Apologies and Apologists: The Disavowal of Racism and the Abjuration of Anti-racism in the Contemporary United States

Abstract

This article examines the controversy over the hip-hop group OutKast's performance at the 2004 Grammy Awards and the death of Marge Schott, one time owner of the Cincinnati Reds, with a view toward sketching the contours of a new form of racism—colorblindness. Attention is directed at the erasure of racism in fan accounts and then at its containment in what purports to be anti-racist discourse. Media literacy teachers need to equip students with the tools to recognize, engage, and challenge the (re)constructions of racial identities, ideologies, and hierarchies. The teaching of anti-racist media literacy must be rooted in a pedagogy that directs its attention toward the disruption of white supremacy as a structured social system.