Lisa A. Flores

Constructing Rhetorical Borders: Peons, Illegal Aliens, and Competing Narratives of Immigration

Recent work in immigration suggests interconnections among race, nation, and immigration. This essay examines these relations, noting the rhetorical dynamics through which symbolic borders emerge and shift, in part through national debates over immigrants. Turning critical attention to mediated representations of Mexican immigrants in the 1920s and 1930s, I argue that Mexican immigrant bodies provided rhetorical space for a national discussion of race and nation. I highlight, in particular, a deportation drive and repatriation campaign that resulted in the mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of Mexicans and Mexican Americans.

Creating discursive space through a rhetoric of difference: Chicana feminists craft a homeland

When Chicana feminists refuse to accept mainstream definitions of themselves and insist that they establish and affirm their own identity, they build a space through discourse. For Chicana feminists, this process is accomplished in three stages. They begin by merely carving out a space within which they can find their own voice. After establishing this space, they begin to turn it into a home where connections to those within their families are made strong. Finally, recognizing their still existing connections to various other groups, Chicana feminists construct bridges or pathways connecting them with others. Such a process allows for the construction of boundaries that establish the Chicana feminist homeland as distinct but are flexible enough to allow for interaction with other homelands.

Rethinking race, revealing dilemmas: Imagining a new racial subject in race traitor

Questions of race, racism, and essentialism continue to garner academic and public attention, often provoking debates about how to rethink and/or eliminate race and produce new identities separate from race and racial categories. In this essay, we explore one racial discourse, a contemporary project titled Race Traitor, that seeks to destroy whiteness and replace it with race treason. Drawing on the insights of critical rhetoric, we explore this discourse and argue that one productive approach to race entails consideration of the racial paradox, or the tension between imagining identities beyond race while still recognizing the material reality of race as a fundamental organizing construct. We maintain that strategies of mobility and political solidarity can assist us in navigating the racial paradox.

Locating the voice of logic: Disclosure discourse of sexual abuse

This essay explores the concept of voice by turning to disclosure discourse about sexual abuse. We argue that children who have been sexually abused are strategic and logical in the way they regulate access to this private information. We note that the children locate their voice of logic in their selection of confidants. By listening to and privileging their voices, we, as researchers, can position ourselves as conduits through which the voices of the children can be heard.

Antiracism and the abolition of whiteness: Rhetorical strategies of domination among “race traitors”

The development of whiteness studies over the last decade has been welcomed by some, and noted with trepidation by others. An outgrowth of the work of race scholars of color, whiteness studies has been the topic of much recent debate. A body of scholarship that takes whiteness as its central focus cannot afford to be ignored by either academics or the lay public. This paper overviews two primary tendencies within whiteness studies, anti‐racism and abolitionism, and notes their points of divergence. In particular, the abolition rhetoric of self‐proclaimed “race traitors”; is interrogated. It is imperative that discourses that are positioned as “oppositional”; be monitored for their repressive strains. We suggest that positioning whiteness studies as an intersectional practice may help whiteness scholars avoid some of the conceptual traps in which Race Traitor finds itself.

Dynamic Rhetorics of Race: California's Racial Privacy Initiative and the Shifting Grounds of Racial Politics

In October 2003, Californians voted in the high-profile gubernatorial recall election and on what is referred to as the “Racial Privacy Initiative.” The Initiative sought to prohibit the gathering of racial data in education and state employment. Unlike recent such initiatives addressing Californias racial laws, this one was unsuccessful: 62 percent of voters said no. This essay examines the discourse surrounding the initiative over its three-year history and traces the rhetorical dynamics that led to its defeat. The analysis details the implications of this moment for hegemonic processes in general and as they relate to the specifics of race.

Reclaiming the “Other”: toward a Chicana feminist critical perspective

Abstract This essay contributes to the dialogue on methodology and offers preliminary suggestions about what constitutes a Chicana feminist critical perspective. In doing so, I heed the call of Chicana feminist Anzaldua (Anzaldua, G. (1990), Haciendo caras, Una entrada). In G. Anzaldua (Ed.), Making face, making soul Haciendo caras: Creative and critical perspectives by feminists of color (pp. xv–xxvii). San Francisco; aunt lute who argues for mestizaje theories that cross disciplinary boundaries and bring Chicana feminist voices into dialogues on identity and power relations. In my hopes to speak across methods, I highlight the narrative, which has implications for scholars in various disciplines. I argue that a Chicana feminist critical perspective on narrative highlights two central principles, decolonization and intersectionality, which inform Chicanisma.

Mass Mediated Representations of the Susan Smith Trial

This essay examines the mass mediated representations of the Susan Smith trial that circulated in both legal and public spheres. Building on the interdisciplinary work of feminist theorists and critics, the authors contend that the media framing of the concept of motherhood occasionally turned Smith into a cipher for discussions of a variety of social issues in America. Although some observers viewed her as an emblematic reminder of the problems that have come from the abandonment of traditional values, other commentators saw her as the victim of patriarchy and abuse. The authors conclude that the mainstream construction of motherhood eventually took precedence over other interpretations of the case. Within this dominant narrative, the tragic drowning of two children in a South Carolina lake in 1994 transformed Smith into a modern Medea, an iconic reminder of what awaited other women who violated the laws of motherhood.This essay examines the mass mediated representations of the Susan Smith trial that circulated in both legal and public spheres. Building on the interdisciplinary work of feminist theorists and critics, the authors contend that the media framing of the concept of motherhood occasionally turned Smith into a cipher for discussions of a variety of social issues in America. Although some observers viewed her as an emblematic reminder of the problems that have come from the abandonment of traditional values, other commentators saw her as the victim of patriarchy and abuse. The authors conclude that the mainstream construction of motherhood eventually took precedence over other interpretations of the case. Within this dominant narrative, the tragic drowning of two children in a South Carolina lake in 1994 transformed Smith into a modern Medea, an iconic reminder of what awaited other women who violated the laws of motherhood.

Children of the stones: The Intifada and the mythic creation of the Palestinian state

This essay explores the rhetorical significance of the 1987–1993 Palestinian uprising known as the “Intifada.” Eschewing traditional notions of nationalism that focus on military conquest or diplomatic treaties, the authors argue that the “children of the stones” use mythic tales as a way of creating a collective identity, a historical tradition, and a Palestinian nation. Building on the work of other communication scholars, the essay claims that symbolic constructions were an important part of the persuasive efforts of Palestinians who sought to mobilize support for the Intifada.

From black and white to living color: A dialogic exposition into the social (re) construction of race, gender, and crime

Watching Race: Television and the Struggle for “Blackness.” By Herman Gray. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1995; pp.xii + 201; cloth