The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
Health Educ Behav. 2021 Jun;48(3):237-249. doi: 10.1177/10901981211007402.
Audre Lorde's provocative admonishment, "The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house," is a fitting caution for Black and other scholars of color who seek to use traditional social and behavioral sciences research as a tool to achieve social justice and health equity in Black communities. Invoking Lorde, I use the "master's tools" as a metaphor for conventional theoretical and methodological approaches and "dismantle the master's house" as a metaphor for intersectional structures and systems of oppression that created and sustain health inequity in U.S. Black communities. Using a blend of personal narrative and insights from a 23-year career as a Black critical health equity researcher, I share 10 critical lessons for Black and other health equity researchers of color. And because the personal typically reflects the structural, I recommend system and structural-level mitigation strategies for departments, universities, extramural institutions (e.g., journals), and the government, for each critical lesson.
奥尔德雷德(Audre Lorde)的那句发人深省的警句——“主人的工具永远无法拆除主人的房子”,对于那些试图将传统的社会和行为科学研究作为工具,以实现黑人群体的社会正义和健康公平的黑人和其他有色人种学者来说,是一个恰当的警告。援引奥尔德雷德的话,我将“主人的工具”比喻为传统的理论和方法方法,将“拆除主人的房子”比喻为造成和维持美国黑人群体健康不平等的交叉结构和压迫制度。我结合个人叙述和 23 年的黑人关键健康公平研究员的职业见解,分享了 10 条针对黑人及其他有色人种健康公平研究员的关键经验教训。由于个人通常反映了结构,因此我为每个关键经验教训,为部门、大学、校外机构(例如,期刊)和政府,推荐了系统和结构层面的缓解策略。