Disrupting apartheid of knowledge: testimonio as methodology in Latina/o critical race research in education

Abstract

This article utilizes a Latina/o critical race theory (LatCrit) framework to disrupt a narrowly defined process of knowledge production in academia, informed by Eurocentric epistemologies and specific ideological beliefs. This process has created an apartheid of knowledge in academia. Disrupting this apartheid allows critical race researchers to move forward in developing methodologies that can be used in anti‐racist social justice research. This article describes the use of testimonio as methodology in a LatCrit research study. This conceptual piece will describe how theory, methodology, and epistemology led to the development, collection, and analysis of 40 testimonio interviews with undocumented and US‐born Chicana college students. Specific methodological strategies for employing testimonio in LatCrit research are also provided.

Keywords:

• Latina/o critical race theory
• critical race methodology
• testimonio

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the women collaborators of this study for sharing their testimonios. She would also like to thank her mentor and advisor, Dr Daniel Solórzano, professor of social science and comparative education at UCLA for his feedback and support. She would also like to thank the following scholars for their feedback on earlier versions of this article: Dr Dolores Calderon, assistant professor of education, culture and society at the University of Utah, and Dr Ryan Gildersleeve, assistant professor in educational leadership and policy Studies at Iowa State University and especially, Dr Rebeca Burciaga, postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Davis Center for Regional Change, who several years ago first introduced the author to testimonio in educational research.

Notes

1. The term, ‘Communities of Color’ is intentionally capitalized, rejecting the standard grammatical norm. Capitalization is as a grammatical move toward empowerment and social/racial justice. This rule will also apply to the terms ‘People of Color,’ ‘Students of Color,’ ‘Women of Color,’ and ‘Scholars of Color’ throughout the article.

2. Daniel Solórzano (1998) explains that racial microaggressions are covert, subtle, and sometimes unconscious verbal and non‐verbal racist attacks directed at People of Color, which are so common, they often go unnoticed and unchallenged. These attacks are cumulative and can cause serious psychological and physiological stress.

3. The meaning of white supremacy in this article goes beyond overt acts of racism and includes the subtle ways whiteness is deemed superior through the acceptance of a racial hierarchy, where whites are consistently ranked above People of Color. This includes the normalization and perceived superiority of Eurocentric beliefs, values, and worldviews.

4. Cienfuegos and Monelli are Chilean psychologists who published under these pseudonyms to protect their identities while conducting research on the use of testimonio in therapeutic settings to help victims of political repression. Because of the dangerous political situation taking place at the time in their country, they did not use their true names, which are now known as Elizabeth Lira and Eugenia Weinstein (see Booker 2002).

5. Psychology scholars Angueira (1988), Booker (2002), and Cienfuegos and Monelli (1983) use testimonio in a therapeutic environment to treat patients who have experienced traumatic life events such as rape and torture.

6. In this article, I use the term ‘witness’ to describe the person who is providing their testimonio.

7. Providing one's testimonio, telling of a collective story.

8. Delgado Bernal (2002) describes critical race‐gendered epistemologies as systems of knowledge that emerge from the experiences of People of Color at the intersections of racism, sexism, classism, and other forms of oppression.

9. See Maxwell 1996.

10. Perhaps the most infamous debate is around the testimonio of Rigoberta Menchú as documented in the book, I, Rigoberta Menchú: An Indian Woman in Guatemala (1984). In this work, Menchú delivers her own testimonio to Venezuelan anthropologist Elisabeth Burgos‐Debray, describing the violence and death she survived as an indigenous Guatemalan woman during horrific civil war, and how she became an active leader in the struggle for human rights in her country. In 1999, American anthropologist David Stoll published I, Rigoberta Menchú and the Story of All Poor Guatemalans (Stoll 1999) which sought to challenge the validity of Menchú's experiences and discredit her testimonio, falling just short of explicitly calling her a liar and accusing her of supporting the guerilla warfare that violently killed so many innocent Guatemalan people. Although never resolved, this debate made clear the perceived threat in recognizing an indigenous woman's knowledge as truth.