[Peace-discuss] This is Interesting

[Marti]

I went to my class tonight and a very lively discussion took place regarding
an essay we had to read for class.  Written by Judith N. Martin and Thomas
K. Nakayama the essay addressed the role of race in Communication Studies.
Martin and Nakayama address how the social constructions of white privilege
have managed to find its way into the communication curriculum.  According
to the authors the discipline follows a distinct pattern of maintaining the
rhetoric of people in power.  During the time of Plato and Aristotle
communication was the domain of white men. Women and slaves had no perceived
need to be a part of communication since they happened to be "non-citizens".
Because of the democratizing nature of communication and rhetoric the
authors observed that communication programs are missing from elite
institutions such as Harvard and Yale.  In the year 2000 minorities counted
as 25% of the B.A. degrees awarded in Journalism, 10% MA programs, and the
number of PhD's awarded to minorities is minimal. These are certainly
factors that would account for the limited amount of diversity we truly see
in these programs. 

 

When the article came up for discussion one of the students got upset over
what she perceived as being a blanket implication that all communication
programs are racist institutions. Another student made the comment that if
we read a published article then we would not know the race of the author
unless a photo was included. I managed to make both of them pretty mad at
me.  I observed that most of the students (myself included) sitting in class
are white. I also made the comment that a name like "Nakayama" was not
likely to be associated with a white author.  Having read much of Nakayama's
work I was able to see the type of defensiveness that comes into the picture
when social constructions are challenged.   I read some of the editorials in
the Daily Illini online where some of the participants in the Taco's and
Tequila's party got pissed off because their actions resulted in being
labeled racist. (No kidding)

 

I remember as an undergraduate observing that most minorities and women
appeared to be geared towards the more 'talent' aspects of the profession.
By talent I mean Writers, DJ's, and other public oriented areas. The people
who make the decisions like producers, editors, and publishers are more
likely to be the white males who control the output of information. As an
older student I bring some of these constructions to the classroom which my
twenty-something peers have not had the opportunity to see. As a human being
I still struggle with my own sets of biases and prejudices and it would
probably be fair to say that I have benefited from the color of my skin in
ways I haven't been able or willing to see.  When I was in class this
evening someone suggested that our problems with race will naturally be
resolved over the course of time and people eventually turn into a massive
melting pot to become one race. While some things have changed the struggle
for equality is still alive and well and I don't believe that we can afford
to rely on time to be a magic wand. 

 

Peace, Marti 

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