Digital Commons Network^™

“That’S Just The Way It Was”: A Critical Analysis Of Guilt, Evasion, And White Supremacy, Sommer Mahoney

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

In the public discourse around American slavery, there is an apologist evasion that can be summarized as such: that slavery was “just the way it was back then.” The word “just” in that phrase connotes a rather casual finality - that slavery in the American colonies, and then in the United States, could not have been avoided. But even a cursory overview of slave rebellion history and abolitionist history prove that this is not true. This reaction is an attempt at evading the feeling of guilt often associated with historical atrocities. However, as Americans avoid their guilt, they also evade …

Book Review: A Field Guide To White Supremacy, Jessie Daniels

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

College Students And Beliefs In The American Dream: The Impact Of Race, Class, And Gender, Maggie E. Marlow

Honors College Theses

The concept of the American Dream and its promises of prosperity and social mobility, primarily through hard work, has been prevalent throughout modern U.S. history. However, what defines the American Dream has been arbitrary and varied, and research has shown that attitudes and beliefs surrounding the Dream have changed over time with shifts in the economic and political environments. The research for this thesis uses qualitative methods, specifically thematic analysis, to analyze 16 in-depth, one-on-one interviews to examine how students attending a predominantly white university in the Southeastern United States perceive the American Dream today while factoring in how those …

How The “Black Criminal” Stereotype Shapes Black People’S Psychological Experience Of Policing: Evidence Of Stereotype Threat And Remaining Questions, Cynthia J. Najdowski

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Cultural stereotypes that link Black race to crime in the U.S. originated in and are perpetuated by policies that result in the disproportionate criminalization and punishment of Black people. The scientific record is replete with evidence that these stereotypes impact perceivers’ perceptions, information processing, and decision-making in ways that produce more negative criminal legal outcomes for Black people than White people. However, relatively scant attention has been paid to understanding how situations that present a risk of being evaluated through the lens of crime-related stereotypes also directly affect Black people. In this article, I consider one situation in particular: encounters …

"Think Of The Children!": Understanding Parental And Community Opposition To Critical Race Theory, Daniela S. Tierra

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Critical Race Theory (CRT) in schools has become a controversial topic nationwide, leading to widespread and alarming bans on the teaching of CRT. CRT has been accused of shaming white children, creating racial division, and creating a “victim mentality” amongst people of color. The CRT utilized in critical legal studies, ethnic studies, and sociology looks drastically different from what opponents claimed. So, what exactly is CRT - more importantly, what do opponents of CRT believe it to be, and why are they opposed to it? This thesis builds on the sociological field of critical whiteness to examine the academic origin …

Understanding An American Paradox: An Overview Of The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes Religious Freedom, Spearit

Articles

In The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes Religious Freedom, Sahar Aziz unveils a mechanism that perpetuates the persecution of religion. While the book’s title suggests a problem that engulfs Muslims, it is not a new problem, but instead a recurring theme in American history. Aziz constructs a model that demonstrates how racialization of a religious group imposes racial characteristics on that group, imbuing it with racial stereotypes that effectively treat the group as a racial rather than religious group deserving of religious liberty.

In identifying a racialization process that effectively veils religious discrimination, Aziz’s book points to several important …

The Human Environment: Awakening To The Indomitable Cuban Spirit--Government, Culture, And People, Berta Hernández-Truyol

FIU Law Review

My thoughts are to write about The Human Environment. I will address the recent events concerning the increased silencing of dissent and the criminal law reforms that prohibit peaceful gatherings.

The Multi-Dimensional Relationship Between Immigration Policies And Mexican Migrant Women: A Cycle Of Violence, Vulnerabilities, And Sobreviviencia, Jasmine Perales, Jasmine Perales

CMC Senior Theses

Thousands of migrants have died at the United States/Mexico border. This paper analyzes how the current crisis at the border came to be, specifically focusing on the experiences of Mexican migrant women. An analysis of race, racial scripts, and illegality shows how these inform immigration policies and negatively impact migrants. Decades worth of draconian immigration policies have militarized the border and continued to reinforce negative racial scripts of migrants. By centering the testimonies of Mexican migrant women, their structured vulnerabilities come to the forefront as a direct result of immigration policies. Reform of the immigration system needs to occur to …

A Mixed-Method Analysis Of The News Media Framing Of Gender Non-Conforming Victims Of Homicide In The U.S. From 2012 To 2022, Susana Avalos, Hayley Jackey, Iyan Wickel

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Recent analyses of transgender homicide victims find that the news media often uses improper terminology, delegitimizes, and victim blames them. These analyses, while insightful, are limited as they have largely analyzed cases involving trans women and trans feminine individuals. The present study employs a mixed-method approach to analyze news media articles (N = 88) published in U.S. online news media outlets about 17 gender non-conforming victims killed between 2012 and 2022. We found that most articles did not delegitimize or victim blame. However, we find (1) victim blaming occurred when reporting on cases of officer-involved shootings, (2) certain victims …

In The U.S., Mena People Are Legally White. But Their Lived Experiences Say Otherwise, Youcef O. Bounab

Capstones

The U.S. Government classifies people whose origins are from the Middle East and North Africa as racially “white.” This is reflected in the decennial census, as well as in other questionnaires and forms, even as many among those groups prefer to have their own categorization. In this feature article, we explore the history of the issue, how individuals from those backgrounds would prefer to identify, and whether their lived experiences in a post-9/11 United States reflect their current categorization.

An Intersectional Approach To Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Women’S Sexualized Body-Positive Imagery On Instagram, Megan A. Vendemia, Kyla N. Brathwaite, David C. Deandrea

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

Our work adopted an intersectional approach to investigate how women’s racial identity may influence how they evaluate and are impacted by body-positive imagery of women on social media. In a 2 × 2 × 2 experiment (N = 975), we examined how source race (Black vs White) and sexualization (non-sexualized vs sexualized) in body-positive images affect Black and White viewers’ impressions of self-interest, moral appropriateness, and body positivity. Results indicated that viewers generally responded more favorably to non-sexualized (vs sexualized) images: Participants reported less self-interested motivations for sharing, found the images more morally appropriate, and believed they were more …

Suicide At The Intersection Of Race And Gender, Marina Geider

Masters Theses

Sociological studies have examined suicide rate differences between groups since the work of Durkheim in 1897, and current literature still draws on his classic theories and methods. Although research has begun identifying the social factors that affect the suicides of Black and White populations differentially, little progress has been made towards an understanding of Black female suicide. The present study takes an intersectional approach to Durkheim's social integration-regulation thesis to bridge this gap. Several negative binomial regression analyses were employed to model suicide counts for Black men, Black women, non-Hispanic White men, and non-Hispanic White women in the United States. …

Aggressive Reality Docuseries And Cyberbullying: A Partial Test Of Glaser’S Differential Identification Theory, J. Ra’Chel Fowler, Darren R. Beneby, Kenethia L. Fuller

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

Reality docuseries have dominated primetime airwaves for the greater part of three decades. However, little is known about how viewers who are enamored with the genre’s most aggressive characters are influenced. Using Glaser’s (1956) theory of differential identification, this study employs survey data from 210 college students at a historically Black college and university to explore whether identification with characters from aggressive reality docuseries (ARDs) and the frequency of viewing ARD are positively associated with cyberbullying. Results of multivariate analyses revealed that men were more likely than women to publicly shame others and air other’s dirty laundry online. Additionally, the …

Political Trust: Nature Or Nurture, Kahlan R. Canty

Student Publications

This paper looked into the relationship between political trust, demographics (race and gender), and presidential election votes for 2012 and 2016. The purpose of this research was to see the baseline feelings of political trust in different demographics, as well as how those feelings of political trust changed depending on if they voted for in the winning candidate in the presidential election. Preliminary research has already been conducted on both of these topics; however, in this paper I sought to examine if an individual's race or gender affected the extent of a person's loss or gain in political trust when …

Foster Youth In The Mountain West, Zachary Billot, Elia Del Carmen Solano-Patricio, Sofia Takhtadjian, Joshua Padilla, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Demography

This fact sheet examines population trends for foster youth and their experiences with foster care in the Mountain West region. The data are sourced from the report “State-level Data for Understanding Child Welfare in the United States” which cites the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN) for fiscal year (FY) 2020 and the “State-by State Data” report by the Casey Family Programs from FY 2020. This fact sheet highlights the number of foster youth in the Mountain West (Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah) and their demographic composition.

Book Review: Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race, Laura M. Stanton, Leo M. Taylor, Jenny M. Lobb, Pat Holmes, Steve Brady, Imani Scruggs

Journal of Youth Development

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? and Other Conversations About Race is a 2017 revised and updated edition to Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum’s original book written in 1997. The book explores decades of research on the psychology of racism, with an emphasis on the psychology of racial identity in Black, White, and other ethnic and cultural identities. The author helps readers gain a better understanding of historic and modern racism and the implications it has on individuals today. The book also contains important messages for people who work with diverse groups of adults and particularly …

The Myth Of Meritocracy: Factors Explaining Belief In Meritocracy Within The United States, Kaley Burg

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This study examined data from the 2021 General Social Survey (GSS) to determine what factors influence participants’ view of meritocracy within the United States. Based on existing literature that examines relative power and perception, this study sought to understand the connection between power and belief that America exists as a meritocracy, with the assumption that those belonging to groups deemed as wielding power in society should hold stronger beliefs in meritocracy. Results partially support this hypothesis. Using a multivariate linear regression analysis, those who are older or white assert stronger belief in meritocracy, while those with a greater social justice …

The Yellow Figment Of East Asian American Women: A Case Study Of The 2021 Atlanta Spa Shootings, Lily Z. Stewart

The Cardinal Edge

This paper explores how mainstream media frames the racial gendering of Asian women through a case study of the 2021 Atlanta Spa Shootings. Fifteen articles sourced from the top ten national newspaper entities published between March 16^th, 2021 and October 2021 analyze how Asian American women are subjected to at least a double feminized social location on account of their race and gender within a U.S. contemporary context. I explore how themes of race, gender, and hyper-sexualization intersect to produce the archetype of Asian women as exotic, docile temptresses. This analysis centers around the dynamic between Asian women …

Race Disparities In Pain Among Canadian Adults., Harry Alorgbey Sardina

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Pain has significant quality-of-life implications for adults. We aimed to identify racial disparities in pain among Canadian adults. These results are crucial to uncovering which population groups are disproportionately experiencing pain-related suffering in Canada.

Racial Inequalities In Booster Shot Uptake: Black Communities In The City Of Toronto, Anjali Bhaheeratha

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

The unequal distribution of COVID-19 vaccines has posed a threat to the health and wellbeing of various marginalized communities, including Black communities. The booster shot in particular is not a mandatory vaccine, raising questions whether this would further vaccine inequity. I, along with Dr. Kate Choi of the Sociology Department at Western University, analyzed vaccination rates of the first booster shot across all 140 neighborhoods in the City of Toronto. Through stratifying neighborhoods based on the prevalence of Black residents and high/low socioeconomic status, it is clear to see that race, in tandem with similar socio-demographic characteristics, plays a significant …

Race Disparities In Pain Among Canadian Adults., Harry Alorgbey Sardina

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Pain has significant quality-of-life implications for adults. We aimed to identify racial disparities in pain among Canadian adults. These results are crucial to uncovering which groups of individuals are disproportionately experiencing pain-related suffering in Canada.

Public Perceptions Of Police Use Of Force: Does Officer Race Matter?, Diamond G. Pilgrim

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Objective: The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of police officer as well as suspect race on U.S.residents’ perceptions of police use of force.

Method: Participants were randomly assigned one of four vignettes describing an encounter between either a Black or White police officer and a Black or White robbery suspect. Suspect race and officer race were manipulated so that participants received a vignette involving pairings of a White officer with a Black suspect; a White officer with a White suspect; a Black officer, White suspect or a Black officer and suspect. Participants were then surveyed …

Color Of Creatorship - Author's Response, Anjali Vats

Articles

This essay is the author's response to three reviews of The Color of Creatorship written by notable intellectual property scholars and published in the IP Law Book Review.

Black (Muslim) Lives Matter: African American Muslim Social Activism, Jacob C. Riccioni

The Hilltop Review

Over the past eight years, the Black Lives Matter movement has advocated for marginalized communities within the African American population and called for police brutality and anti-black racism to be abolished. With the rise of Black Lives Matter in contemporary society, I am left wondering, do African American Muslims support the Black Lives Matter movement? There is no simple answer for African American Muslim leaders and laypeople because the Black Lives Matter movement supports LGBTQ+ rights, which some Muslims do not condone, and some rallies have broken out into riots. Religious leaders and scholars are split between supporting Black Lives …

Were Latinos Undercounted In The 2020 Census? An Assessment Of Latino Demographic Data From 2010 Through 2020, Laird W. Bergad

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction:

This report examines makes estimates about the Latino Population for 2020—in the United States, Los Angeles, New York City, Miami, and Houston—that differ dramatically from those published by the Census Bureau.

Methods:

This report uses population growth rates calculated from the raw data found in the American Community Survey (ACS) five-year files for each year between 2010 and 2019 and 2015 to 2019 to project ‘assumed’ population totals for 2020. It uses the American Community Survey PUMS (Public Use Microdata Series) data for all years released by the Census Bureau and reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population …

Unveiling The Mask Of Post-Race Legitimacy: Preserving White Supremacy Through The Use Of Colorblind Racism In Policy Preference, Vanessa Gonzalez

Senior Theses

Recent literature has brought attention to an avoidance of race-talk among Whites that not only attributes social inequalities to non-racial factors, but challenges the existence of racism at all, and reinforces the power of white supremacy in a way that is hard to detect. The paradigm shift from Jim Crow to colorblind racism simply demonstrates a practice of oppression that has been redefined and reshaped, but the foundation of our society that has been built on white supremacy and racial inequality has yet to change. In order to preserve this foundation, colorblind ideology has been used to implement coded language …

Decolonizing The Western Mind: Gurminder K. Bhambra, In Discussion With Albena Azmanova, Gurminder K. Bhambra, Albena Azmanova

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.

The Racial Disparities In The Foster Care System As Explained By Professionals Working Within The System, Vanessa Wilson

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Systemic racism leads to Black people being overrepresented in sectors of life such as poverty, homelessness, and incarceration. However, because of this same systemic racism, Black children in the United States are subjected to disadvantages in many aspects of life— one of which is foster care. Children raced as Black are two and a half times more likely than white children to be reported to Child Protective Services resulting in them entering the foster care system twice as often as white children (Miller, Cahn, and Orellana 2012). While past studies have examined the number of children in foster care that …

Disparities In Response, Motivations, And Self-Efficacy To Entrepreneurially Minded Learning Within Underrepresented Students' Groups, Kaitlin Hall

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Systemic racism in the United States is embedded within the policies that have created oppression for certain groups. Women, people of color, and those from low-income families have less access to entrepreneurial knowledge due to the education gap. It has been determined that less than 20 percent of US patents entail a female inventor. Black and Hispanic college graduates also lack this access as fewer than half as many individuals hold patents. Ensuring that these populations are educated in inventor knowledge can facilitate greater inclusion. The historical Brown vs the Board of Education intended to end unequal public schooling. It …

The Land Of Disenchantment: Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, And Race In New Mexico, 1598–1910, Jacqulyne Ruby Anton

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Across the North American continent, white supremacy is often taken for granted as a foregone conclusion by the late nineteenth century. Recently, however, scholars of the Greater Reconstruction, Indigenous history, Latinx history, U.S.-Mexico Borderlands history, and historians of capitalism have challenged this assumption by deconstructing narratives that portray white-European American hegemony as inevitable. My research on settler colonialism adds to the discussion of the establishment of white supremacy in the West by analyzing the evolution of white supremacy in New Mexico over time. It argues that the Spanish, Mexican, and American settler colonial regimes actively used white supremacy as a …