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November 30, 2013

Black Scholars: Explaining Your Work May Mean Fighting For It

Noliwe Rooks:

"You have to be twice as good as them to get half of what they have." It's a line familiar to many African Americans, but when the political fixer Olivia Pope delivered it last month in an episode of ABC's Scandal, black Twitter and Facebook came to life anyway.

I couldn't help thinking that it was resonant for academics, too. It's not necessarily the case that "blackademics" have to put in twice as many hours of literal toil as others seeking promotion, tenure, and a successful academic career. But too often, we have to work twice as hard to convince powerful committee members that our scholarly work has value. This is especially true when our work touches on subjects that are controversial, challenge or--worse yet--almost completely foreign to those whose approval we need.

After almost 20 years in the highly racialized terrain of the academy, I know that support and consent are no small things. At most four-year institutions, fewer than 10 percent of professors are people of color, so when it comes to promotion and tenure, those professors aren't often in positions of authority. The problem this creates is clear: If we aren't able to convince the faculty powerbrokers we do have that the subjects we want to pursue, familiar or not, are worthy of support, we may not get as far down the road as we want to go.

Noliwe Rooks:

"You have to be twice as good as them to get half of what they have." It's a line familiar to many African Americans, but when the political fixer Olivia Pope delivered it last month in an episode of ABC's Scandal, black Twitter and Facebook came to life anyway.

I couldn't help thinking that it was resonant for academics, too. It's not necessarily the case that "blackademics" have to put in twice as many hours of literal toil as others seeking promotion, tenure, and a successful academic career. But too often, we have to work twice as hard to convince powerful committee members that our scholarly work has value. This is especially true when our work touches on subjects that are controversial, challenge or--worse yet--almost completely foreign to those whose approval we need.

After almost 20 years in the highly racialized terrain of the academy, I know that support and consent are no small things. At most four-year institutions, fewer than 10 percent of professors are people of color, so when it comes to promotion and tenure, those professors aren't often in positions of authority. The problem this creates is clear: If we aren't able to convince the faculty powerbrokers we do have that the subjects we want to pursue, familiar or not, are worthy of support, we may not get as far down the road as we want to go.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at November 30, 2013 12:21 AM
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