Back in the 80’s,
when I was a Professor of Education at Georgia Southern University, my research
centered on the teacher shortage that was prevalent at that time. And I also studied various subgroups (related
to subject areas, ethnicity, gender, and more) as this connected to the broader
category. I became particularly
interested in the shortage of African American teachers because their numbers
were dropping dramatically. My research
partner (who was also white) and I did both quantitative and qualitative studies
examining this problem. We found some
interesting information. But that’s not
the point of this posting. Like most
academicians, we presented our research at a variety of conferences. And when folks would look in the room and see
two white folks at the front preparing to present, some would walk out and say
they had the wrong room. Then they would
come back in and ASK – "Is this the presentation on African American teacher
shortage?" Both black and white
academicians had a difficult time seeing two white folks presenting on this
topic. Some even felt that it was
inappropriate – that we were stepping in to access areas of research that
should have been designated and “saved” for African American scholars. I worried that I was overstepping in some
way, and invited an African American colleague to join us in presenting at
future conferences. REALLY. She wasn’t even that interested. But I wanted us to appear credible. Then at some point, I thought that our work
was ready for publication. I wanted to
publish in a journal with national access, because this was a national
problem. And I thought the problem and
our findings were broader than just education, so I wanted to publish in a
journal with a broader readership. I
decided to submit the work to the Urban League Review, a scholarly journal
published by the National Urban League, whose mission is “to enable African
Americans to secure economic self-reliance, parity, power and civil rights.” Now I could have shared with them that I was
a white ally researching problems related to the African American teacher
shortage. But I did not. I was afraid that the editors might have the
same biases that some attending my presentations had. I
wanted not just a blind review – but a color blind review. They accepted the article and published
it. I was delighted, but always felt
that I may have been somewhat deceptive.
I knew that they probably assumed I was black. Most of the folks researching topics like
this were. And I did nothing to let them
know anything different than that. Now I
did not purposely tan my skin and kink my hair to get this article
published. So I’m not comparing what I
did with Rachel’s very obvious deception.
However, I am admitting that I probably profited (not financially of
course) from not fully disclosing my identity.
And I realized that this is not the only time. For years, I closeted my religious beliefs
for greater acceptance in my community.
And I’ve ALSO researched, presented, and published articles related to
LGBTQ concerns without “outing” myself as someone in a mixed gender
relationship. SO – this is my
confession! And I’m asking you, the
reader, have you EVER misrepresented some aspect of your identity or hidden it
for some reason? Probably so. And if that is the case, I suppose we need to
be a little more humble in our attacks on others.