This article examines the discursive method utilized by a sample of white college students in the United States when engaging in racetalk. Findings reveal myriad contradictions within their responses. It is suggested that these contradictions are not coincidental; rather, they serve two important functions for the speakers: first, they aid the interlocutors in their impression management (i.e. their image of a nonracist); and second, the rationalization of the racial order. Utilizing an integrative approach, it is argued that this form of racetalk, whether intentionally or unintentionally, defends the white racial frame. This racetalk allows respondents to (

No abstract

In this article, we examine the narratives of the Civil Rights Movement as presented in cinematic narratives and in accounts of civil rights leaders. We conduct a comparative analysis focusing on the comparison of the Civil Rights narratives of the Hollywood films The Long Walk Home (1989) and Driving Miss Daisy (1989), to the 1997 audio series Will the Circle Be Unbroken? In the analysis, we identify a Hollywood and a black consensus narrative, but there are important differences in the representational politics of black activists who participated during the Civil Rights Movement and that of Hollywood filmmakers. In particular, our findings reveal that the two Hollywood films downplay black agency, deploy the white heroin character, privilege sentimental aspects over historical references, limit the historical scope of the movement, and use a language of intimacy and optimism about race relations. These depictions sharply differ from the black consensus narrative in which life under Jim Crow, black activism, unity, struggle, and group resilience are emphasized.

No abstract

Serial monogamy is a common practice in postindustrial societies, including the United States. Its prevalence reflects the changing economic, cultural, and social realities of a postindustrial society. The practice has led to a transformation of families. Not everyone engages in serial monogamy, however. Some scholars argue that serial monogamy is another form of polygyny, in which men extend their reproductive capacity. Other scholars have not embraced this view. The prevalence of serial monogamy presents new challenges and new opportunities for family members.