Race, Knowledge Construction, and Education in the USA: Lessons from history

The article uses examples of research, books and reports on race and ethnic groups published between 1911 and 2000 to document how the knowledge created by social scientists, historians and public intellectuals reflects their social and cultural contexts as well as their political and economic interests. Because of variations in their socialization and epistemological communities, researchers develop competing paradigms and explanations in each historical period. Most of those that become institutionalized reinforce a society's prevailing ideologies and social arrangements. Transformative knowledge usually originates within racial and cultural communities outside the mainstream. Although it is often marginalized and made invisible within the dominant society, transformative knowledge--when combined with action--helps to democratize society and its institutions. Consequently, it is an essential part of the curriculum in the schools, colleges, and universities in democratic, pluralistic nation states.