Examining the Reach of Color Blindness: Ideological Flexibility, Frame Alignment, and Legitimacy among Racially Conservative and Extremist Organizations

ABSTRACT

To what extent do right-wing groups demonstrate internal alignment in their use of racial ideologies? Under what conditions with respect to internal alignment do mainstream media legitimize these groups by relaying their messages to the public as the organizations intended? We analyzed two decades’ worth of organizational literature and media coverage to examine the relationship between internal and external frame alignment. The findings reveal that organizations display ideological flexibility in their public documents. Organizations receive mainstream legitimacy when groups use a framing strategy that avoids the rhetoric of old racism, selectively incorporates the discourse of white victimhood, and emphasizes the language of new racism.

KEYWORDS:

• Collective behavior and social movements
• political sociology
• racial and ethnic minorities

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Erratum

Funding

The usual disclaimers apply. Parts of this work were financed by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, grant Az. 10.10.1.111.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Mary Jackman, James Zink, Tom Shriver, Bruce Haynes, Dina Okamoto, Tyrone Forman, Melanie Jones Gast, and Sarah Ovink for their helpful comments on earlier versions of the article.

Notes

1. We use “advocacy organizations” and “social movement organizations” (SMOs) interchangeably in this study (but see Andrews and Edwards [2004] for a discussion of the difference between the two), as the advocacy organizations under investigation have been active in social movements at different points in their existence.

2. Isomorphism describes the process of organizations adopting similar forms over time, due to external pressures and environmental uncertainty (DiMaggio and Powell 1983).

3. In a comparison of post–9/11 characterizations of Muslims in organizational press releases to those in television transcripts and newspaper articles, Bail (2012) found that fringe groups, who touted anger- and fear-laden explanations for the September 11 attacks, were among the most influential organizations that shaped media discourse. In addition, publicity allowed fringe groups to develop interorganizational networks that expanded their reach. Instead of studying how organizations shaped media discourse, we focus on frame alignment.

4. Importantly, it is likely that not all media sources offer the same degree of legitimacy to SMOs. A small local newspaper, regional/national newspaper, or major media outlet (e.g., Fox News or CNN) will not only have a different level of influence in terms of how the organization is perceived and legitimated, but will also have different methods for conferring legitimacy on the organization.

5. See online Appendix. Additional data collection procedures available upon request.

6. Passed in 1996, Proposition 209 is the California ballot initiative prohibiting public institutions from considering race, ethnicity, or sex in hiring, admissions, or public contracting.

7. Of the three NAAWP organizations, David Duke’s NAAWP appears to have received the most attention. In 2000, Duke left the NAAWP and formed the European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO). We collected data on Duke’s NAAWP, but we may have inadvertently coded elements within the popular media coverage of additional organizations that used the same name.

8. There is conflicting information about the recent and current status of the NAAWP, which could be because multiple groups have used the same name. Though the SPLC notes that NAAWP had largely fallen apart by 1997, according to a December 2000 article, it was still active (ADL 2015; SPLC 2000, 2003).

9. On average, each issue of The Egalitarian consisted of approximately seven articles.

10. The results of the detailed coding schema involving the 13 codes is available on request.

11. “Separate and equal single-race schools” is a detail that might be coded old racism, if not for the surrounding context that invokes white victimhood. The author hides this phrase within a long list of policies allegedly unfair to white people. Because single-race schools are listed but not described, readers might interpret Prater’s stance on this issue as a progressive one; for instance, he might be in support of urban charter schools that are designed to close racial achievement gaps but are racially segregated de facto.

12. In this study, we focus on external frame alignment as a necessary but insufficient indicator of organizational legitimacy. However, some alternative possibilities are beyond the scope of the analysis. For example, we recommend that future research investigate the extent to which the media granted legitimacy to ACRI because of its organizational tactics (including the promotion of ballot initiatives) and/or because of its spokesperson. Ward Connerly, who is externally identified as black (he personally identifies as multiracial), offers a kind of political opportunity for the media covering the organizations to use the “tokenistic fallacy” (see Desmond and Emirbayer 2009)—using the fact that the ACRI has a black leader as evidence that we have “moved beyond race.” NAAWP, on the other hand, may have struggled for media legitimacy because its founder, David Duke, was a former Grand Wizard of the KKK.

13. For ACRI and NA, the most-coded categories matched for organizational literature and media coverage (new racism and old racism, respectively). For NAAWP, though, the most-coded categories differed when comparing organizational literature to media coverage.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Erinn Brooks

Erinn Brooks is an Assistant Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Criminal Justice at Manchester University, Manchester, Indiana. Her research examines the intersections of race, class, and gender inequality, emphasizing social justice in schools, workplaces, and nonprofit organizations.

Kim Ebert

Kim Ebert is an Assistant Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at North Carolina State University. Her research investigates three dimensions of racial inequality: the ideological processes through which power is maintained, the causes and consequences of dominant group collective action and formal politics, and the politics of adaptation for immigrant groups.

Tyler Flockhart

Tyler Flockhart is a PhD student in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at North Carolina State University. His research examines how LGBT youth and their parents talk with each other about sex, dating, and romantic relationships, and the extent to which these discussions reproduce, resist, and challenge race, class, and gender inequalities.