“There’s a difference between Black people and n******”: A cultural contracts exploration of interracial communication barriers

Abstract

Fear, prejudice, and racism create communication barriers between Black and White individuals which complicates interracial communication (Hopson, 2011). This qualitative, interpretive analysis is framed by cultural contracts theory (Jackson, 2002, 2009) and informed by 31 interviews with White participants as co-researchers. Thematic analysis (Braun & Clark, 2006; Owen, 1984) revealed White interviewees held ready-to-sign cultural contracts about Black community members, with no room for (re)negotiation. Specifically, interview narratives exposed the follow dominant group members’ fears: having an affinity for or against particular types of Black people; fearing predominantly Black geographic locations; preferring not to be the only White person in the room; the belief that Black people are responsible for White’s pejorative ascriptions about them, and the claim that Black people hinder themselves.

Keywords:

• Cultural Contracts Theory
• Interracial Communication
• Racism
• Communication
• Prejudice

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Acknowledgement

Many thanks to Dr. Ron Jackson, Dr. Mark Hopson, Dr. Tina Harris, Dr. Joann Keyton and Rob Razzante for their wisdom and mentorship as I revised and conceptualized this article. I am grateful for each of you. To the late Dr. Rex Crawley, thank you for welcoming me to NCA in 2007. This is for you.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Please see Appendix A for interview schedule questions. Please note, additional follow-up and probing questions occurred in the moment and are not reflected on the interview schedule.