Ethnic Studies 301: Critical Race Theory

News Sources

The sources above represent what could be considered mainstream news sources. The way that communities of color discuss a topic may differ than these sources. Ethnic NewsWatch is a database of articles taken fom the ethnic press from around the United States. You may want to contrast what you find in the sources above, with the articles you find in Ethnic NewsWatch.

Scholars research and write about a huge variety of issues related to race. It's important to consider the following when searching for or using scholarly sources

• While most scholars try to be aware of their biases, scholarly research still reflects the positionality of it's authors.
• The community of scholars across fields is still lacking in diversity - is it getting better? Sure, but there's still work to do. 
• These factors can contribute to gaps in the literature. If you are not finding anything on your topic, what does that mean?

The organization of scholarly information can also reflect structures of power in the information landscape

• Pay attention to terms that come up when you are searching. This is particularly evident in the terms that are used to describe ethnic groups (hispanic, latino, latinX). Sometimes you are forced to use terms that you consider innaccurate or even offensive in order to find sources.
• The above can be true with books which receive "subject headings" that are designed to bring together all books on a particular topic. These are often not reflective of current or preferred use.