Abstract

The articles in this special issue are a selection of those presented at the conference, “Critical Philosophy of Race after Ten Years,” held in March 2022. The conference commemorated the tenth year of publication of the journal Critical Philosophy of Race. Although philosophical engagement with the concept of race was not new to the field of philosophy, the journal, indeed the term “critical philosophy of race,” served as a catalyst for deepening and widening philosophical efforts to better understand the complexities of racisms and, through such insights, develop resources for combating them.The journal and indeed the neologism, critical philosophy of race, emerged thanks to the hard work of Robert Bernasconi, who has not only contributed to the field through his research but also through his dedication to this journal and his role in ensuring that the Penn State Department of Philosophy would be a leader in training graduate students in this field. The success of his efforts was recognized by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which awarded a grant to the department in recognition of its work in mentoring and recruiting philosophy students of color. While no one person is ever fully responsible for transforming a field or a department, it takes vision and hard work to inspire others to work together to achieve these important goals.The conference was originally designed to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the journal and to mark the completion of the grant awarded to the philosophy department by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and all that the department was able to achieve thanks to their generous support. With the passing of Charles Mills just six months prior to the conference, we added a session to commemorate his many contributions to critical philosophy of race—to the journal, to the field, and to many of us who benefited from his wisdom and humor. Mills’s research focused on the issue of racial justice and examined the reasons why the subject has been so little addressed in Western political philosophy. He saw his task as furthering “the project of unwhitening mainstream political philosophy by bringing issues of race and racial justice into the conversation.”2 While the invited article by Linda Martín Alcoff was written to celebrate the importance of Mills’s scholarship, many of the articles in this special issue reflect the influence and importance of his work in the field of critical philosophy of race.The journal and the work of the Critical Philosophy of Race Initiative is supported by the Penn State Rock Ethics Institute.