Researcher Identity, Epistemological Standpoints, and Documenting Southern African American Educational History

• In Event: A “Sankofa” Dialogue: Southeastern Scholars Collaborate on Research Focused on African American Education in the U.S. South

Abstract

Objectives: This paper examines the role of researcher identity in documenting southern African American educational history. The objectives are: 1) to discuss researcher identity in documenting southern African American educational history; 2) to prompt discussion on the need to reconceptualize researcher identity.

Theoretical framework: Scholars have long debated the merits of the insider/outsider standpoint in oral history (Thompson, 2000). Insider status raises questions about objectivity; outsider status fosters concerns about exploitive relationships between researcher and subject (Frisch, 1990, Wheeler, 2004). The role of insider/outsider standpoint within African American studies focuses on how White supremacy shapes the epistemological standpoints of African American and white researchers, making the latter a problematic interpreter of African American narratives (Merton, 1972; Thomson, 1999; Naples, 2002). Others have challenged the usefulness of the insider/outsider binary (Narayan, 1997; Naples, 2003; Wheeler, 2005).

Following Narayan (2003), we question the insider/outsider binary while examining the role of identity in gaining access and collaborating with alumni and educators of historically Black schools in Florida, where both authors independently led oral history projects. Utilizing Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Critical Race Feminism (CRF), the authors describe their professional challenges with marginalization resulting from insider/outsider status, internalized feelings of discomfort, stress and silence. CRT and CRF challenge a Eurocentric epistemological stance by acknowledging the value of the knowledge people of color utilize to critique “mainstream” approaches (Delgado Bernal & Villapando, 2002). Therefore, we do not argue adherence to objectivity will resolve these tensions as we affirm the notion that white privilege shapes scholars’ epistemological standpoints and status within academe.

Modes of inquiry: This paper is based on the authors’ reflections conducting oral history interviews with educators and alumni of historically Black schools in Florida. One author, an African American female, is finalizing a project documenting the social-cultural experience of alumni of Florida A & M University (FAMU). As part of this study, the author attended alumni meetings and conducted 20 oral histories with alumni, administrators, and community activists. The other author, a White female, conducted 30 oral history interviews with alumni, educators, and community leaders connected with two historically Black high schools in Tampa.

Data sources: The authors analyzed field notes resulting from their independent research process. These data were compared and contrasted to explore how identity shaped access and building collaborative relations.

Substantiated conclusions/point of view: The findings confirm the fluidity and impermanence of insider/outsider status. For example, one researcher, who, as an African American, may have been positioned as an insider, faced hurdles gaining access to leaders because she was not a FAMU alumnus. While the White female researcher’s identity made interviewees less open to talk about White racism, their shared southern heritage became a bridge for discussing segregation. This analysis reveals access and collaboration were constantly changing thus achieving “partial insider” status was never permanent (Wheeler, 2005).

Scholarly significance: This paper will stimulate discourse around the need to reconceptualize researcher identity and to raise questions about the epistemological standpoints of scholars studying southern African American educational history.

Authors

• Deirdre Cobb-Roberts, University of South Florida

• Barbara Joseph Shircliffe, University of South Florida