Critical Racism Studies is the future of the science of race, ethnicity, and nation, and its referendum for transformative social change. Studies within this tradition — previously what I have conceptualized as “critical studies of race and racism” — center racism in scientific theory, design, and analysis. Instead of looking at the constructs of race, ethnicity, and nation as distinct and, even, incongruent or their distinctiveness as inconsequential, critical studies of race and racism look at how data can differentiate how racism is a structural cause that demands a structural solution.
I believe that data can be a tool for justice in this right. Responsible training in the collection, use, and application of data can offer more ways for the tools of science to be leveraged for more than their “master’s” delusions — bad or good. The study of racism through the practice of radical Black feminist thought and theory can expand the evidence that science can bring to communities that are hyper-marginalized by racial, ethnic, and class oppression. The whole of my scientific endeavors has been geared under this assumption. The functions of the Critical Racism Data Lab is aimed at this purpose.
In the first of three lectures for the 2019 Hubert Blalock Lecture Series — “The Promise of Nested Modules for Critical Studies of Race and Racism”, I discussed a unique conceptualization of racism to make sense of how researchers approach the scientific method when studying race, ethnicity, nation, and its intersections with many forms of social marginalization. I see this type of conceptualization can be helpful in allowing a new generation of researchers — in and outside the academy — to differentiate how aspects of prior research can be leveraged for their own sake, instead of for the intentions and goals of their “masters”. I believe it also can be used to make sense of ways to further the research agendas of the new state of science — for instance, how scientists have isolated advances in the theory, methods, and measurement of structural racism to advance research on health and society (Wien, Miller, and Kramer 2023).
Critical Racism Studies incorporates research that:
- Holds central the role of racism in social categorization and social inequality
- Explicitly names racism as a theoretical tool to understand a phenomenon
- Operationalizes racism in empirical models
The Critical Racism Data Lab embraces research within this tradition, regardless of form.
The Critical Racism Data Lab is currently located at Tarbutton Hall 104.