The White credibility Paradigm and the silencing of Global South scholars

A peer reviewer once told me, “You need to cite the right scholars,” without specifying who those scholars were or why. This article argues that such moments are symptoms of the White Credibility Paradigm (WCP): a systemic process through which White, Western scholars are granted greater intellectual authority than Global South counterparts because of racial, colonial, and imperial hierarchies embedded in academia. Drawing on thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews and observational fieldwork with 25 minoritized women scholars and scholar-practitioners in U.S. higher education, the article identifies three mechanisms through which the WCP operates: the delegitimization of Global South knowledge and lived experience; conditional validation requiring White endorsement; and epistemic gatekeeping through publishing, peer review, and citation practices. These mechanisms produce silencing, professional dependency, and epistemic violence, particularly for women experiencing intersecting racism, sexism, and xenophobia. Grounded in decolonial theory, critical race theory, and feminist epistemology, the WCP offers a framework for advancing epistemic justice.