William Banks discusses the role and function of black intellectuals in America. He addresses moral and ethical questions arising from social movements of the 1960s, and describes black student activism in the early 1980s, noting a gradual removal of impediments to higher education for black students such as segregation and economic injustice. Banks notes that as black intellectualism developed in the 1840s and 1850s, so did the commitment to speaking out against inequality that has characterized much of black intellectual life since then. He concludes by speculating on the future of black intellectualism.
At the time of this interview, Banks, a Fellow at the National Humanities Center (1981-82), was professor of Afro-American studies at the University of California Berkeley.
This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond.
