Joyce M. Bell

Diversity in everyday discourse: The cultural ambiguities and consequences of "happy talk"

Few words in the current American lexicon are as ubiquitous and ostensibly uplifting as diversity. The actual meanings and functions of the term, however, are difficult to pinpoint. In this article we use in-depth interviews conducted in four major metropolitan areas to explore popular conceptions of diversity. Although most Americans respond positively at first, our interviews reveal that their actual understandings are undeveloped and often contradictory. We highlight tensions between idealized conceptions and complicated realities of difference in social life, as well as the challenge of balancing group-based commitments against traditional individualist values. Respondents, we find, define diversity in abstract, universal terms even though most of their concrete references and experiences involve interactions with racial others. Even the most articulate and politically engaged respondents find it difficult to talk about inequality in the context of a conversation focused on diversity. Informed by critical theory, we situate these findings in the context of unseen privileges and normative presumptions of whiteness in mainstream U.S. culture. We use these findings and interpretations to elaborate on theories of the intersection of racism and colorblindness in the new millennium.

Maneuvers of Whiteness: ‘Diversity’ as a Mechanism of Retrenchment in the Affirmative Action Discourse

Through a discourse analysis of three textual sources within elite law schools, we suggest that the white racial frame and the diversity construct are key mechanisms in the process of stalling racial reform by imposing tacit boundaries around the discourse surrounding progressive racial policies. We contend that this limits their effectiveness, resulting in the retrenchment of white racial privilege and power and that this happens without any explicit expression of racial animosity by whites participating in the discourse. To illustrate this process, we analyze the discourse concerning affirmative action, a policy designed to end racial discrimination in and redistribute resources related to employment and education. We focus on the institutional setting of elite law schools both because of its socializing influence on those who will make and interpret affirmative action law and because it represents an institution in which the policy may be utilized in student selection and faculty hiring.

Introduction to the Special Issue on Black Movements

In 2013 George Zimmerman was acquitted for the murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. In the wake of this decision, three black activists (Alicia Garza, Patrice Cullors and Opal Tometi) developed th...

The Importance of a Race-Critical Perspective in the Classroom

Sociologists have a disciplinary mandate to always consider the relationship between the individual and social forces. This means that what sociology has to offer students in courses about race, that is different from other disciplines, is a focus on the structural nature of race. Because of this unique ability of sociology as a discipline to illuminate the social aspects of race relations, it is crucial that sociologists use the tools available to us to help students break out of individualistic ways of thinking about race. In this chapter I argue that without a structural approach to teaching race relations, we run the risk of confirming the validity of white privilege, normalizing existing race relations, and supporting the myth of an American meritocracy. To avoid this, this chapter develops a model for a race-critical approach to teaching the sociology of race that is focused on structure, historically contextualized, and critical.