Icons and Idols: An Augustinian Reflection on Race, Racism, and Antiracism – Prof. Kevin Kambo

Prof. Kevin Kambo reflects on race, racism, and antiracism through Augustine, showing how modern racial categories operate as idolatrous myths born of the lust to dominate and calling listeners to see others instead as icons of God rather than instruments of civic or ideological projects.This lecture was given on October 24th, 2025, at St. Joseph’s Church in Greenwich Village.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.About the Speakers:Kevin M. Kambo is an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Dallas in Irving, TX. Before completing his doctoral studies at the Catholic University of America, he earned a bachelor of science in Chemistry at Stanford University and worked as an intellectual property paralegal in Manhattan, NY. Dr. Kambo specialises in classical Greek philosophy, particularly on Platonic moral psychology and on the dramatic elements of Platonic dialogues. He also works on the reception of Platonic thought through history, from late antique (e.g., in Clement of Alexandria and Augustine of Hippo) through contemporary (e.g., W. E. B. Du Bois and Simone Weil) thinkers, and has broader scholarly interests in philosophy of technology, philosophy and literature (especially tragedy), philosophy of race, and liberal education. He is a partisan of the original Star Wars trilogy, P. G. Wodehouse, and receiving postcards--not necessarily in that order.Keywords: Augustinianism, Critique of Racism, Domination, Icons and Idols, Imago Dei and Race, Libido Dominandi, Modern Antiracism, Noble Lie, Race, Racial Categories, Slavery, Social Myth, Violence