Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, May, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 492-506). Also available in electronic form online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Wesleyan University, 2005. / CD-ROM includes recorded examples and figures. Includes bibliographical references (v. 4, leaves 957-999)

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Diversity Studies). March 2014 / Despite the end of apartheid, South Africa remains a grossly unequal society. This has meant that the current social order must again be challenged. One of the tasks faced in post-apartheid South Africa is the philosophical and moral interrogation of white privilege. This research investigates the ways of speaking of Argentine immigrants living in South Africa. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed by making use of Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory as well as Melissa Steyn’s characteristics of “white talk”. It was found that Argentine immigrants living in South Africa aligned themselves with the ways of speaking of white South Africans. These are largely informed by and embedded in Eurocentric discourses; in particular liberal ideology. In line with the agenda of Critical Whiteness studies, this positionality was exposed and theoretically interrogated. Keywords: whiteness, immigrants, discourse, Laclau and Mouffe discourse theory, white talk, racism, identity, liberalism

This study analyzes various forms of visual and textual rhetoric found in popular black-owned print media from 1900-1970, including: beauty product advertisements, magazine cover photography and feature articles in order to contribute to a rhetorical history of color bias within the African-American community. The imagery included here validated and encouraged the transformation and lightening of African-American bodies through what I call embodied mimicry in order to achieve dominance within the racial group and a semblance of acceptance outside of it. Mimicry of white societal standards by African-Americans including: formatting of print media, circulation of beauty ads and physical embodiment of white physical features ultimately re-inscribed the tenets of racism into the black public sphere in the form of colorism. The intention of this research is to analyze the rhetorical history of colorism in order to better understand the current state of colorism in American society. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This thesis focuses on the continuous misrepresentations that appear throughout different outlets of popular culture and the negative impacts of these misrepresentations. In the first chapter, the focus will be on the films The Last of the Mohicans and The Mission and the origins and implications of the misrepresentation of Indians in film. The second chapter uses rap music videos such as 50 Cent’s In Da Club, Nelly’s Tip Drill, LMFAO and Lil John’s Shots, Where Da Hood At, Tupac’s Hit ‘Em up, and N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton as primary texts to demonstrate the one dimensional and problematic representations of African American Identity in the rap music industry. The third and final chapter uses the video games Grand Theft Auto III and Gun as examples of the negative representations that occur and are repeated quickly in the rapidly improving world of video games. While the misrepresentations are achieved and perpetuated differently in each medium, their ubiquitous presence in popular culture calls for discussion. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

In-depth interviews were conducted with African-American female college students ranging from freshmen to graduate level. Students were asked about their dating preferences for African-American men. The study investigated how physical appearance, trust, and attitudes about interracial relationships affected their dating selection. Symbolic interactionism and dramatugry were the theories used within this study. This study found evidence that supports existing literature on attitudes of distrust among African-American females toward African-American males, with lying, physical aggression, and cheating as top reasons. Distrust based on the females' viewpoints began with listening to warnings from their mothers about men's behavior. This study, however, found that dating preferences among females interviewed did not recognize physical appearance, such as light or dark skin preference and body-frame preference, as a significant factor for date selection. This finding is in contrast to existing literature. Attitude differences between young African-American female college students and the older African-American female college students were found. Freshmen and sophomores related more of listening to social-group attitudes on dating preferences whereas junior, senior, and graduate- level females relied on individual decision making on dating selection. Supporting the current existing literature on attitudes about interracial relationships, the majority of the women interviewed had negative attitudes toward interracial relationships.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 246-256). Also available on the Internet.

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The recent and past history of South Africa make this an ideal setting for the study of attitudes of children towards themselves, their own race group and other groups. This research examines self-esteem, perceived social stratification, racial identification and preference attributions. The study followed a cross-sectional design with a sample of 228 grade 1 and grade 4 school pupils. These children were selected from three different types of schools in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands region ensuring representation from three of the traditionally classified race groups - Black, Indian and White. Three assessment instruments were administered: the Culture-Free Self-esteem Inventory of Battle (1992); the Social Status Technique which assessed Perceived social stratification, .racial identification and preference attributions; and an adaptation of the Social Distance Scale of Bogardus (1925) which was administered to a proportion of the sample and correlated with the Social Status Technique preference scores as a measure of validity for this scale. Analysis of the results included provision of reliability and validity data of the Social Status Technique. Results both confirm and contradict some of the various findings of recent local and international research. With respect to self-esteem, it was found that the younger black children showed significantly lower scores than the Indian and white children of the sample. The younger black children also showed less distinct scores on racial identification, as well as evidence of out-group preference attributions. Older black children showed clearer ingroup identification and preference. The younger Indian children identified mostly with their own group, but not significantly more than with the 'Nhite group. They identified significantly less with the black group. Older Indian children showed clearer own-group identification. Preference attributions were made for the Indian and white groups by the Indian subjects. White children of both age groups showed more distinct scores on in-group identification, and a greater degree of in-group preference attributions than the other two groups. All subjects showed recognition of social stratification, rating the white group as more advantaged than the Indian, and particularly the black group, which was rated lowest. Theoretical implications are discussed, and recommendations for future research in this area are made. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1997.

Using the theory of the dialogical self, this study aimed to understand the identities of a sample of transracially adopted South African adolescents. Particular attention was paid to the identity domains of race and adoption, as well as the impact of relationships on the formation of individual identity. In-depth interviews were conducted with four transracially adopted adolescents and their parents. The voice centred relational method (Brown and Gilligan, 1992) was used as the method of analysis. Results of this research support many assumptions of the theory of the dialogical self and suggest that there is a dynamic relationship between internal and external positions within the self. In addition, the results show that the participants have developed racial and adoptive identities characterized by conflicting positions within the self, which may be mediated by relationships with significant others. Issues specific to the South African context, including language and poverty, also appear to bear significant influence on the identities of the participants. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006