Analysis Of The Article Racialized Discourses And Ethnic...

For this week’s reading, we read the article â€Å"Racialized Discourses and Ethnic Epistemologies† by Gloria Ladson-Billings. The main purpose of this reading is to argue that â€Å"there are well-developed system of knowledge, or epistemologies, that stand in contrast to the dominant Euro-American epistemology.† (Denzin and Lincoln P. 399) The author started out the article by arguing the importance of national and racial consciousness. Author Billings pointed out that the Europeans view that the individual’s mind is the origin of knowledge and presence. On the other hand, the African word â€Å"Ubuntu† means â€Å"I am because we are.† This shows that the African thinks that the idea of humanity is very important and everyone should be treated fairly no matter what racial and ethnic background they are from. These two ideas came out in the mid to late 1960’s, the two different point of views clear choice between hegemony and liberat ion. Comparing these two various perspectives shows that this is a critical case. Moving on, the author explained that the concept of epistemology is a â€Å"system of knowing† instead of simply â€Å"way of knowing†. Epistemology include both inner logic and outer validity. Author Billings explained this by describing the difference between â€Å"literature† and â€Å"folklore†. The literatures written by the minorities are very likely to be identified as the â€Å"folklore† category as they are always seen to be less talented than the whites, and the society naturally downgrade their