpacks Martin Luther King Jr.'s celebrated "Letter From Birmingham Jail" as a foundational document in what she calls "Lordean rage," after the iconic poet and activist Audre Lorde. This Lordean rage ranks favorably in a typology of anger that she constructs, such as "wipe rage," the wrath of the Charlottesville White supremacist marchers and their targeting of non-White and non-Christian others. Such rage, as well as the rage of narcissism, is the fevered, useless tool of the enemy, whereas "Lordean rage is a kind that is well suited to maintain itself just as it is, without needing to get out of the way so that 'better' emotions can get to work." Although her argument is often repetitive, Cherry effectively shows that anger can be a positive force in organizing resistance and keeping the pressure on perpetrators of racism, sexism, and other societal ills. A well-reasoned case for not holding one's tongue in the presence of injustice.

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