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This dissertation traces the history of black and white evangelical encounters between the 1960s and 1990s. In the crucible of these encounters, white evangelicals forged a new theology of race: Christian colorblindness. Drawing on biblical idioms and the rhetoric of spiritual unity, white evangelicals turned their back on white supremacist theologies even as they resisted black evangelical calls for a more thorough redistribution of power. In the ambiguous space between racist reaction and anti-racist Christianity, white evangelicals successfully expanded their movement and adapted to the changes the civil rights movement wrought. Professing to be united in Christ, they molded an evangelical form of whiteness while proclaiming colorblind intentions. Colorblind Christians embraced a politics of church primacy. They believed that conversion to evangelical Christianity, not systemic change or legal reform, was the source of racial progress. When people became Christians, their new identity as members of the Body of Christ superseded any racial identity. Black evangelicals could use such claims to press for inclusion in white evangelical institutions. But white evangelicals often used the same logic to silence black evangelical demands for reform. In these spaces of ostensible Christian unity, white evangelicals preserved whiteness at the center of American evangelicalism. The story of black and white evangelical encounters reveals an American racial order that was at once racial and religious. Colorblind Christians invites scholars of race to consider how religion shapes racial formation and encourages scholars of religion to think about how race structures religion. Using the archives of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, overlooked records from the most influential church growth initiative of the era, and rarely-examined sources such as student newspapers from white evangelical colleges, Colorblind Christians shows how white evangelicals shaped the American racial order and became successful religio-racial entrepreneurs in a time of rapid change. Using race strategically to grow their churches, white evangelicals invested in whiteness in the name of spreading a colorblind gospel. Black evangelicals promoted an alternative evangelical vision that placed racial justice at the center of the gospel. Their efforts to belong in American evangelicalism revealed the racial boundaries of the movement. By the end of the twentieth century, Christian colorblindness had helped to grow evangelicalism and enhance its political power, but it did so by coloring evangelicalism white. Black evangelicals, outsiders in their own religious tradition, continued to expose these often-invisible investments and pointed the way toward an evangelicalism beyond whiteness. / History

In this ethnographic study, I draw on interviews, audiorecordings of course meetings, observation notes and student work to explore the experiences of White preservice teachers in two sections of a Social Contexts of Education course. The instructors of both sections sought to challenge students’ color-blind racial ideologies. Whereas prior research documents prospective teachers resisting learning about race, this study’s participants evidenced a willingness to engage with this content. Nevertheless, most participants still remained committed to color-blind ideologies at the end of the course. This research offers insights into two obstacles that hindered most participants from adopting color-conscious ideologies as well as four pedagogical strategies that successfully interrupted, at least temporarily, some participants’ color-blind ideologies. The findings lead to pedagogical recommendations for teacher educators, structural suggestions for teacher education programs, and a theoretical contribution about the important role of socio-cultural understandings of identity in the preparation of color-conscious teachers. / Urban Education

Given the extensive literature and findings on contemporary racial dynamics, analysts have yet to fully theorize a critical perspective on the role that Asian and Asian Americans play as transnational racial actors in upholding the dominant racial ideology today; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). This is central to the global, transnational racial order that structures a racially affective economy of language use. Such racially affective economy extends to other facets culture, particularly the reception of Hallyu. This dissertation is a qualitative study spanning approximately three (3) years of participant observation across multiple sites incorporating open-ended interviews with Asian and Asian Americans at a historically and predominantly white university in the Southeastern United States. This study also utilizes autoethnographic reflections and archival materials in conjunction with participant observation and interview data. Through approaching every aspect of the qualitative design in this study as a participant myself, such as ethnographic participant observation, open-ended interviews, autoethnography, and archival materials, I locate and explore how Asian and Asian Americans reproduce their racial position in the hierarchy by the reification of the racial category, "honorary white" (i.e., wedge between Black and white). The racial apathy intertwined with the imperial modality observed in this dissertation is indispensable to the global construction of race. This dissertation critically engages and interrogates how DEI initiative aimed at Asian Americans at Southern University (pseudonym) works in tandem with the nation-state, effectively producing and matriculating bicultural and transnational racial actors while taking advantage of the racialized laborers in DEI. This dissertation brings together three (3) analytic points of exploratory findings from Asian and Asian American students, staff, and faculty at SU in illustrating some of the key reasons why white supremacy reigns despite the higher visibility of Asian popular culture (i.e., Hallyu) and institutional emphasis on DEI. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation is a study of Asian and Asian American student communities at a historically and predominantly white university located in the Southeastern United States. This dissertation deals with how Asian and Asian American communities are unable to come to ethnic solidarity in various exchanges in language, pop-culture, and nationalistic viewpoints. From analyzing data deriving from three years of observing and interviewing Korean and Korean American student organizations, library, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion administration, this dissertation identifies the case of the United States as a white supremacist empire.

Predominantly white institutions (PWIs) are experiencing a racial history crisis. This crisis is occurring partially in response to current events including the multiple deaths of Black men and women at the hands of White police officers: Michael Brown in 2014, Breonna Taylor in 2020, and George Floyd also in 2020. Additionally, there has been a resurgence of investigation and national debate around building names and statues on college campuses memorializing people who supported slavery or were members of hate groups. These events coupled with the lack of truth-telling around the roles of Black and African American people and other minoritized communities within the development and prosperity of colleges and universities has centered history as focal point in the diversity, equity, and inclusion spaces. Nearly all colleges and universities include diversity, equity, and inclusion as a center piece of their mission statements, but few address their racialized history. Often, the university's history is told from an ahistorical perspective which places whiteness at the center of the history narrative. With a conceptual framework incorporating both critical race theory and white institutional presence, the study interrogated how universities are telling the stories of their histories regarding African American people. The sample selected for the study included 16 universities designated as leaders in the field of diversity, equity and inclusion. The selected universities received the designation of Diversity Champion from Insight Into Diversity magazine. The history narratives, typically found on the About page of the universities' website, were examined for instances of white institutional presence and counternarratives. Findings were filtered through a critical whiteness framework resulting in four types of categories. Exemplar institutions were countering white institutional presence and whiteness through multiple instances of counternarratives, centering Black and African American history, and confronting racist ideologies within their institutional history narratives. The remaining three categories of institutions were discussed for these instances as well. Overall, the findings concluded that some universities have made progress in the area of historical truth telling, most universities have not fully engaged in this work. The study offered implications for further research in the areas of critical whiteness, white institutional presence, and diverse learning environments. Incorporating the findings of the exemplar university cases, the study also discussed implications for policy and practice for institutions interested in or working on investigating their histories as related to minoritized communities, but specifically histories involving African American people. / Doctor of Philosophy / Predominantly white institutions (PWIs) are experiencing a racial history crisis. This crisis is occurring partially in response to current events including the multiple deaths of Black men and women at the hands of White police officers: Michael Brown in 2014, Breonna Taylor in 2020, and George Floyd also in 2020. Additionally, there has been a resurgence of investigation and national debate around building names and statues on college campuses memorializing people who supported slavery or were members of hate groups. These events coupled with the lack of truth-telling around the roles of Black and African American people and other minoritized communities within the development and prosperity of colleges and universities has centered history as focal point in the diversity, equity, and inclusion spaces. Nearly all colleges and universities include diversity, equity, and inclusion as a center piece of their mission statements, but few address their racialized history. Often, the university's history is told from an ahistorical perspective which places whiteness at the center of the history narrative. With a conceptual framework incorporating both critical race theory and white institutional presence, the study interrogated how universities are telling the stories of their histories regarding African American people. The sample selected for the study included 16 universities designated as leaders in the field of diversity, equity and inclusion.

As Richard Thomas writes, “there is nothing like Star Trek…Of all the universes of science fiction, the Star Trek universe is the most varied and extensive, and by all accounts the series is the most popular science fiction ever” (1). Ever growing (the latest Star Trek film will be released in Spring 2013) and embodied in hundreds of novels and slash fanfiction, decades of television and film, conventions, replicas, toys, and a complete Klingon language Star Trek is nothing short of a cultural phenomenon. As Harrison et al argue in Enterprise Zones: Critical Positions on Star Trek, the economic and cultural link embodied in the production of the Star Trek phenomena “more than anything else, perhaps, makes Star Trek a cultural production worth criticizing” (3). A utopian universe, Star Trek invites its audience to imagine a future of amicable human and alien life, often pictured without the ravages of racism, sexism, capitalism and poverty. However, beyond the pleasure of watching, I would ask what do the representations within Star Trek reveal about our popular culture? In essence, what are the values, meaning and beliefs about gender, race, sexuality and disability being communicated in the text? I will explore the ways that the Star Trek universe simultaneously encourages and discourages us from thinking about race, gender, sexuality and disability and their intersections. In other words, this work will examine the ways that representations of identity are challenged and reinforced by Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager. This work will situate Star Trek specifically within the science fiction genre and explore the importance of its utopian standpoint as a frame for representational politics. Following Inness, (1999), I argue that science fiction is particularly rich textual space to explore ideas of women and gender (104). As Sharona Ben-Tov suggests in The Artificial Paradise: Science Fiction and American Reality (1995) science fiction’s “position at a unique intersection of science and technology, mass media, popular culture, literature, and secular ritual” offers critical insight into social change (ctd. in Inness 104). I extend Inness and Ben-Tov here to assert that the ways in which science fiction’s rich and “synthetic language of metaphor” illustrate and re-envision contemporary gender roles also offers a re-imagination of assumptions regarding race, sexuality and disability (Inness 104). Extending current scholarship (Roberts 1999, Richards 1997, Gregory 2000, Bernardi 1998, Adare 2005, Greven 2009, Wagner and Lundeen 1998, Relke 2006, and Harrison et all 1996), I intend to break from traditions of dichotomous views of The Next Generation and Voyager as either essentially progressive or conservative. In this sense, I hope to complicate and question simplistic conclusions about Star Trek’s ideological centre. Moreover, as feminist media theorist Mia Consalvo notes, previous analyses of Star Trek have explored how the show constructs and comments on conceptions of gender and race as well as commenting on economic systems and political ideologies (2004). As such, my analysis intends to apply an intersectional approach as well as offer a ‘cripped’ (McRuer 2006) reading of Star Trek in order to provide a deeper understanding of how identities are represented both in science fiction and in popular culture. Both critical approaches – especially the emphasis on disability, sexuality and intersectional identities are largely ignored by past Trek readings. That is to say, while there is critical research on representations in Star Trek (Roberts 1999, Bernardi 1998) much of it is somewhat uni-dimensional in its analysis, focusing exclusively on gender or racialized representation and notably excluding dimensions of sexuality and ability. Moreover, as much of the writing on the Star Trek phenomena has focused on The Original Series (TOS) and The Next Generation this work will bring the same critical analysis to the Voyager series. To perform this research a feminist discourse analysis will be employed. While all seven seasons and 178 episodes of The Next Generation series as well as all seven seasons and 172 episodes of Voyager have been viewed particular episodes will be selected for their illustrative value.

As Richard Thomas writes, “there is nothing like Star Trek…Of all the universes of science fiction, the Star Trek universe is the most varied and extensive, and by all accounts the series is the most popular science fiction ever” (1). Ever growing (the latest Star Trek film will be released in Spring 2013) and embodied in hundreds of novels and slash fanfiction, decades of television and film, conventions, replicas, toys, and a complete Klingon language Star Trek is nothing short of a cultural phenomenon. As Harrison et al argue in Enterprise Zones: Critical Positions on Star Trek, the economic and cultural link embodied in the production of the Star Trek phenomena “more than anything else, perhaps, makes Star Trek a cultural production worth criticizing” (3). A utopian universe, Star Trek invites its audience to imagine a future of amicable human and alien life, often pictured without the ravages of racism, sexism, capitalism and poverty. However, beyond the pleasure of watching, I would ask what do the representations within Star Trek reveal about our popular culture? In essence, what are the values, meaning and beliefs about gender, race, sexuality and disability being communicated in the text? I will explore the ways that the Star Trek universe simultaneously encourages and discourages us from thinking about race, gender, sexuality and disability and their intersections. In other words, this work will examine the ways that representations of identity are challenged and reinforced by Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager. This work will situate Star Trek specifically within the science fiction genre and explore the importance of its utopian standpoint as a frame for representational politics. Following Inness, (1999), I argue that science fiction is particularly rich textual space to explore ideas of women and gender (104). As Sharona Ben-Tov suggests in The Artificial Paradise: Science Fiction and American Reality (1995) science fiction’s “position at a unique intersection of science and technology, mass media, popular culture, literature, and secular ritual” offers critical insight into social change (ctd. in Inness 104). I extend Inness and Ben-Tov here to assert that the ways in which science fiction’s rich and “synthetic language of metaphor” illustrate and re-envision contemporary gender roles also offers a re-imagination of assumptions regarding race, sexuality and disability (Inness 104). Extending current scholarship (Roberts 1999, Richards 1997, Gregory 2000, Bernardi 1998, Adare 2005, Greven 2009, Wagner and Lundeen 1998, Relke 2006, and Harrison et all 1996), I intend to break from traditions of dichotomous views of The Next Generation and Voyager as either essentially progressive or conservative. In this sense, I hope to complicate and question simplistic conclusions about Star Trek’s ideological centre. Moreover, as feminist media theorist Mia Consalvo notes, previous analyses of Star Trek have explored how the show constructs and comments on conceptions of gender and race as well as commenting on economic systems and political ideologies (2004). As such, my analysis intends to apply an intersectional approach as well as offer a ‘cripped’ (McRuer 2006) reading of Star Trek in order to provide a deeper understanding of how identities are represented both in science fiction and in popular culture. Both critical approaches – especially the emphasis on disability, sexuality and intersectional identities are largely ignored by past Trek readings. That is to say, while there is critical research on representations in Star Trek (Roberts 1999, Bernardi 1998) much of it is somewhat uni-dimensional in its analysis, focusing exclusively on gender or racialized representation and notably excluding dimensions of sexuality and ability. Moreover, as much of the writing on the Star Trek phenomena has focused on The Original Series (TOS) and The Next Generation this work will bring the same critical analysis to the Voyager series. To perform this research a feminist discourse analysis will be employed. While all seven seasons and 178 episodes of The Next Generation series as well as all seven seasons and 172 episodes of Voyager have been viewed particular episodes will be selected for their illustrative value.