Critical Discourse on Multiculturalism and Libraries

Pawley, C. (2006, April). Unequal Legacies: Race and Multiculturalism in the LIS Curriculum. The Library Quarterly, 76(2), 149-168. Retrieved September 19, 2011, from JSTOR.

This article brought to light a few different ideas on race and multiculturalism in libraries. One idea by Lorna Peterson, stated that using the terms multiculturalism and diversity for every difference between people whether it's racial difference or not, is unfair. Not only unfair, but it is a nicer term for library professions to use that doesn't really challenge them to face the racial issues. Peterson suggests that libraries should use these terms to only speak about different races.

Another idea was by Blaise Cronin, who thought that differences in race shouldn't even been addressed. This idea I think is ridiculous. Our differences is what makes our country strong. We can have all these differences and still work together. For the diversity that we have now, even if it is small, it makes the library profession stronger as well. Why would we ignore this strength? And how can we use this to the full extent if we don't recognize it?

The author states, "I contend that substituting multiculturalism and diversity for race allows the library community to evade confronting racism as - still - a defining dimension of American society and, in this way, helps perpetuate it" (Pawley, 2006, p. 153). I agree with this to an extent, but as I'm white my fear in talking about race is that I will offend someone of a different race.

I think that Pawley has a point, to really face racial issues and embrace different races in the profession, we have to be able to freely talk about it. This will take some teaching to both whites and non-whites. I say non-whites, because they need to know that freely talking about race will happen and they can't be offended by it. This will help whites to know that it is safe to talk. On the flip side, whites also need to be aware that non-whites will be freely talking and they can't get offended either. Pawley's article is a great starting point to start the conversations needed to make changes.

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Lewis, A. E. (2004, December). "What Group?" Studying Whites and Whiteness in the Era of "Color-Blindness". Sociological Theory, 22(4), 623-646. Retrieved September 19, 2011, from JSTOR.

This was an interesting article, which starts out with a claim that when thinking about race, people need to consider white as a group. I don't know how many conversations I've had about race, but I don't think white ever comes up as group. For example when I signed up for this class about multicultural services, I am not thinking about services to white patrons. Somewhere along the lines race became a term that describe minorities. To fully discuss race, whites need to included as a group. Which has got me thinking how would this mindset change how libraries serve patrons? How could this change their groupings in their collection?

There was one part of this article that really caught my attention. The author says, "Although numerous all-white groups are not explicitly racial, their racial composition is not an accident but it is a result of white' status as members of a passive social collectivity whose lives are shaped at least in part by the racialized social system in which they live and operate", (Lewis, 2004, p. 627). The author then goes on to state "the racial composition of all white settings...can be an outcome of long histories of racial exclusion, even if those discriminatory policies are not pursued activity or aggressively today". (Lewis, 2004, p. 627).

In the previous post I reflect on an article titled, Diversity, Inclusion, and Underrepresented Populations in LIS Research, in which the author states that the LIS profession is not diverse. The above statement made me think of that. Perhaps the reason why the profession is not diverse is because of the long history of the library profession? Although some professions may have merged into non-white dominated since the Civil Rights movement, perhaps this is one area libraries are lagging behind?

The question in my mind then becomes, why is that? As the statement said, it can still be white dominated, even if the discriminatory policies are not in effect. I think the LIS profession as a whole is not discriminatory against other races joining. However I do have some first hand experience that the south is still not over the past and so I could see different races not going down this path simply because that is not the way things are done. I think some further research is needed (if it has not already been done) to figure out why non-white races do not going into the profession and what they view libraries as. This would help those already in the profession to figure out how to draw in more diversity.