Changing Tides: A Critical Reflection on Neutrality and Antiracism in LIS

ABSTRACT

Neutrality in librarianship is a nonsensical concept that libraries of all kinds (e.g., public, academic, special, etc.) should not strive to embody in any shape or form. The following paper investigates the intricate relationships between neutrality and racism as they are demonstrated by tangible and intangible forms in library and information science (LIS) spaces. Ian Williams’ book chapter, “More Than Half of Americans Can’t Swim”, from his book, Disorientation: Being Black in the World (2021), is utilized to critically reflect on Blackness as identity and some ways in which antiracist practices clash with neutrality within LIS spaces. I conclude with urgent reminders of how detrimental neutrality can be if it is not thoroughly rooted out and supplanted with antiracist practices that the LIS field is in dire need of.

KEYWORDS:

• Antiracist practices
• neutrality
• racialized peoples
• librarianship
• race
• diversity

Acknowledgments

This article was originally written as a short paper for the course LIS 9160: Anti-Racism in Library and Information Science taught by Instructor Amber Matthews in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies (FIMS) department at Western University. The author sincerely thanks Instructor Matthews for her guidance, support, and passion while teaching throughout the semester and many thanks for her encouragement during the period of preparation for this work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Ian Williams, “More Than Half of Americans Can’t Swim,” in Disorientation: Being Black in the World (New York, NY: Europa Editions, 2021), 16.

2. Ania Loomba, Colonialism/Postcolonialism (New York, NY: Routledge, 2015), 37.

3. Ian Williams, Disorientation: Being Black in the World, 16.

4. David J. Hudson, “On “Diversity” as Anti-Racism in Library and Information Studies: A Critique,” Journal of Critical Library and Information Studies 1, no. 1 (2017): 1–36, https://doi.org/10.24242/jclis.v1i1.6.

5. Ian Williams, Disorientation: Being Black in the World, 19.

6. Ibid.

7. Ibid.

8. Black Panther, directed by Ryan Coogler (2018; Burbank, CA: Marvel Studios, 2018), DVD.

9. Ian Williams, Disorientation: Being Black in the World, 32.

10. Ibid., 28.