The Journal of Political Philosophy

Controversy

The journal became engaged in a controversy when it published three articles on Black Lives Matter, each written by white academics and previously presented at a conference on that subject. The controversy began when Yale professor Christopher Lebron published an "open letter" criticizing the journal for not having included "philosophers of color" in the symposium. Lebron further claimed that the journal had not, up to that point, published on race since the beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement began, and that it had not published a philosopher of color since the journal's inception. The conference organizers pointed out that they had invited philosophers of color to contribute to the symposium but that none had chosen to. Others noted that the Journal of Political Philosophy had published on race since the beginning of Black Lives Matter movement, and that they had published philosophers of color - indeed, the journal was co-founded by Chandran Kukathas, a philosopher of color. The editors issued a formal apology, promised to add at least two African American academics to the editorial board, and committed to seeking more works written by non-white academics.