Critical Race Theory Epistemology

Epistemology looks at how one knows reality, the method for knowing the nature of reality, or how one comes to know reality. It is the relationship between the knower and the known. For scientists, the way of knowing reality is via the scientific method. For social researchers, like those working from the critical race theory, the way of knowing reality is by asking about it (i.e., via experience stories). The critical race theory acknowledges an interactive relationship between the researcher and participants as well as between the participants and their stories. Within this world view, people's stories of their experiences are counted as empirical evidence, as fact. This paradigm disagrees with the assumption that narratives from the disenfranchised are biased and subjective. Stories, experiences, and voices are the mediums through which we know reality. Critical race theorists argue that only by looking at the stories and having access to the "experiential knowledge" of those who have been victimized by racial inequities can we understand the "socially ingrained" and "systemic forces at work in their oppression".