Moving from the Margins: Life Histories on Transforming the Study of Racism

By Margaret L. Andersen and Maxine Baca Zinn

At a time when movements for racial justice are front and center in U.S. national politics, this book provides essential new understanding to the study of race, its influence on people's lives, and what we can do to address the persistent and foundational American problem of systemic racism. Knowledge about race and racism changes as social and historical conditions evolve, as different generations of scholars experience unique societal conditions, and as new voices from those who have previously been kept at the margins have challenged us to reconceive our thinking about race and ethnicity. In this collection of essays by prominent sociologists whose work has transformed the understanding of race and ethnicity, each reflects on their career and how their personal experiences have shaped their contribution to understanding racism, both in scholarly and public debate.

Merging biography, memoir, and sociohistorical analysis, these essays provide vital insight into the influence of race on people's perspectives and opportunities both inside and outside of academia, and how racial inequality is felt, experienced, and confronted.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stanford University Press
• Release date: Jan 23, 2024
• ISBN: 9781503637436

Book preview

LIFE HISTORIES ON TRANSFORMING THE STUDY OF RACISM

AN INTRODUCTION

MARGARET L. ANDERSEN AND MAXINE BACA ZINN

THE CLASSIC SOCIOLOGIST C. Wright Mills defined the central task of sociology as grasping history and biography and the relations between the two. As Mills writes, No social study that does not come back to the problems of biography, of history, and of their intersections within a society has completed its intellectual journey.¹ Mills was writing about comprehending the whole of society through the lens of individual biography, but his insight also applies to how the sociological imagination emerges from the lived conditions of individual sociologists. The central tenet of the sociological imagination—that society and those within it must be understood in the context of particular social historical conditions and the biographical facts of people’s lives—drives this book.

Moving from the Margins: Life Histories on Transforming the Study of Racism is a collection of essays by prominent sociologists from different racial and ethnic backgrounds who reflect on how their personal experiences have shaped their contribution to the study of race and racism. Each contributor is a highly accomplished scholar whose life history teaches us exactly what Mills was imagining: one’s perspective on society is shaped by one’s lived experience. Beyond what Mills was imagining, though, this book also shows how learning about the different life experiences that happen within a system of racial inequity can change how we think about racial inequality in society. As a personal memoir, each essay included here is fascinating in its own right because of the different race, class, and gender backgrounds of these sociologists. The essays reveal the societal conditions that have personally influenced each of these scholars and how their intellectual journey into sociology has transformed thinking about race and racism.

Because our contributors are senior scholars within sociology, the conditions they faced as they came of age and into the academy are particular to their time. We learn from their accounts what structural impediments they encountered. Some of these structural impediments have changed over time, in no small part because of the transformative efforts of so many of these scholars, among others. Younger scholars who are coming along now may not face the same circumstances, but the contributors’ reflections show how people can challenge such obstacles and develop work that changes conditions for coming generations.

Autobiographical narratives such as these have often been used to connect individual lives with particular sociohistorical contexts. Sociologists’ life histories have also underscored the value of using biographies to examine the context of sociological theorizing.² Barbara Laslett and Barrie Thorne’s early (1997) collection of feminist life histories, for example, shows how life histories can trace the development of a field of study—in their case, feminist sociology. As they say, life histories have deep explanatory power, illustrating how events in people’s lives inform key developments and theoretical debates within a field of study. Because life histories are so personal, they are both moving and accessible to those who might not have the same experience. Life histories can reveal how personal experiences of inequality and lived identity shape people’s research.³

Earlier collections of sociologists’ life histories have not, however, focused on race—with two exceptions: an early collection by James Blackwell and Morris Janowitz that is a series of essays by notable twentieth-century Black sociologists, and John Stanfield’s 1993 book History of Race Relations Research.⁴ But because sociologists of color were too often overlooked in the post–World War II period Stanfield covers, contributors to his volume are primarily White men. Luckily, this omission is now being corrected, as in the recent volume by Marcus Hunter,⁵ where contemporary Black sociologists provide a series of essays examining the past, present, and future of Black thought within sociology. Such a volume is yet to be developed with regard to other people of color in sociology. We hope that the volume we have prepared will add to the understanding of how the lived experiences of a diverse group of sociological scholars have shaped sociological knowledge.

In the cases we include here, particular social supports have enabled each person’s success. In many of these cases, you would not likely have predicted such a high degree of accomplishment from the person’s early social and economic background. What does it take for someone to emerge from disadvantage to high achievement (named professorships in prestigious institutions, for example)? In every case included here, success comes from many factors, including individual sponsorship and mentoring; sometimes private, state, or federally based support programs and policies; the activism of racial and gender justice social movements; the formation of collective support networks; and, not to be overlooked, individual determination, a strong mind, and, sometimes, sheer good luck.

These essays show people succeeding against the odds even when confronted with racism, sexism, class inequality, and, in some cases, all three. Our hope, however, is that people will read each essay not just as an individually compelling story but, most importantly, as revealing how society can enable, not disable, success—particularly for those perhaps not otherwise situated to succeed.

Further, these life narratives are about more than individual success. They are also about how people who encounter the inequities of racism, often in very early childhood, bring new perspectives and new ways of thinking to our understanding of race and racism. In each of these essays is someone who has confronted the ongoing presence of racism in society—and sometimes class disadvantage, gender inequality, and antiethnic hatred as well. Every person included here has contributed new insights because of their particular social location. The understanding sociologists now have of race in society derives in large part from the life histories of these diverse people—along with others whom we could not include here. As we see it, a sociological perspective brought coherence to our contributors’ lives, but their lives and consequent perspectives have, at the same time, transformed sociology.

Long a defining trait of sociology as a discipline, the study of racial and ethnic inequality lies at the core of sociological thinking. Yet sociological perspectives on race and ethnicity are not static. Sociological knowledge itself changes as social and historical conditions evolve. As different generations of scholars face unique societal conditions and as diverse voices inform the analysis of racial inequality, sociological knowledge changes. And as those who have previously been excluded from sociology as a profession have entered the field, how sociologists think about race and ethnicity has changed—and will continue to do so. Simply put, as the work of those included here (along with others) shows, sociological scholarship on race has changed as more diverse people and their different experiences and perspectives have entered the academy. Without their voices, our view of racial inequality in society would be incomplete and wrong because of excluding the vantage point of those most likely to confront its harms.

We learn from these diverse essays how particular social-historical moments have been critical to these scholars’ intellectual contributions. We also learn what social structures and social supports have enabled their success. And these life narratives tell us much about how race—and sometimes the additional connections between race, class, and gender—influence people’s perspectives, opportunities, and challenges. Simply put, these people’s lives tell us a lot about how racial inequality is felt and experienced.

Of course, there are many other stellar sociologists, perhaps ones readers would expect to see, who could have been included in this book but are not here. Our contributors are only a few of those whose work has critically transformed the study of race. We could have brought in many more, but we had to make hard choices as we tried to include people who came from different racial, gender, and class backgrounds and who were available to write on our schedule.

Among those we have included are people whose primary scholarly work is about the social dynamics of race and racism. Some have also been founders of critical race theory and scholarship on what is now called intersectionality. We note that at the time most of these people were emerging within sociology, there was scant attention to the social dynamics of race and sexuality, except insofar as sexual stereotyping was interlaced with racial stereotypes. With the newer emergence of scholarship about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people, this omission is now being addressed. We look forward to seeing the further development of the study of race accordingly.

Finally, because we focused on sociologists, some people in other disciplines whose work is increasingly important in the study of race are not found here. They include people developing critical race theory within and outside sociology departments. Especially as scholars continue to encounter personal and intellectual impediments within traditional academic departments, the trend toward more interdisciplinary work and programs, such as ethnic studies, women and gender studies, and other relatively new sites where work on racism is flourishing, seems likely to continue. As that work emerges, it will likely continue to be inspired by the intellectual contributions of many of the people included here. We hope that, wherever readers are situated within the academy, they will find inspiration and motivation to proceed by reading these individual accounts.

We developed this book by asking our contributors to reflect on their intellectual journey, specifically how their life experiences have influenced their perspectives on race and racism. We asked each contributor to think about these questions:

1. What factors in your autobiographical experiences have influenced your work on racial inequality in sociology?

2. How have social structures affected your intellectual journey?

3. How have any or all of the following been part of your journey (emphasizing their intersectionality where you can): race, ethnicity, gender, social class, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, or other significant social locations?

We make no attempt here to summarize each of these essays because the authors speak so potently for themselves. The essays are interesting on their own terms. Yet certain themes resonate throughout, and we highlight some of them here.

LIVING RACE: EARLY MOMENTS OF AWAKENING

The life narratives published here vividly tell us how race is felt and experienced. Generally speaking, research on race does not tell us what race feels like, but these essays link objective events within the authors’ lives with the subjective experience of racism. Many of our contributors report early experiences—sometimes very early childhood experiences—that they still remember as strong racial blows. Aldon Morris, for example, recalls his experience as a six-year-old African American boy living in rural Mississippi in 1955 just a few miles from where fourteen-year-old Emmett Till, only fourteen years old, was brutally murdered. Morris relates how this singular event catalyzed his commitment to racial justice work. Enobong Hannah Branch vividly recalls an experience she had as an eight-year-old Black child when her middle-class family was turned away from a house they wanted to buy, solely because of racial discrimination. This experience confused her at the time, but it was the first to reveal the salience of racism in her life, and it later impelled some of her writing on Black women and racial injustice. Margaret Andersen, a White woman, recalls the sting of her grandmother’s rebuke when, as a young girl, she sat in the back of a city bus, thus violating the norms of Jim Crow Georgia. Similarly, Mary Romero, recollecting her early educational experiences as a Latina student, highlights the racial divisions in Denver when she was a young girl. As she writes, Early in life I learned that racial boundaries were important to know to avoid trouble.

Still sharp, these memories were moments of racial awakening. They show how feeling race, even in early childhood, fostered the sociological awareness these scholars now have. Put simply, encounters with racism have shaped the sociological work of every contributor here. Michael Omi is another example. Reflecting on his early experiences as an Asian American boy in racially segregated schools, he writes, I’m convinced that my early grade school experiences profoundly shaped my understanding of what race is, the social meanings we impart to it, and how race is both structured and lived. These early inchoate ideas about race would eventually coalesce and inform my subsequent work.

Early felt moments, though not understood in sociological terms at the time, can make you question otherwise taken-for-granted social realities. Feeling race roots the reality of racism in one’s inner life, although differently depending on one’s place in the racial system of inequality. For people of color the reality of race is felt every day. As Eduardo Bonilla-Silva writes, I have been feeling race all my life. I felt race long even before I knew what race was and long before I recognized myself as Black Puerto Rican.⁶ Little wonder that Bonilla-Silva has subsequently devoted much of his scholarship to theorizing the emotional power of race.

FINDING ONE’S WAY: THE IMPORTANCE OF SPONSORSHIP AND MENTORING

Sponsorship has been pivotal in all these intellectual journeys. A sponsor is a person who notices your talent—your promise, in other words—and introduces you to new possibilities for your life and career. A sponsor opens doors for you, perhaps ones you never even imagined. A sponsor might be a teacher, a coach, a peer, or even a relative.

Sponsorship can be direct, perhaps only a comment such as Maybe you should consider graduate school. Or it might be indirect, as in the experience of Denise Segura, who, as a Chicana undergraduate, was looking for affirmation of her interests, went to the library, and found a published article by a Chicana scholar. She then thought to herself, My God, a Chicana has written an article and it’s published! I could do that!

Sponsorship is especially important for people of color and women, who might otherwise be met with discouraging comments about their options. One example comes from Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, whose school counselor encouraged him to consider only physical education as a course of study. Another comes from Margaret Andersen, whose professor in a college honors calculus course told her, Girls just can’t do math. More positive sponsors can help overcome such disparagement.

Sponsorship has an enormous impact on one’s life chances. Especially for first-generation college students, sponsorship can open paths previously unconsidered, maybe even unknown. It is striking, for example, how often in these narratives someone suggested to a now-distinguished scholar that the person should consider graduate school and the person’s response was What’s that? Without sponsorship, someone whose family never attended college is likely to find the college admissions process quite mysterious and will then miss opportunities that would otherwise be available. Having basic information, along with the financial means to attend, is critical to college success. Sponsors can provide this opening.

Related to sponsorship is mentoring. Mentors provide intellectual and often personal support, while also giving information about career opportunities and possibly even financial assistance through such avenues as research assistantships or fellowships. Mentors open various doors that might otherwise be closed, and they can counter the negative and traumatic experiences that many scholars report here. A mentor is also someone, typically senior to you, with whom you can discuss your ideas. A good mentor will value your contribution instead of dismissing it—a phenomenon widely reported by women of color, who, when they express an interest in doing research about women of color, are too often told the topic is somehow trivial or unimportant. Almost all the contributors here write about how important mentoring has been in their academic development. Most name particular people who have had an enormous impact on them. We honor these mentors by dedicating this book to them.

In addition to sponsorship and mentoring, threaded throughout these narratives is the value of support programs in assisting and mentoring people. Support programs may be privately funded and federal policies, such as affirmative action and other equal-opportunity programs, but they can also be state and organizational policies that facilitate the inclusion of people of color and White women in higher education.

Many of the scholars included here have benefited from support programs—not because the person was somehow deficient, but because the program provided the resources (both formal and informal) that were otherwise lacking. As C. Matthew Snipp, who identifies as Oklahoma Cherokee and Choctaw, writes in acknowledging the critical role affirmative action played in his academic journey, I knew affirmative action had not written my papers or taken my exams. My grades had been weak my first year of college, and they were stellar by my senior year, but it was not affirmative action that had made them so. Likewise, affirmative action may have helped my admission to graduate school and provided me the funds to pursue a PhD, but affirmative action did not exempt me from withering reviews of my papers by professors or critiques by peers. Accounts such as Snipp’s not only dispel myths about affirmative action but also show how consequential support programs and policies are for creating more diverse pools of scholars.

Six of our fifteen contributors benefited from a specific support program—the American Sociological Minority Fellowship Program (MFP). This important program was the direct result of activism by Black sociologists and their allies. In 1968, Black sociologists demonstrated at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, demanding greater representation in all facets of this professional organization. After sometimes bitter debate within the association, and with the added support of Latina/o sociologists and others, the ASA created the Minority Fellowship Program in 1974 with funding from the National Institute of Mental Health.⁷ The impact of this program is enormous—not just because of the numbers served but also because of the intellectual growth, economic sustenance, and sense of community that the program has generated. Funding for the program now comes from private donations from individuals and sociological organizations.

Support programs such as the MFP reveal how frequently institutional support is lacking for people of color. In the absence of institutional support, people sometimes must create their own support systems—networks and groups to provide intellectual community and social-emotional support. As you will see, informal support communities have also been critical for most of these scholars.

For example, Chicana scholar Denise Segura writes about La Colectiva, a loosely formed support group organized by Chicana women graduate students at the University of California Berkeley in the 1980s when Segura was a graduate student. By creating La Colectiva, Chicana graduate student women found others who shared their research interests and who could then read and review each other’s work. The collective also engaged in collaborative studies on topics of interest to them, especially topics about Chicanas. Every one of the women in this informally generated group later achieved great distinction in her respective discipline, thus also bringing new and important scholarship about Chicanas to their different areas of study.

Similarly, as discussed by Bonnie Thornton Dill, three women at Memphis State University (Bonnie Thornton Dill, Lynn Weber, and Elizabeth Higginbotham) developed the Center for Research on Women to generate research on women of color, working-class women, and southern women.⁸ In this important collaboration between two African American women and one White woman, the Center ran workshops and retreats that became critical support networks for emerging scholars whose work centered on the connections among race, gender, and class inequality. Now institutionalized, the Center for Research on Women at Memphis State generated the sisterly support, critical thinking, and collaborative resources that facilitated academic development for many, including several of the authors included here as well as the two editors. Chicana scholar Maxine Baca Zinn writes, Whereas women of color across the country had previously worked mostly alone, many of us now worked collectively and began to form a national race/gender intellectual community. In sum, support programs are crucial because they can generate new scholarship, but they also meet social and emotional needs for people otherwise not well served by existing institutional structures.

MOBILIZATION AND ACTIVISM: THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

Another theme resonating in these essays is the influence of progressive social movements. Because many of our contributors were coming of age during the protests of the 1960s and 1970s, the mobilization of African Americans, Chicanos, Asian Americans, indigenous peoples, and women during this era was a critical part of the awakening of their sociological consciousness. Social movements speak to the injustices people see in their own lives, as several authors here recall. Many of our contributors especially note the influence of the Chicano Movement, the Black Protest Movement, and feminism on their academic journeys. Chicano scholar Rogelio Sáenz, for example, remembers four key events in the Chicano Movement in South Texas that stood out for him. Sáenz writes, I was greatly influenced by the courage coming from the Chicano Movement that raised our voices to protest the racism and discrimination that we experienced and called for improvements in the conditions of our people. With pride in our culture, language, and history, the Chicano Movement gave us hope for a better world.

Social movements catalyzed these authors’ political awareness but also inspired their sociological perspective. For these emerging scholars, the sociological perspective elucidated much of what they saw in their own lives. Further, social movement protests against institutional injustice synchronized with the analysis of social structure that sociology provided. Both social movements and sociology explained what they saw around them.

For example, as an undergraduate Chicana student, Denise Segura questioned why she saw Latinas on her campus working only as custodians, food servers, and housecleaners and not as faculty. She also knew that there were talented women in her own family but that they had not been given opportunities for education or white-collar jobs. As a sociology major, she learned to recognize institutional racism, sexism, and the importance of collective action. As was true for the others here, sociology became not just an intellectual passion but a means for social change.

The linkage between sociological scholarship and activism is thus another theme running throughout these essays. Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo describes for her own work an aim held by many Latina scholars: All of my research strives to hit a balance between sociological analysis and social advocacy, putting people’s lives and aspirations into broader macro contexts. Because of their commitment to activism, many of the authors here began their careers working in antipoverty projects, equal-opportunity and job-training programs, or immigrants’ rights organizations. Many also participated in the movement activities of the 1960s and early 1970s—Freedom Summer, the Farm Workers’ Strike, and other campus-based activist actions. Social activism fueled their interest and commitment to sociology because of sociology’s perspective on structural inequality—a point we return to in the final section of this introduction.

Along with the antiracist movements of the 1960s and 1970s, the feminist movement had a strong impact, notably for the women in this volume. Among these authors are some of the founders of intersectional thinking in sociology—that is, the recognition and analysis of how racial inequality is entangled with gender and class inequality. Each woman included here connects her life experiences to understanding how race, gender, and class are intertwined. In one case, Elizabeth Hordge-Freeman recalls how, as a young Black girl riding the bus to school, she witnessed a sexual assault against a Black woman. She says that back then she did not understand why seeing the indignity inflicted on the woman engendered such an intense emotion in her, but she was certain the beginnings of her Black feminist consciousness emerged at that very moment. As she writes, I felt exposed, bare, and embarrassed. Without knowing how I knew, I was certain that if she could be treated like this, then we (Black women) could all be treated this way.

Intersectional thinking for others came through seeing the inadequacy of existing intellectual frameworks to explain women’s place in society. One example is from Mary Romero, who describes her research on domestic work as shaped