Adding, Not the Same as Including: Making Family Research Relevant for All by Gonzalo Bacigalupe (2012) in The Family Psychologist, 28(1), 12-14
As a researcher that holds a strong allegiance to a non-dominant group, I have had the opportunity to become a member of the privileged. However, I am often reminded that I am truly not a part of the ruling class. Despite being a highly educated tenured faculty member, I can still be a subaltern—the other. Every now and then, a university adjunct professor will automatically assume that I am one of the cleaning staff and will address me as such if I speak Spanish with the Dominican janitor who picks up the trash every evening at my office. In the struggle with marginalization, as one of the few professors in my college who can claim a similar heritage to the janitor (although he cannot claim some of my privileges), I am often compelled to name reality, to deconstruct it, and to be attentive to what is silencing the vulnerable. Being a subaltern, therefore, makes me particularly aware of institutionalized “isms” and being able to see what is generally invisible to the privileged is nothing less than a privilege too. It teaches me to pay attention to how stereotypes define people and how institutionalized racism continues to play a role in educational and healthcare institutions.
Filed under: Community, Family, Psychology, Research, Transnational
