In this article the insider-outsider debate is used to explore the contradictions and responsibilities faced by a black researcher working in black and minority ethnic communities. Situations in which the tensions of ethnically focused qualitative research are shared by all researchers, irrespective of ethnicity, and those in which the issues are magnified or different for the black researcher are explored. Laura Serrant-Green discusses notions of identity based around one socially determined characteristic (ethnicity). She also examines issues from the black researcher’s perspective and concludes by asking all researchers to reflect on their own position in the research process, particularly in research into race and ethnicity