It's you and me (black)

The question of racial parity in conducting research.

Abstract

This work explores the intersections in the research process involving the researcher and participants, focusing on racial parity, where both are Black individuals. Based on a research report, which was conducted through semi-structured interviews with Black professionals from the Psychosocial Care Network in a northeastern state of Brazil, four interviews were carried out, facilitating reflections on the act of conducting research itself. Some findings highlighted the silencing of racial violence against Black professionals and, more centrally to this study, the difficulty these professionals face in finding space to understand the challenging situations experienced at work, underscoring the importance of the interview and racial parity. It is suggested to expand investigations on the relevance of racial parity in research across various fields, such as Social Sciences and Public Health, as well as to explore researchers' perceptions of conducting studies considering other social markers such as gender and class. This work aims to contribute to the debate on decolonial epistemologies and the inclusion of Black perspectives in the production of scientific knowledge.