Black Feminist Epistemology or Bust: Challenging White Masculinist Thought-Models in Scientific Inquiry
Further, the social sciences has yet to stop perpetuating negative stereotypes of Black women, such as the infamous “welfare queen” (Hill-Collins, 2000, p. 255). In realist attempts to attain a mind-independent truth through objective scientific inquiry, overarching methodologies and methods within the social sciences seek to “ . . . slice up reality, to eliminate it freeze it, or to dominate it . . . ” (Wright, 1997, p. 67). Consequently, since there is an emphasis on abstract thought, meaning becomes abstract, as it is separated from the historical sociocultural context in which it makes sense. Again the goal is objective generalizations and theoretical testing in discovering the truth. According to Wright (1997) “[t]his [is] an inadequate way to relate to reality, in terms of apprehending, participating, evaluating, or understanding reality or what is real” (Wright, p. 133). There is a big difference between how Black women in America understand their lived experience as single mothers and how the social sciences analyzes and captures that same reality (Hill-Collins, 2000, p. 255). But this difference, while not understandable, at least is offered some further explanation.
Historically, Black women were seen as utterly unsuitable for science and only became an object of inquiry after 1970 (Hill-Collins, 2000, p.256). Accordingly, the knowledge base in sociology, in particular, taps into make sense of Black women is not reflective of any progression in scientific methods or theory. Thus, whatever social scientists were utilizing to understand Black women had to be based on highly biased stereotypes, which must still have an influence. Moreover, this long absence underscores a trend in viewing Black women as inconsequential, not worth of study. Their experience serves no purpose in dominant thought-models.