Obama and the complexities of identity

Posted in Articles, Barack Obama, Identity Development/Psychology, Media Archive, United States on 2012-01-01 01:19Z by Steven

Obama and the complexities of identity

The San Diego Union-Tribune
2008-06-19

Bey-Ling Sha, Professor of Journalism and Media Studies
San Diego State University

In a recent commentary titled “What He Overcame,” Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson described Barack Obama as a “young, black, first-term senator.” In her campaign-suspension speech, Hillary Clinton said, “Could an African-American really be our president? . . . Sen. Obama has answered that one.” These descriptions of Obama are typical of many others offered by and reported in the news media.

What’s wrong with these descriptions of Obama as being black or African-American? As others have already noted, these descriptions reify the supposedly outdated “one-drop rule,” whereby any individual with even “one drop” of African heritage was considered black.

A second, related problem is that these descriptions are instances of identity ascription, whereby one person assigns an identity to another person, usually based on physical characteristics. Thus, someone with blond hair and blue eyes is usually called “white,” even if that person has African, Asian or Native American heritage somewhere in his or her background…

Read the entire article here.

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Baseline Study on Diversity Segments: Multirace Americans

Posted in Communications/Media Studies, Media Archive, Reports, United States on 2011-12-31 22:39Z by Steven

Baseline Study on Diversity Segments: Multirace Americans

Institute for Public Relations
Gainesville, Florida
January 2008
15 pages

Bey-Ling Sha, Ph.D., APR, Professor of Journalism and Media Studies
San Diego State University

Sponsored in part by ConAgra Foods, Inc.

Public relations practitioners and scholars need to consider multirace Americans as an increasingly important public, with identities, motivations, and concerns unique unto themselves. This project benchmarks extant scholarship and government data regarding multirace Americans, and it articulates the implications of the research findings for public relations practice in the areas of long-term, strategic planning; new market opportunities; and respect and sensitivity.

Read the entire report here.

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