This case study explores a public school district—private college program that has been designed to promote access to higher education for marginalized fifth and sixth graders. Through content analysis and a framework merging critical race theory with critical discourse analysis, we examined how a private college uses public relations to develop trust and communicate with stakeholders about the program and the college’s mission to serve marginalized stakeholders. Based on the findings, recommendations include the need to improve communication between the college and community. Foremost, the college should create future messaging that helps deconstruct the macrostructures that reinforce racism and the marginalization of students. Through public relations training and subsequent awareness, college messages can be sensitized regarding matters of race and racism.
A better understanding of one's racial identity can help eliminate racial injustice in higher education. Critical whiteness studies posit that white identity must be revealed. Using scholarly personal narrative, this study explored how self-realization of racial identity led to a more authentic acknowledgment of racial injustice, support for its elimination, and empathetic understanding of the injustices experienced by marginalized people. The personal narrative is that of a White, male higher education administrator, constructed around three data units, including student and professional experiences at the University of Missouri System. This study was prompted by two compelling questions posed by a professor: How can you love your country and be patriotic when it allowed by law chattel slavery? Would you trade places with a Black man? This study explores how racial identity can provide insight and inform strategies for higher education leaders who are seeking to eliminate racial injustice. Based on Helms's (1993) White racial identity development model, the research design uses a growth continuum informed by Conquergood's (1985) moral map to critically examine how a personal journey within the Black-White racial context led to greater, empathetic understanding of the racial injustices experienced by Black friends, classmates, colleagues, and others.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.