Navigating Research Agendas Centered on Black Life in the Academy

• In Event: Navigating the Politics of Retrenchment in Higher Education: Four Senior Scholars Reflect B(l)ack

Abstract

The excerpt guiding this reflection is “Because antidiscrimination law contains both the expansive and the restrictive view, equality of opportunity can refer to either. This uncertainty means that the society's adoption of racial equality rhetoric does not itself entail a commitment to end racial inequality” (Crenshaw, p. 1346). In the current anti-DEI movement, efforts specifically designed to diminish DEI, rely on misinterpreting and twisting the language typically used to uphold these values. Patton Davis 2024 explained, “Those most opposed to DEI initiatives engage in language maneuvering to (mis)treat them as a single entity, rather than multiple entities designed to address real issues on campuses including racism, gender bias, hate crimes, physical violence, student isolation, and affordability, to name a few (p. 14). As a result, DEI efforts are positioned as discriminatory attacks, primarily against White people (Contreras, 2025). This misappropriation of language purposefully presents DEI as restrictive, despite its expansive nature. For example, scholars who center Black experiences in their research could have their research called into question because their focus on Black student experiences, for example, is interpreted as being too narrow and exclusive. Similar notions of exclusivity have also been lodged against initiatives such as Black culture centers well before this current era of retrenchment. Opponents contend these centers are exclusive and unwelcoming to White students (Patton, 2006). Such efforts along with many other DEI initiatives like multicultural affairs offices and women’s and gender centers, have been on the chopping block at institutions, particularly those in Texas, Florida, Idaho, and other conservative majority states that have passed anti-DEI legislation (Alfonseca, 2024; Alonso, 2025; Tanner, 2024). Beyond affecting programmatic efforts, anti-DEI legislation is taking its toll on the work of researchers across the country, who are conducting pivotal studies that have implications for the educational, social, and physical well-being of minoritized groups. Most notably, the Trump administration stripped critical grant funding needed to initiate and continue research. Similarly, the Department of Education has issued guidance, laced with anti-DEI rhetoric, prompting institutions to cut academic programs and courses perceived as discriminatory (toward white people) per the guidance (Miller & Rabin, 2025; Owermohle et al., 2025; Trainor, 2025). How should the current generation of early career scholars navigate this moment, particularly those with research and teaching agendas centered on Black life in the academy and other equity-focused topics, if such topics are perceived as both promoting DEI and discriminating against white people?

Author

• Lori Patton Davis, University of California, Los Angeles