  Research framed around issues of diversity and representation is often
controversial. The question of what constitutes a valid critique of such
research, or the appropriate manner of airing such a critique, thus has a heavy
ideological and political subtext. Here we outline an attempt to comment on a
paper recently published in the research journal $\mathit{Physical}$
$\mathit{Review}$ - $\mathit{Physics}$ $\mathit{Education}$ $\mathit{Research}$
(PRPER). The article in question claimed to find evidence of 'whiteness' in
introductory physics from analysis of a six-minute video. We argue that even if
one accepts the rather tenuous proposition that 'whiteness' is sufficiently
well defined to observe, the study lacks the proper controls, checks, and
methodology to allow for confirmation or disconfirmation of the authors'
interpretation of the data. The authors of the whiteness study, however, make
the stunning claim that their study cannot be judged by standards common in
science. We summarize our written critique and its fate, along with a brief
description of its genesis as a response to an article in which senior officers
of the American Physical Society (which publishes PRPER) explained that the
appropriate venue for addressing issues with the paper at hand is via normal
editorial processes.
