Race and Disability in Media Coverage of the Police Homicide of Eric Garner

ABSTRACT

This thematic content analysis used frameworks of stigma and critical race theory to examine how mass media represented the life and police homicide of Eric Garner. Findings demonstrate how systemic racism and ableism are reflected in and created through the media’s stigmatizing processes of labeling and stereotyping, as well as through voices it chooses to amplify or ignore. As such, media can be framed as a tool of structural oppression. Critical consumption of mass media is proposed as a core social justice–oriented skill for social workers, and suggestions for integrating this skill into social work curricula are made.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lydia P. Ogden

Lydia P. Ogden is assistant professor at Simmons University.

Anjali J. Fulambarker

Anjali J. Fulambarker is assistant professor at Governors State University.

Christina Haggerty

Christina Haggerty is a clinician at Bay Cove Human Services.