"Wholesome Utility": Patriarchy and Black Nationalism in Paradise.

This essay examines the relationship between patriarchal culture and Black separatist politics in Toni Morrison's Paradise. While these two themes are obviously central to the text, they are generally treated as merely contiguous elements of life in Ruby, Morrison's fictional all-Black town. A close examination of classic Black nationalist discourse, however, reveals that the politics of Black separatism has, from the time of its origin, stemmed from efforts to establish a Black patriarchal order that could stand in opposition to racist institutions and practices that strip the Black man of the patriarchal status enjoyed by white men. I argue that Morrison's novel exposes this causal relationship between patriarchal culture and Black separatism and the way that it generates within Black nationalist ideology a tendency to hijack, obscure, or even eliminate racial solidarity efforts that are more intersectional, inclusive, and democratic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]