










































INVITED COMMENTARY 
 

 

 

Hypothesis 
Vol. 32 No.1  

Fall/Winter 2020 

Message of Solidarity to Research Community Members 
 
Alexander J. Carroll, MSLS, AHIP 
Librarian for Stem Research  
Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries 
Vanderbilt University 
Nashville, Tennessee  
 
Dear Research Caucus Community Members, 
 
As the Chair of the Research Caucus, I want to express my solidarity and love for our 
black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) library community members. I can only 
imagine the pain, trauma, and exhaustion that you have been experiencing as you have 
seen the images of anti-black violence perpetrated across the United States over the 
last week. 
 
The horrifying and heartbreaking images that we have seen across the country reflect 
the systemic racial inequalities that have been a pervasive and persistent aspect of the 
United States since its founding, and indeed preceding even that. As medical librarians, 
it’s critical that we recognize that libraries are not immune from the systemic inequities 
that permeate our society; rather, libraries often reflect and reinforce those inequitable 
values through our systems, spaces, collections, budgets, and through the makeup of 
our staff.  
 
For white members of our Research Caucus community who have found the images of 
police brutality shocking, I would urge you to spend some time listening to our BIPOC 
colleagues. While seeing this violence up close may be news to many of us, it is not 
news to our BIPOC colleagues. For members of our community who seek to criticize the 
ongoing protests against police violence rather than criticizing the over-aggressive 
policing that has led to protests, I would encourage you to read Dr. Martin Luther King 
Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” Written just over 57 years ago, Dr. King’s words 
remain as convicting as ever:  
 

“First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely 
disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable 
conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is 
not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, 
who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace 
which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of 
justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot 
agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can 

https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html
https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html


INVITED COMMENTARY 
 

 

 

Hypothesis 
Vol. 32 No.1  

Fall/Winter 2020 

set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of 
time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient 
season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than 
absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much 
more bewildering than outright rejection. 
 
I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist 
for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they 
become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I 
had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in 
the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative 
peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive 
and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human 
personality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the 
creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is 
already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. 
Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be 
opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must 
be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human 
conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.” 

 
For those of us seeking to learn more about how we can get involved in anti-racism 
work, I would encourage you to explore some of the resources highlighted in the 
following lists:  
 

• “Disrupting Whiteness in Libraries and Librarianship: A Reading List,” a curated 
list of LIS scholarship via the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries: 
https://www.library.wisc.edu/gwslibrarian/bibliographies/disrupting-whiteness-in-
libraries/  

• “Anti-Racism Resources for all ages,” a curated reading list developed by Nicole 
Cooke, the Augusta Baker Chair in Childhood Literacy at the University of South 
Carolina School of Library and Information Science: 
https://padlet.com/nicolethelibrarian/nbasekqoazt336co 

• “Anti-Racist Reading List from Ibram X. Kendi” (via the Chicago Public Library): 
https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/204842963/1357692923 

• we here’s “Anti-racism resources for white people”: 
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BRlF2_zhNe86SGgHa6-VlBO-
QgirITwCTugSfKie5Fs/preview?pru=AAABcoT0otc*qOQtmQ_BIbDNBDzIoyfD-g 

 

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https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.library.wisc.edu%2Fgwslibrarian%2Fbibliographies%2Fdisrupting-whiteness-in-libraries%2F&data=02%7C01%7Calexander.j.carroll%40vanderbilt.edu%7C20e4aad8890b484b194808d8070a4ca5%7Cba5a7f39e3be4ab3b45067fa80faecad%7C0%7C0%7C637267088102501188&sdata=Wuig9dbFoLILtPXMnLEEJzRgoKlvIGOjXwqmm5ahjPg%3D&reserved=0
https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpadlet.com%2Fnicolethelibrarian%2Fnbasekqoazt336co&data=02%7C01%7Calexander.j.carroll%40vanderbilt.edu%7C20e4aad8890b484b194808d8070a4ca5%7Cba5a7f39e3be4ab3b45067fa80faecad%7C0%7C0%7C637267088102501188&sdata=u%2FVbaQf7BABeJ5%2FbbQzFVdBIH%2BMyW52RA1fPjixuYEk%3D&reserved=0
https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchipublib.bibliocommons.com%2Flist%2Fshare%2F204842963%2F1357692923&data=02%7C01%7Calexander.j.carroll%40vanderbilt.edu%7C20e4aad8890b484b194808d8070a4ca5%7Cba5a7f39e3be4ab3b45067fa80faecad%7C0%7C0%7C637267088102511185&sdata=ITwQ1VPNOL5dLYDEUZCPtf9408V61Yp4OuyTOYkZemU%3D&reserved=0
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BRlF2_zhNe86SGgHa6-VlBO-QgirITwCTugSfKie5Fs/preview?pru=AAABcoT0otc*qOQtmQ_BIbDNBDzIoyfD-g
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BRlF2_zhNe86SGgHa6-VlBO-QgirITwCTugSfKie5Fs/preview?pru=AAABcoT0otc*qOQtmQ_BIbDNBDzIoyfD-g


INVITED COMMENTARY 
 

 

 

Hypothesis 
Vol. 32 No.1  

Fall/Winter 2020 

However, listening and educating ourselves is not enough. Speaking out about systemic 
racism only during widespread anti-black violence like we’ve seen over the last week is 
not enough, either.  
 
The Research Caucus’ role is to encourage MLA members to use research to answer 
the questions that matter. As members of the Research Caucus, I encourage each of 
you to consider asking questions about systemic inequities within medical libraries. How 
do our systems and services reflect and reinforce systemic inequality, and what can we 
do to reform those systems to create more equitable libraries, institutions, and 
communities? These questions are challenging; asking them will require courage and 
will lead to discomfort. But if we want to live up to the spirit of “I Am MLA,” which MLA 
Past President Beverly Murphy describes as “the collective understanding…that it is up 
to us, as members and as volunteers, to do what needs to be done for our association,” 
we must rise to meet that challenge. 
 
Sincerely, 
Alexander J. Carroll, MSLS, AHIP 
MLA Research Caucus Chair 2020-2021 


