LEOPOLD SENGHOR HAS DEFENDED his theory of negritude for over four decades on basis that it restores human dignity of blacks and that it encourages them to define their own destiny. From very beginning Senghor found himself entangled in concept and question of race, which remain linked to negritude until today. Jean-Paul Sartre used term antiracist racism to characterize an attitude of defiance against and separation from values of whites in early works of negritude poets.1 Senghor rejected term but could not prevent its subsequent reappearance in discussions of negritude poetry, including his own. The charge of racism, i.e., of a discriminatory exclusion of or separation from white world, was leveled again in a broader context against Senghor's entire theoretical system of negritude by charging that negritude simply reverses practice of separation by whites.2 Sartre had also recognized a Hegelian dialectic between white supremacy (thesis) and negritude (antithesis).3 Thus critical charge against negritude is obviously one of reverse racism. In following article, examination of two major aspects of Senghor's negritude will show that only one component of that ideology possessed inherently racist traits. That component, however, lost its significance with disappearance of historical circumstances to which it was tied. The bulk of article will concentrate on Senghor's use of race vocabulary and ensuing confusion or misuse of term itself over several decades. It is through uncovering misguided use of that emotionally charged term, ,albeit unintentional and in line with reigning prejudice of times and/or political expedience, that new insight into Senghor's reverse racism can be gained. Sartre himself distinguished two components of negritude, an objective and a subjective one.4 Objective negritude comprises the mores, arts, songs and dances of African populations.5 Subjective negritude is individual's way of absorbing, accepting and dealing with that particular culture. Leopold Senghor outlined a similar position at Colloque sur la Negritude in Dakar, 1971: (1) negritude