Black Male Fungibility: Genre, Desire, and the Dehumanization of Black Men

ABSTRACT

This article argues for applying the concept of “fungibility”—the condition of being interchangeable, accumulable and disposable—specifically to the historical and contemporary dehumanization of Black men. Critiquing the predominant focus on female captivity in Black feminist theorizing, we contend that Black male fungibility was central to the slave economy, particularly through the homoerotic rituals of the slave market. Drawing on Black Male Studies, Sylvia Wynter, and afropessimism, the paper demonstrates how Black masculinity was constructed as a distinct “genre” of being to serve white libidinal and consumptive desires. This framework reveals the continuity between the historical production of Black male disposability and its modern manifestations in culture and spectacle.