Colorblind Racism as News

• In Event: 050 - Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Paper Session. The Mechanisms of Color-Blind Racism

Abstract

In the recent past many scholars have worked to elucidate the pervasiveness of colorblind racism across different social spheres. Yet, less attention has been given to how this pervasiveness is accomplished. Since no single social sphere or institution is responsible for the (re)production of colorblind racism it is important to examine how different institutions contribute to this (re)production. This research examines how the US news media, specifically CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, the New York Times, USA Today, and others covered four 2013 stories dealing with race and racism: 1) Sebastien de la Cruz singing the national anthem at the 2013 NBA Finals 2) Asiana Airlines flight 214 fake pilot names 3) Miss America 2014 winner Nina Davuluri 4) the Paula Deen lawsuit. In general I find that regardless of the story covered and where the coverage is coming from, the continuing significance of and systemic nature of racism is downplayed. More specifically, the coverage of these stories, on all networks and newspapers, evokes the minimization of racism frame and to a lesser extent the abstract liberalism frame outlined in Racism without Racists. This coverage demonstrates the (re)production of colorblind racism. Given that each network and newspaper examined has established online and offline audiences/readers in the millions, it is plausible for this and similar news coverage to encourage and reinforce color blind racism among individuals in this country.

Author

• Jorge Ballinas, Temple University