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THREAD: Timely, urgent, & informative essay from @blacklikewho in the @globeandmail yesterday: "Data or politics? Why the answer still remains political". Please retweet & share #RaceBasedData 1/7 https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-data-or-politics-why-the-answer-still-remains-political/
@blacklikewho outlines the historical & ongoing gaps between race-based data collection & any meaningful policymaking changes that would benefit the lives of researched communities. #RaceBasedData 2/7
Race-based data collection isn't new. Data from the legal, education, healthcare systems, & more exists. There is abundant evidence around who is being failed by these systems. For Black communities the history of data collection "is a difficult and tortuous one". 3/7
The professional researchers calling for race-based data are perpetuating half-truths about what this data can do for researched communities--while these researchers inflate their relevance, vie for awards, professional accolades, academic publications & power. #RaceBasedData 4/7
Further, proponents of #RaceBasedData curiously skirt the issues of our inadequate (i.e. nearly non-existent) privacy laws, the lack of external accountability to researched communities, & the reality that they cannot control how this data will be used after their studies end 5/7
@blacklikewho ends this piece by making 6 recommendations "to stem the parasitic tide of research extraction from marginalized and vulnerable communities while the issues affecting those communities continue unabated". 6/7
Lastly, thank you @blacklikewho for the mention of #REDE4BlackLives' work on our community research protocol, that "take[s] the research relationship between communities and professional researchers seriously". #RaceBasedData 7/7
