According to Corbett and Eberly, Spectator Culture affects
our ability to argue well in the public sphere because citizens are no longer
active participants, but viewers or receivers of public discourse. When
arguments are mediated through blogs, however, it gives citizens the ability to
participate in public discourse. There are downsides to this, like the
oversimplification of complex issues and the growth of ‘social media activism’,
which has been praised for raising awareness, but criticized for failing to
take action or create visible change. (Remember the Stop Kony’ fiasco?)
In an example of citizen criticism gone wrong, Bouie’s
“Criminal Justice Racism”
demonstrates how the way a conversation is framed can effect
how it is interpreted.
In this particular case, well meaning change-seekers
attempted to use statistics to illustrate the disproportionate rate of
minorities incarcerated, as part of the argument for reform. What went wrong can
be boiled down to internalized racism and a misguided use of statistics.
Hello! I found it interesting that you used the Stop Kony fiasco as an example for your post. I would love to see that explained a bit more in your paragraph.
ReplyDeleteI have to question what it is you mean by “internalized racism” in your final paragraph. The entire point of Bouie’s article was to call attention to internalized racism- are you saying that the study itself had elements of racism within it? In what way are the statistics misguided?
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