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Multicultural Science Education pp 11–28Cite as

The Systematic Misuse of Science

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Abstract

This chapter provides information useful for effectively confronting the negative stereotypes within the halls of higher education that distribute assertions of inadequacy and also declarations of entitlement. The ultimate goal is to shed light on this climate, the infrastructure that currently exists, and to ultimately show that this infrastructure is a major contributor to the lack of participation by African Americans in scientific fields. This chapter traces historically the idea of perceived racial inferiority in regard to African Americans and how that label has inhibited the full participation or inclusion of African Americans in science and other human endeavors. This chapter focuses on the historical and political underpinnings of the misuse of science and how that misuse has influenced modern conceptions of African Americans, specifically, the discriminatory ideologies that framed science in regard to African Americans, the conceptions that resulted from these foundational ideologies, and the subtleties embedded within the present infrastructure of society that are the residuals of these ideologies.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Education, University of South Alabama, UCOM 3100, Mobile, AL, 36688-0002, USA

    André M. Green

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  1. André M. Green
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Correspondence to André M. Green .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics and Science Education, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA

    Mary M. Atwater

  2. Department of Curriculum and Teaching, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA

    Melody Russell

  3. Univeristy of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA

    Malcolm B. Butler

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Green, A.M. (2014). The Systematic Misuse of Science. In: Atwater, M., Russell, M., Butler, M. (eds) Multicultural Science Education. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7651-7_2

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