‘Whitey on the Moon’: Space, Race, and the Crisis of Black Mobility

Abstract

Spectacular Cold War images of space travel drew on and renovated a constellation of meanings associated with mobility that inform US national identity, including celebratory narratives of continental exploration, limitless possibility, and freedom. Critics drew on the symbolism of the moon landing to question US national priorities and narratives of progress. This chapter situates such lunar criticism within the context of urban crisis and shifting terms of antiracism. Loyd analyzes the work of Gil Scott-Heron whose poem ‘Whitey on the Moon’ delivers a radical antiracist critique of the US space program that ties otherworldly investments to ongoing histories of Black forced im/mobility and immiseration. The chapter concludes by exploring how Scott-Heron’s race-radical vision offers insights into contemporary mobilizations f or mobility justice.