Throughout February, we celebrate Black History Month and the many struggles and accomplishments of Black individuals in America. Several of our outstanding faculty at Michigan State are a part of research surrounding racial and ethnic identity and its relationship to various societal issues. Dr. Monique Kelly, an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, is one such researcher. As a scholar of racial dynamics involving individuals of Anglophone [English-speaking] Caribbean descent, and having been born and raised in Jamaica herself, she brings valuable insight into the unique experiences of this group.
Kelly spent the first 18 years of her life in Kingston, Jamaica before she moved to the United States to attend college, motivated by a family that valued and instilled in her a passion for academic excellence and education. During this time she became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Early in her first semester of undergrad and leaning towards majoring in psychology, she was approached by her future mentor, Dr. Ruth Greene. Greene taught a statistics class and was seeking student researchers to assist with a project. “At that point I didn’t even know what research was,” Kelly said. “I just heard I could get paid!”
And while she was indeed paid for her efforts, she also discovered a great passion for psychological and sociological research. Green helped her apply for her first research internships and eventually graduate school to continue her studies.
It was while in graduate school that Kelly began to narrow in on her research interests. She originally focused on the immigrant experience, particularly for first generation Black Caribbean individuals and their children, and eventually turned toward the racialization process and the various ways in which race can be perceived or interpreted, and the many ways in which this can impact socioeconomic situations.
Racialization is the process in which we define a group of people by their race, based on stereotypes or predetermined beliefs based on social constructs, and how this relates to their position in society. Race is oftentimes used to hierarchize individuals in society and can create a variety of barriers to access, advantage and opportunity. “When someone says they are white, or Asian, or Black, there are certain perceived concepts attached to those meanings, and we have certain perceptions about what that says about them; their wealth, their upbringing, what subjects they might be best at,” Kelly explained.
The majority of Kelly’s work focuses on the Caribbean, and how places like Jamaica have their own struggles with racialization and colorism. “A lot of published research [on racialization] is more US-centered or focused on much larger countries, but there’s more than just the US’s way of thinking, there’s the rest of the world and how these things may impact these individuals,” she said.
Kelly explains that there is plenty of anecdotal information on the experiences of this group, but not as much empirical research, and the rest of society may not realize just how prominent issues surrounding racial inequality may be in these countries. “You may think of majority African countries as this sort of Utopia, where issues of race and skin color don’t matter, but that’s not necessarily true,” she added. “As a developing country, I think it’s important to think about how actively colonialism and enslavement still impacts social outcomes for individuals in the country, how they are categorized, and ways in which equity can actually be achieved.”
One example is the practice of skin-lightening, and the societal standards that give privilege to lighter-skinned individuals, leading to the idea that someone would need to be lighter-skinned in order to succeed.
Kelly brought her scholarly experience to MSU in 2019. She had been on the hunt for a postdoctoral program and was looking into schools that offered plenty of the resources necessary for someone to succeed in furthering their research. She applied and was accepted into the Dean’s Research Associate Program (DRAP) and was transitioned into the tenure system as an Assistant Professor in 2021. She teaches a variety of sociology courses focusing on social inequality, race and ethnicity, structural inequality, and social identity.
“One of the things that I love about teaching is when students tell you that their first time learning or hearing about something is in my class,” she said. “Also, having students express gratitude for showing certain materials in class that allow me to validate their experiences or aspirations.” She gives an example based on a TED Talk she once showed in class, discussing the ways in which race may impact health or a doctor’s perception of a patient’s pain. After the video played, one student thanked her for showing the video, saying that it helped validate her chosen career path of attending medical school. “Students also say that my classes have increased their interest in sociology and led them to change their major or minor,” she added.
Kelly also loves Michigan State for its “physically beautiful” campus and the support networks she has been a part of during her time here. Being involved in the future faculty program like DRAP and the Diversity Research Network have given her “A supportive space to find fellow scholars, other minoritized scholars, who really support you.”
The field of sociology can often seem broad when it comes to discussions about society as a whole and our many differences. But, Kelly says, it’s important to pay attention to global issues that are affecting all of us, even if we may not see any direct impact in our lives right away. Kelly also stresses the importance of not just thinking about the potential consequences we may see emerge from social issues such as immigration, racial equality and access to healthcare and education, but the root causes behind them.
“The only way to effect change or improve your social condition in any important way, you need to think about what is actually causing some of these issues, and not just being reactive to what’s happening on the surface,” Kelly explained. “In those ways, sociology is important in order to understand how our whole society functions, and understanding the concept of power and how that can equate to social change, because everyone wants a better life for themselves and their family.”
In the same vein of mobility and enacting social change, Kelly brought up the value that can come from amplifying the voices of all citizens of the United States. Diverse voices can make all of us more well-rounded individuals and cause us to think differently about some of these issues our society is facing. Black History Month is an important reminder to continue these efforts.
“Especially in terms of what we expect college students to know how to do, such as think critically, the only way they can do this is if they’re exposed to numerous voices and viewpoints outside of their own personal experiences and point of view,” Kelly said. “And if we are thinking about being an educated populace, it is always beneficial to have access to these voices, these stories, these narratives. If you want to be an advanced society, you need to listen to all the voices that have something to share.”
Honorees’ views are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the College of Social Science.