Read on Twitter
Quote tweeting this into a mini thread because it’s worth sharing with the TL. You shouldn’t fear critiquing a study publicly. It’s part of scientific discourse. How u do it is key (grace?), & do you only do it/are you more likely when it’s a study abt health inequities? 1/5 https://twitter.com/vprasadmdmph/status/1296156538134913025
Saying you’re afraid of critiquing a study abt health disparities is really loaded. Unpack that. I know everyone is afraid of getting “cancelled” but what does that say abt one’s assumptions about scholars and advocates of racial equity (and Black people, POC?) Sit with that 2/5
And if you’re afraid of critiquing a paper bc you think you’ll get called racist, why you do think that? Seriously. Sit with *that.* Up until this moment, did you ever do/say anything that suggested that you are even remotely invested in addressing racism & anti-Blackness? 3/5
and lastly, do you have the standing to critique said paper? As in, are you just agreeing with someone else’s thought, or did you sit with the paper, analyze it deeply? Are you familiar with the background literature? The theories that may/should inform the methods? 4/5
I can almost guarantee you health equity scholars will take feedback/critique earnestly if it’s delivered gracefully, from a genuine, not malignant place. speaking specifically of Black ppl, we don’t bite. Yet ppl always express being intimidated. Stop that. It’s tired. 5/5
One last thing. People who are “afraid” of sharing critiques. Maybe consider that not everyone of your critiques is that original anyway and other ppl (better situated!) may have expressed them already. Practice turning your tongue 7 times before speaking, you will be okay.
If the only time you consider explicitly discussing racial inequities on twitter is to criticize a study about racial inequities, in the middle of a pandemic killing Black ppl over twice as much as White ppl, on day 70 of anti racist police brutality protests, maybe don’t.
This for instance, is not a graceful critique. I wouldn’t engage. But some ppl might cuss you out if you said their work was a waste of time publicly. Also the hubris of offering a review as a non-neonatologist. Lol. This is what I mean: are u best situated to offer critiques?
