Processes of Racialization through Media Depictions of Transracial Violence

Author Information

Megan Allen

Abstract/Description

In this research project, I explore the process of racialization in media coverage of White-on-Black violent events (both crimes and incidents not recognized by the legal system as crimes) using a critical race theory framework. The past three years have seen a series of killings of and assaults on African American people that have become newsworthy, as they have been seen, often controversially, as unjustified. The controversy has largely broken down on racial and political lines, with minority Americans and the left seeing these incidents as evidence and example of ongoing racial inequality, with whites and the right, in particular right-wing whites, denying that race is a relevant category. By using critical race theory’s understanding of race and racism as active social processes, I trace the assumptions, politics, and social consequences of media coverage across conservative, centrist, and left media outlets. For the purposes of this research, 298 news articles from varying sources were collected and examined.

Note on the Author

Megan Allen is a graduating senior majoring in Criminal Justice with a concentration in Victimology. Her research project was completed in the fall of 2015 under the mentorship of Dr. Wendy Wright (Criminal Justice). Megan presented this research on a panel at the Northeastern Political Science Conference in Philadelphia, PA in November 2015, which was made possible with funding provided by Bridgewater State’s Undergraduate Research Conference Travel Grant. The project was part of her Honors Senior Thesis completed in the spring of 2016. Megan currently works with a nonprofit organization as a court advocate for victims of domestic and sexual violence and plans to pursue a master’s degree in the fall of 2016.

Recommended Citation

Allen, Megan (2016). Processes of Racialization through Media Depictions of Transracial Violence. Undergraduate Review, 12, 7-18.
Available at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/undergrad_rev/vol12/iss1/5

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