Racism and Communication

Manifestations of racism in communication have been studied in many disciplines, including anthropology, applied linguistics, communication studies, education, journalism, law, psychology, sociology, and more. Racism works to maintain hierarchies of power between groups of people characterized by perceived racial differences through acts and mechanisms of inferiorization, denigration, marginalization, and exclusion. Racism is embedded and reproduced in language, discourse, knowledge, social practices, and institutional structures. While racism is typically understood as individual indignities, which are often called racial microaggressions, it also takes the form of institutional racism, as seen in unequal access and representations within various social domains, including criminal justice, education, employment, entertainment, healthcare, housing, politics, and more. Additionally, epistemological racism, which is entrenched in our knowledge system as seen in school curricula or academic research, legitimates the perspectives derived from or produced by a certain racial group while marginalizing or erasing others. These forms of racism are intertwined, shaping people’s beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors in their everyday communicative experiences. In understanding racism, it is necessary to recognize intersectionality—a perspective that individual and group oppression cannot be explained solely in terms of race, but rather in combination with other identity categories, including gender, class, language, nationality, sexuality, religion, and (dis)ability. Just as racism has multiple meanings and manifestations, communication can be conceptualized in many ways. While communication can be broadly understood as conveying and interpreting meanings, it takes place in many forms through multiple means for various purposes in diverse contexts. People engage in communication using language and other semiotic resources, which can be categorized into oral, written, visual, auditory, and kinesthetic modes. The ways these modes are combined shape communication. Communication can also take place through various media, including print, performance, and information technology. People communicate face to face or in cyberspace. The settings in which communication occurs are diverse as well. They can be public spaces, such as schools, universities, and workplaces, as well as private homes or other personal spaces. In these contexts, various forms of racism are communicated, consumed, sedimented, and contested in overt and covert ways. As shown in the works reviewed here, different forms of racism are expressed and enacted through various modes and means of communication in diverse contexts, and they perpetuate the system of domination and subordination.