White people in North America live in a social environment that protects and insulates them from race-based stress. This insulated environment of racial protection builds white expectations for racial comfort while at the same time lowering the ability to tolerate racial stress, leading to what I refer to as White Fragility. White Fragility is a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves.
This essay discusses a number of identity issues related to what people of color experience in American society, with a particular focus on Derrick Bell's concept of racial realism. Although this concept could be considered very pessimistic, the paper discusses how it really permits people of color the freedom to work from a platform of self-empowerment.
This study is designed to investigate the status of African American male library administrators who occupy administrative positions in academic and public libraries. African American male library administrators have distinctive demographic characteristics, educational backgrounds, professional characteristics, career patterns, and perceptions. A total of sixty-five African American male administrators were identified and mailed questionnaires. Race was identified in previous studies as a perceived barrier to professional advancement.
The author examines her journey before and as she pursued tenure and promotion in the academy. She argues that the path to tenure and promotion in higher education institutions was not one designed to provide a fair and equitable process for Black female faculty who function as academic librarians. Further, she suggests that librarians in this role are marginalized due to two factors-presumed incompetence based on their gender and/or race, and their ambiguous fit among the disciplines within the academy.
The persistence of systemic and individual racism both within society and higher education influences the behavior and attitudes of librarians of color and their white colleagues. Racism, prejudice and discrimination in academe often have a direct impact on the recruitment and retention of African American librarians and other librarians of color. Issues of job satisfaction and initiatives for constructing an environment conducive to racial and ethnic inclusion within academe are addressed.
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.
This study broadly examines factors impacting work-life experiences oflibrary faculty of color within the framework of tenure policies and pro-cesses. An online survey was sent out to academic librarians of colorto gauge perceptions of tenure and promotion policies and processes,professional activities and productivity, organizational climate and culture,and job satisfaction and retention. Results of the survey showed mixedfindings regarding the impact of race on the tenure and promotion pro-cess.
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?
A growing body of research demonstrates that many college environments present challenges for black professors, particularly as they face institutional and personal racism. While scholars have linked these experiences to their attrition, this qualitative study explores black professors’ larger range of responses to difficult professional environments. Twenty-eight black professors employed at two large public research universities participated in this study.
