From complicity to coherence: Rereading the rhetoric of afrocentricity

Negotiations of the Complicitous Nature of US Racial/Ethnic Categorization: Exploring Rhetorical Strategies

“…Complicity theory (McPhail, 1994(McPhail, , 1998(McPhail, , 2002 has been used by communication scholars to critique contemporary racialized texts, including movies by Spike Lee (McPhail, 1996), speeches by Louis Farrakhan (McPhail, 1998), and interactions on US college campuses (Patton, 2004). In addition, both Jackson (2000) and Hatch (2003) point to complicity theory as a helpful framework to transform the current state of race relations into more liberating dialogues where true racial reconciliation can occur.…”

“…In this paper, we seek to understand how people in the US work rhetorically to transform the complicitous nature of rigid racial=ethnic categories. In our search for answers we utilize narratives from 100 diverse persons to explore how they invoke multiple names (Tanno, 2004) as a means to resist the rigid classification that essentializes complex sets of human experience (McPhail, 1994(McPhail, , 1998. We begin by providing a historical context for US racial and ethnic labeling.…”

CrashUnder Investigation: Engaging Complications of Complicity, Coherence, and Implicature Through Critical Analysis

“…In this regard, focusing on similarities and interdependence falsely led people to believe in a -color-blind‖ society in which racial differences are irrelevant. This articulation was perhaps intensified by the lack of recognition of difference as good, complementary, and necessary-an important aspect of coherence (McPhail, 1996b(McPhail, , 1998a) that Crash chose not to champion in depicting race relations.…”

“…At the heart of complicity theory is the idea that race relations cannot improve unless coherence replaces complicity as the norm (McPhail, 1998a). In our critical thematic analysis of Crash, we sought to use multiple methods to explore the ways in which the characters in the film negotiated complicity and coherence, as well as how audience members became implicated within the film's plot.…”

“…It avoids a focus on negative differences and critiques existing frameworks that depict human beings in terms of separate and distinct races (McPhail, 1998a). While complicity hinges on the idea of negative difference as oppositional force, coherence sees differences as complementary (McPhail, 1996b).…”