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Temembe And Sven: The Ethics Of Racist Mirth, Stephen Wilke Dec 2020

Temembe And Sven: The Ethics Of Racist Mirth, Stephen Wilke

Masters Theses

You walk past a crowd of people at a bar, grouped around one person. He’s in the middle of telling a joke, the kind you wouldn’t tell your parents but is often told in the amenable company of close friends. You realize that the butt of the joke, the punchline, assumes that people of color are lazy and entitled. This is not an assumption you agree wit, but you find yourself with a feeling of mirth while scoffing at the comedian. His timing is well executed, and the turn of phrase is witty. The joke was racist, and yet emotionally …


External Homophobia And Outness In Gay Men., Thomas Charles Isaak Jr Dec 2020

External Homophobia And Outness In Gay Men., Thomas Charles Isaak Jr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prior studies regarding outness among gay men have often focused on internalized homophobia as a barrier to coming out for gay men, while less emphasis has been placed on external homophobia. Drawing upon social construction theory and Connell’s hierarchy of masculinity, I utilize data from the 2010 Social Justice Sexuality Project to complete an ordinary least square regression to examine the impact of external homophobia on the level of outness among the 987 gay men in this study. In this study, I find that gay men who were exposed to external homophobia reported decreased levels of outness. Further, I find …


The Social Construction Of The Chinese By Canada, Anna Chen Oct 2020

The Social Construction Of The Chinese By Canada, Anna Chen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study aims to investigate why contemporary Chinese individuals in Canada continue to be affected by discriminatory practices of the past. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s theoretical work, the following questions are addressed: (1) How did Canadian discipline impact the social construction of the Chinese and what it means to be Chinese?; (2) How did the Chinese become discursively marked as racial subjects?; (3) What are the discourses responsible for the social exclusion of the Chinese in Canada? To answer these questions, this study uses Foucault’s genealogical approach to unearth the discursive practices responsible for legitimizing and normalizing the ‘othering’ of …


African Americans’ Perceptions Of Racial Inequality In Relation To Institutional And Social Trust, Megan Brianna Betts Aug 2020

African Americans’ Perceptions Of Racial Inequality In Relation To Institutional And Social Trust, Megan Brianna Betts

Theses and Dissertations

Much of the research examining institutional and social trust explores the factors that affect these concepts, including race and ethnicity. Such studies involve comparing different racial groups and using race as a discrete independent variable in their analysis. Few researchers have sought to explore social and institutional trust within a single racial group, and when they have, it has only been in White respondents. In addition, few researchers have tied institutional and social trust to understandings of racial inequality. Due to the complex social and historical circumstances of African Americans, I propose there is a pattern in the way Black …


Gun Ownership As An Expression Of Whiteness And Masculinity., Michael Daugherty Aug 2020

Gun Ownership As An Expression Of Whiteness And Masculinity., Michael Daugherty

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Public discourse on the topic of gun ownership in the U.S. is polarized, with the debate framed as a binary between unquestioned gun rights versus a complete ban. Gun ownership can have grave consequences: guns are used to commit acts of violence and suicide. Interviews with white male gun owners explore the influence of white backlash, masculinity, and racial identity development in their decisions to own guns. This project explores the extent these reasons are related to race on the part of white males, starting with these two questions: How much does race play a factor in the action and …


Doing Latinidad While Black: Afro-Latino Identity And Belonging, Vianny Jasmin Nolasco Jul 2020

Doing Latinidad While Black: Afro-Latino Identity And Belonging, Vianny Jasmin Nolasco

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study centers on the experiences of Afro-Latinos and how the racialization of Latino as a distinctly ‘brown’ identity—thereby excluding Blackness—shapes their identity and sense of belonging within Latino communities and spaces. Through in-depth interviews with eight Afro-Latinos, and using West and Fenstermaker’s (1995) work, ‘Doing Difference’, I find that the invisibility of Blackness, being categorized as Black, and therefore not Latino, and the negative meanings attached to Blackness may make it difficult for Afro-Latinos to come into their racial and ethnic identity and feel like they belong in Latino spaces. However, these experiences are also an important step to …


Student Identity And Inclusion: A Model For Sense Of Belonging At Brigham Young University, Jose Rodriguez Jun 2020

Student Identity And Inclusion: A Model For Sense Of Belonging At Brigham Young University, Jose Rodriguez

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Campus racial climate in universities across the United States have been linked to several aspects attributed to student success. One aspect of campus climate is sense of belonging, which is correlated with retention, graduation, and student satisfaction. This study seeks to understand sense of belonging and the factors that impact it. In studies across the country, white students have been found to experience a greater sense of belonging than students of color. I seek to discover the factors associated with belonging and their effects. Based on a logistic regression model, students of color and white students at BYU do have …


“I’M Real I Thought I Told Ya”: Developing Critical Media Literacy Through U.S. Latinx Digital Media Representations, Solange T. Castellar Jun 2020

“I’M Real I Thought I Told Ya”: Developing Critical Media Literacy Through U.S. Latinx Digital Media Representations, Solange T. Castellar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis explores how audiences engage with U.S. Latinx media representations through the practice of critical media literacy. I interrogate how media consumers construct critical media literacy through interacting with U.S. Latinx figures on digital media platforms, particularly on the social-media app, Twitter, and the user-generated video content platform, YouTube. Throughout this thesis, I argue that users on these platforms who engage with U.S. Latinx pop culture figures, like Jennifer Lopez and Belcalis Almanzar (Cardi B), read, digest, and comprehend a variety of multimedia images, texts, or videos, and that this engagement becomes an accessible form of critical media literacy, …


If It Wasn’T For The Women: An Exploration Of Works By Renita Weems, Wil Gafney, & Kelly Brown Douglas, Charlene Adams Jun 2020

If It Wasn’T For The Women: An Exploration Of Works By Renita Weems, Wil Gafney, & Kelly Brown Douglas, Charlene Adams

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Womanist Bible scholars Renita Weems, Kelly Brown Douglas, and Wil Gafney’s offerings to the world of biblical scholarship have had a profound impact on Christian faith in the United States. Womanist biblical scholarship is the hermeneutics, ethics, critique, theology, and more, done with a specific lens on Black women and how we are understood within and as a result of biblical texts. Weems, Douglas, and Gafney’s work has asked the tough questions of Christianity, and bravely tackled taboo topics like sexuality, abuse, and racism. Their aim has been to interrogate whose voices have not been present in popular Christian discourse, …


Race, Trust & Medicine: How Innovative Are Medical Innovations?, Marin Asnes May 2020

Race, Trust & Medicine: How Innovative Are Medical Innovations?, Marin Asnes

Sociology Senior Seminar Papers

Is trust in the institution of medicine dependent on race? Are there racial differences in change of trust over time? The central hypotheses of this study are that a) white people will exhibit more trust in medicine than Black people, and b) white people’s trust in medicine will increase over time, while Black people’s trust in medicine will decrease over time. This study analyzes 2000-2018 data from the General Social Survey, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago; the data has been narrowed down to include only Black and white participants in the analysis. Findings do not support the …


College Students’ Attitudes Towards Police Officers And Their Perceptions Of Prison Systems, Lee Poff May 2020

College Students’ Attitudes Towards Police Officers And Their Perceptions Of Prison Systems, Lee Poff

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The current research seeks to study and gauge current perceptions of police among college students at East Tennessee State University. As well as studying perceptions of police among students, the research will compare police perceptions among students with student opinions on incarceration. Correlations will be attempted to be observed through various demographical characteristics and similar standardized viewpoints. This will build on prior research from Lim (2015) and others in which college students were used to gauge results around perceptions of police. It is important to understand college student perceptions on police and incarceration as they form the future work force …


Hispanics And The War On Drugs: An Explanation For The Rise In Hispánica Imprisonment, Bryan James Haakma May 2020

Hispanics And The War On Drugs: An Explanation For The Rise In Hispánica Imprisonment, Bryan James Haakma

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to understand racial disparities that persist throughout the criminal justice system. Since the early 1970s, the U.S. female prison population has risen at a faster rate than the male prison population (Harmon & Boppre, 2016; Morín, 2008, 2016). Overall, a plethora of research has linked the rise in imprisonment to the War on Drugs and the criminalization of drug use. This thesis examined these questions: 1) are drug crime initiatives driving the rise in Hispanic female imprisonment in comparison to Black and White females and 2) using Blalock’s (1967) theory on group threat, do …


Recidivism, Gender, And Race: An Analysis Of The Los Angeles County Probation Department’S Risk And Needs Assessment Instruments, Robert V. Howard Apr 2020

Recidivism, Gender, And Race: An Analysis Of The Los Angeles County Probation Department’S Risk And Needs Assessment Instruments, Robert V. Howard

Masters Theses

This study assesses the predictive validity of an adult risk need assessment, the Los Angeles Probation Department’s Risk and Needs Assessment Instruments, on 793 clients using several logistic regression models. Models were generated to look for a relationship between risk score and recidivism. This relationship is further explored across gender and race. There are two separate risk assessment instruments used in this study and the sample is separated into two separate groups. The first risk assessment instrument was based on static risk factors such as history of drug or alcohol use, age of first conviction, and conviction history. This assessment …


Strategies Exemplary Social Studies Teachers’ Implement When Facilitating Discussions About Race, Candice Nicole Jasmer Mar 2020

Strategies Exemplary Social Studies Teachers’ Implement When Facilitating Discussions About Race, Candice Nicole Jasmer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teachers experience difficulty in introducing some sensitive and controversial issues in the classroom environment. The purpose of this qualitative instrumental case study was to identify strategies that exemplary secondary social studies teachers implement when facilitating classroom discussions about sensitive and controversial issues, specifically, racial issues framed within Singleton and Linton’s 4 agreements of courageous conversations: stay engaged, speak your truth, experience discomfort, and accept and expect nonclosure. This study utilized qualitative data collection. Semi-structured, online one-to-one internet-based interviews were used to document the lived experiences of exemplary secondary social studies teachers and the strategies they use when facilitating discussions about …


Educational Debt: Educational Loans And The Family, Keyla Navarrete Jan 2020

Educational Debt: Educational Loans And The Family, Keyla Navarrete

Master's Theses

Student debt is a well-documented topic in sociological literature. It is well known that there is a student loan crisis in the United States. However, kinship or familial ties in educational debt is not as studied as individual student loans. The student debt crisis seems to reach a new catastrophic level as years pass. Yet, not much research exists that looks at external sources of financing for students such as parents, grandparents, or other familial ties. This study contributes to the literature of student debt by analyzing debt patterns across those that take out loans for themselves, their spouse, or …


Beyond Their Homeland: Understanding The Experiences Of Black Women In Japan, Bernadette Tisha Benjamin Jan 2020

Beyond Their Homeland: Understanding The Experiences Of Black Women In Japan, Bernadette Tisha Benjamin

Senior Projects Spring 2020

Understanding how Black women conceptualize the role their racial and gender identities play within their experience in Japan.


“ Of Course You’Re More Than An Athlete; Now Throw The Damn Ball!”: How Modern Day Athletes Mirror Postbellum Sharecroppers, Austin A. Sumlin Jan 2020

“ Of Course You’Re More Than An Athlete; Now Throw The Damn Ball!”: How Modern Day Athletes Mirror Postbellum Sharecroppers, Austin A. Sumlin

Senior Projects Spring 2020

For an athlete, reaching the pinnacle of their sport can potentially become a lifelong endeavor; these athletes give up and risk so much in the name of achieving their dreams. Through their success, they not only influence the popularity of their respective sport, but they also have the ability to influence and inspire vast amounts of people due to their heightened platform. In turn, many athletes take stands and attempt to give back to the people - people who are in positions they once were or worse. Unfortunately, when certain issues are brought to the platform, the reception of the …


Disparities Within School Discipline: An Examination Of Race, English Language Learner Status, & Suspension, Serena Boyce Jan 2020

Disparities Within School Discipline: An Examination Of Race, English Language Learner Status, & Suspension, Serena Boyce

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

There is much discussion in the United States about how in-school and out of school suspension negatively impacts students who are subjected to this form of exclusionary discipline. There is concern about whether there are disparities in school suspension rates between students from different subgroups and their peers. Research in this area has shown that racial/ethnic minority students, as well as students with the factors of having a low socio-economic status and being male, make some schools more likely to use school discipline than others. A question to be answered in the area of school discipline is related to if …


Are Opinions On Abortion Based On Racial Attitudes?, Ashley Mueller Jan 2020

Are Opinions On Abortion Based On Racial Attitudes?, Ashley Mueller

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

My specific research question that I will be addressing through my Honors Research Project is; Does one’s race influence their opinions and criminalization of abortion in the United States? In addition to this question I will be discussing if these views have changed over time depending on race, and how their backgrounds, due to their race, may differentiate these views.


Come And Get Your Capital, Sis: The Use Of Twitter To Compensate For Gendered And Racialized Job Networks Among Creatives, Sasha A. Pierre- Louis Jan 2020

Come And Get Your Capital, Sis: The Use Of Twitter To Compensate For Gendered And Racialized Job Networks Among Creatives, Sasha A. Pierre- Louis

Theses and Dissertations

Due to racialized and gendered exclusion and discrimination, Black and women jobseekers do not have the same access to social ties in the labor market as white men. A number of Black Twitter users, particularly Black women, have cultivated networks on Twitter and elsewhere as explicit alternatives to this old boys’ network. This study aimed to understand how workers in creative industries—which tend to be more reliant on referrals—use Twitter to expand their social networks and gain access to job opportunities, and how their use of Twitter differed by race and gender. Four hashtags were queried through the Twitter application …