The Black Caucus of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) was founded in 1973 to address concerns about the portrayal of Black children in scientific research, the lack of participation of ethnic minority members in the governance structure of SRCD, and the perceived need for a mutual support system for minority scholars aspiring to productive careers in the child development field. In this monograph, early members of the Caucus describe its history through the first 25 years, 1973-97, in 15 chapters distributed among sections on Caucus history, teaching and mentoring, publications and research-related issues, and supportive academic institutions. The volume celebrates the accomplishments of the Caucus while also revisiting challenges that have arisen both internally and through membership in the SRCD parent organization. Key thematic issues include: cultural deficit versus cultural difference; linkages between poverty, race, and empowerment; advocacy versus objectivity in scientific research; and how the cultural or racial identity of the researcher informs scientific knowledge.
The collaborations of Caucus members and others in SRCD modified the lens through which children of racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds are portrayed in the scientific literature.
About the Author: Ura Jean Oyemade Bailey, Graduate Professor of Human Development
and Director of the Center for Drug Abuse Research, Howard University.
Geraldine Kearse Brookins, President of Changing Dynamics, Jackson,
Mississippi, and past Director of the Merrill-Palmer Institute, Wayne State
University.
Grace Carroll, Education Consultant based in Oakland, California.
Aline M. Garrett, Retired Professor and Head, Psychology Department,
University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Sandra Graham, Professor, Department of Education, UCLA.
John W. Hagen, Executive Officer, Society for Research in Child
Development.
Algea O. Harrison-Hale, Professor of Psychology, Oakland University.
John P. Jackson, Jr., Assistant Professor, Department of Communication,
University of Colorado, Boulder.
Deborah J. Johnson, Professor of Family and Child Ecology, Michigan State
University.
Velma LaPoint, Professor of Human Development and Psychoeducational
Studies, School of Education, Howard University.
Harriette Pipes McAdoo, University Distinguished Professor, Department
of Family and Child Ecology, Michigan State University.
Vonnie C. McLoyd, Professor of Psychology and Senior Research Scientist
at the Center for Developmental Science, University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill.
Suzanne M. Randolph, Associate Professor, Department of Family Studies,
University of Maryland, College Park.
Diana T. Slaughter-Defoe, Constance E. Clayton Professor in Urban
Education, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania.
Margaret Beale Spencer, Board of Overseers Professor of Applied
Psychology and Human Development, University of Pennsylvania.
Veronica G. Thomas, Professor, Department of Human Development and
Psychoeducational Studies, School of Education, Howard University.
ValoraWashington, Professor and Director of Center for Children, Families
and Public Policy, Lesley University.
Trellis Waxler, Retired Education Specialist for the Head Start Bureau,
Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services.
Melvin Wilson, Professor of Psychology, University of Virginia,
Charlottesville.
