Free Write with Quotes on "Disrupting Apartheid Of Knowledge..." (MWP3 #5)

            The article “Disrupting Apartheid Of Knowledge: Testimonio As Methodology In Latina/O Critical Race Research In Education” by Lindsay Huber claims that the current system of research in colleges is racist and closed-minded. She argues that “Eurocentric epistemological perspectives that have shaped academic research perpetuate dominant ideologies rooted in white superiority that function to subjugate research that challenges, counters or disrupts the mainstream,” where epistemological relates to the philosophy of human knowledge (Huber 641). This claim is very evident, especially when current ‘accepted’ research blames the culture of minorities for lesser education when this is ultimately the furthering of the racism involved in the current accepted ‘legitimate’ research. Essentially, this article describes the rejection of the status quo of current research methods by using a method called ‘Testimonio,’ which utilizes personal accounts of things. Huber applies this to Critical Race Theory because “the process of testimonio builds from the lived experiences of People of Color to document and theorize oppression” and this documentation of current racism and a lack of a colorblind society is the prime claim of Critical Race Theory (Huber 645). This method of ‘testimonio’ gives great primary source information about racism, but is not considered a ‘legitimate’ method of research. This article attempts to show the benefits of this method and how the claims of it not being ‘legitimate’ are simply due to the paradigm of research which is centrally racist.

Huber, Lindsay Pérez. "Disrupting Apartheid Of Knowledge: Testimonio As Methodology In Latina/O Critical Race Research In Education." International Journal Of Qualitative Studies In Education (QSE) 22.6 (2009): 639-654. Academic Search Premier. Web. 13 Apr. 2012.