“The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House”: Ten Critical Lessons for Black and Other Health Equity Researchers of Color

• Published in: Health education & behavior Vol. 48; no. 3; pp. 237 - 249
• Main Author: Bowleg, Lisa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-06-2021; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Activism; African American Organizations; African Americans; Behavioral sciences; Black people; Careers; Change Strategies; Color; Community Organizations; Dismantling; Fairness; Health disparities; Institutional Cooperation; Intersectionality; Medical Research; Mitigation; Narratives; Oppression; Public Health; Qualitative Research; Racial Bias; Research Methodology; Researchers; Resistance (Psychology); Social Justice; Social Science Research; population groups; social determinants of health; health disparities; qualitative methods; health equity; Black; African American; race/ethnicity
• ISSN: 1090-1981; 1552-6127
• 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.