Paula Chakravartty, Rachel Kuo, Victoria Grubbs, & Charlton McIlwain all collaborated to write the article #CommunicationSoWhite. In it, they discuss the issues of nonwhite scholars being underrepresented and left out of the public conversation when it comes to racial conversations. White supremacy and the racial norms found in our society are continuously upheld to maintain control of the cultural narrative. "We conclude in responding to a question posed by an anonymous reviewer of this very article: “To put it bluntly, why would White scholars listen?” This question, of course, speaks volumes. But to take it at face value, we would argue that while citational practices are a narrow indicator of the larger structures of racial inequality in the academy and society at large, they help to “reproduce a discipline” that organizes and institutes social orders that have been universally detrimental and dehumanizing." (Chakravartty 9). It is no question that white scholars and reference material available to the general public are the majority. Racially diverse scholarly material is oftentimes suppressed and may not even leave the editor based on the racial bias present in these settings.
I'm reminded of a story I read once of a black author who submitted her work to an editor and received no follow-up or publication. Upon resubmitting her work under a pseudonym that sounded more "racially acceptable", she was then contacted. This in and of itself is incredibly problematic and I'm sure more common than we hear about it. In opening this discussion, my hope is to see a continuous deconstruction of all the nooks and crannies racial inequality and injustice hides in to make a change in our society.
Chakravartty, Paula, et al. “CommunicationSoWhite.” Journal of Communication, vol. 68, no. 2, Oxford University Press, 2018, pp. 254–66, https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqy003.
Hello Kendall! I thought the example you brought up was a very valid notion to include. People might not even have a face to face opportunity to share their thoughts, and yet they can still be discrimiated against. People jump to unfair conclusions just based on the individuals name, and thus disallow their ideas to be shared with more individuals. I like that you mentioned the nooks and crannies of racial inequality, these things are just as important as bigger instances of inequality. Microaggressions can tear a person down just as much as direct racism.
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