Antiracist scholars emotionally resist evidence of racism among the oppressed

Evidence

Burdick’s statement hints that it may not only be difficult in a cognitive sense but emotionally as well. “There is much left out of the view that all is resistance. The poor and oppressed sometimes say things… that are embarrassing to an ideology that prizes agency and collective action” (Burdick, 1998b: 11-12; our emphasis). Thus it would appear that the recent antiracist research, with its intensified focus on “the oppressed,” is requiring scholars to come to terms with some fundamental assumptions and emotional investments about racial subalterns and the foundations of white supremacy. We should, then, probably not be surprised to find that a number of antiracists are avoiding, however unwittingly, the racism of people of color. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 3653

Categorization

• SEED: An essay on bias in social-movement research — what evidence scholars habitually look away from because it embarrasses their ideology.