1. REPRESENTING REM STUDENT LIFE IN ACADEMIA
Kayanne Klipka
University of Denver, Spring 2017
Introduction
Racial and ethnic minority (REM)students are historically underrepresented in academic library and archival collections (Brook et al., 2015)
For an institution to preserve a more complete institutional memory REM student perspectives need to continually be considered
REM students’ perspectives should be preserved through sustained relationships between librarians/archivists and REM student groups and students
Frameworks
Critlib acknowledges that US libraries operate and reinforce oppressive systems and seeks to dismantle those systems through theoretical discourse and practice
This research was a critlib literature analysis using a Critical Race Theory lens
Critical race theory recognizes that racism is endemic to American life and that race has contributed to group advantage and disadvantage (Lynn & Parker, 2002)
Critical Race Theory applied to the academic archives seek to uncover the prevalent racial bias present in the record creation, structure, evaluation, and use as a token of institutional memory (Dunbar, 2006)
Library as a counter-space
The academic library and archives serve as a branch of historically hegemonic institutions (Whitmire, 2004)
Libraries can serve as “counter-spaces” which challenge tenets of Whiteness by centering voices, stories, and experiences of REM students (Whitmire, 2004)
Counter-spaces actively combat racism and White supremacy (Delgado, 1989, Delgado & Stefancic, 2001)
In order to be counter-spaces, libraries need to understand the real needs of REM students
Understanding user needs requires relationships with REM communities and cultural responsiveness (Adkins & Hussey, 2006)
Dismantling objectivity
“neutrality upholds inequality and represents indifference to the marginalization of members of our community” (Farkas, 2017, p. 70)
Neutrality, or objectivity, is a tenet of Whiteness
That is, failing to acknowledge the effect of a researcher, educator, or librarian’s perspective reinforces colorblindness; in this colorblindness Whiteness is held as normative
If Whiteness is considered neutral and objective, any perspective outside of Whiteness is automatically non-normative
Libraries and archives cannot truly be inclusive spaces by perpetuating Whiteness as neutrality
To truly be inclusive of REM voices and experiences, libraries and archives need to reject Whiteness as neutral and instead actively pursue REM records and perspectives (Dunbar, 2006)
Researcher positionality
In continuing to dismantle objectivity, it is important that I recognize my own identity
I approach this research as a queer, mixed-race, White, female-read Chicanx
As a white-presenting person, I benefit from systems of White supremacy in ways that my non-white family members do not
I approach this research at the intersection of my own privilege and ethnic identity
Recommendations
In order to collect student records representing minoritized students, librarians need to build relationships with all kinds of student organizations including organizations devoted to specific racial, ethnic, and social identities
Consider adding more informal tags to catalog, such as #blacklivesmatter so that objects are not confined to LCSH descriptor such as “African-Americans” (Brook et al., 2015, Drabinski, 2013)
Librarians and archivists need to serve as advocates and protectors of information that may not be considered “normative”
Seek records and stories of REM students not only amidst community struggle
Conclusion
REM students deserve to have their voices and experiences preserved as a central part of an academic institution's collective memory
For the library to serve as a counter-space requires continual critical self work and evaluation to ensure the library is striving to dismantle, instead of perpetuate, systems of White Supremacy
References
“about / join the discussion” (n.d.). Retrieved from
Adkins, D., & Hussey, L. (2006). The Library in the Lives of Latino College Students. The Library Quarterly, 76(4),
Brook, F., Ellenwood, D., & Lazzaro, A. E. (2015). In pursuit of antiracist social justice: Denaturalizing whiteness in the academic library. Library Trends, 64(2),
Buchanan, S., & Richardson, K. (2012). Representation through documentation: acquiring student and campus life records through the bruin archives project. The American Archivist, 75(1),
Drabinski, E. (2013). Queering the catalog: Queer theory and the politics of correction. The Library Quarterly, 83(2)
Delgado, R. (1989). Storytelling for oppositionists and others: A plea for narrative. Michigan Law Review, 87(8), 2411–2441.
Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (2001). Critical race theory: An introduction. New York: New York University Press.
Dunbar, A. W. (2006). Introducing critical race theory to archival discourse: getting the conversation started. Archival Science, 6(1),
Farkas, M. (2017). Never neutral. American Libraries, 48(1),
Galvan, A. (2015). Soliciting Performance, Hiding Bias: Whiteness and Librarianship. In the Library with the Lead Pipe. Retrieved from
Parker, L., & Lynn, M. (2002). What’s race got to do with it? Critical Race Theory’s conflicts with and connections to qualitative research methodology and epistemology. Qualitative Inquiry, 8(1),
Wakimoto, D. K., Bruce, C., & Partridge, H. (2013). Archivist as activist: lessons from three queer community archives in California. Archival Science, 1-24.
Whitmire, E. (2004). The campus racial climate and undergraduates' perceptions of the academic library. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 4(3),
Copyright Colin Purrington (