ΘΕΜΑΤΙΚΗ ΠΥΛΗ

Racial microaggressions are subtle, derogatory messages conveyed to people of color. While often delivered unconsciously, these persistent and pervasive negative messages can have devastating effects on individuals and organizations. In an effort to investigate academic librarians’ experiences and observations of racial microaggressions, a survey was sent to three ACRL listservs in the spring of 2012.

The strength of every nation lies in its people. In America, that strength can be found in the rich cultural heritage of a diverse nation. Unfortunately, diversity does not permeate all facets of life–specifically in academia and its libraries. The question continues to be asked: where are all of the academic librarians of color? For the ones who are tenured or who are seeking tenure, how can they be retained within the ranks of academia?

Despite antidiscrimination legislation and affirmative action, faculty of color1 remain significantly underrepresented in higher education. When present, they often occupy less prestigious positions and have less than optimal conditions for service in terms of workload and pay (Allen, Epps, Guillory, Suh, & Bonous-Hammarth, 2000; Allen et al., 2002; Astin, Antonio, Cress, & Astin, 1997; Blackwell, 1981; Villalpando & Delgado Bernal, 2002).

This paper traces the published literature on whiteness in libraries, identifying major themes in that literature, and then highlights the importance of decentering whiteness for moving the information professions forward. Engaging a dialogic ethnographic methodology, this paper was borne of conversations between librarians of color who worked in the same predominantly white library. The salient themes from those dialogues were the many ways that adherence to whiteness in libraries has had deleterious affective and career implications for librarians of color.