Behind the Veil: Unmasking Anti-Blackness in Presidential Discourse and Responses to Racialized Incidents

• In Event: Equitable Education Systems and Organizational Discourses

Abstract

The discourse of university presidents in the wake of racialized incidents continues to be a pressing issue for higher education. Presidential discourse displays how their rhetoric can harm those who experience racialized incidents, such as Black students. We sought to examine the variation of discourse that a president uses to respond to racialized incidents through this critical discourse analysis. Explicitly, as issues of anti-blackness continue to be at an all-time high within colleges and universities, we sought to highlight how the president’s discourse reinforces anti-blackness narratives that perpetuate systemic racism. Through our work, we center critical race theory and anti-blackness as theoretical framing to name the ways that campus leaders, especially presidents, wrestle with acknowledging race and racism.

Authors

• Kaleb L. Briscoe, Mississippi State University

• Veronica Jones Baldwin, University of North Texas