Race Forward has been doing media analysis for a long time, and in our “Moving the Race Conversation Forward” report and video, we provide definitions for seven harmful racial discourse practices that the media engages in that reinforce misconceptions about racism as a problem of rare, isolated, individual attitudes and actions. We also identified that most media coverage is not systemically-aware, meaning that it fails to include a perspective with any insight on systemic-level racism, often focusing upon racial slurs and other types of personal prejudice and individual-level racism instead of policies and practices that lead to disparities.
We continued our work in media analysis after the death of Michael Brown and produced this #MediaonFerguson brief. Our research found that in the first 10 days of Ferguson coverage, in the highest circulation mainstream print and cable news outlets in the nation, there were nearly 1,000 articles and cable news programs devoted to the shooting of Michael Brown and community events in its aftermath. However, very rarely did they include a systemically-aware articulation of race and racism.
The nearly 200-page report released this week by the Ferguson Commission aims to address the social, political, historic, economic, educational and racial issues that led to the uprising following Michael Brown’s killing more than a year ago, on August 9, 2014. Race Forward did not work on the report but is pleased that our analysis of media coverage in Ferguson is cited as a resource in the recommendation to “Provide Trauma-Informed & Anti-Bias Training for Media” for “Fostering Racial Equity.” We hope that if the Commission’s recommendations are implemented, media reporting on Ferguson leads with an explicit racial perspective and lifts up the structural inequities, many of which may be listed in the Commission’s report.
Through research, media, and practice, Race Forward brings systemic analysis and an innovative, solutions-oriented approach to complex race issues. We publish the daily news site Colorlines and present Facing Race, a biennial conference on racial justice. We provide training nationwide in our Racial Justice Leadership Institute, and we were also identified as a resource for the Ferguson Commission’s recommendations on “Design an Accreditation System” based on our experience of consulting with organizations on the development of policies and practices that led to racial equity.
“Forward Through Ferguson: A Path Toward Racial Equity” focused on Citizen-Law Enforcement Relations, Municipal Courts and Governance, Child Well-Being and Education Equity, Economic Inequity and Opportunity, with 189 policy calls to action to effect structural change across systems in what could be a very important step with a real opportunity for addressing structural racism. The report can be downloaded in full here, and we will be following developments at Colorlines.com.
Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice Innovation