Ani Fitzgerald

UWRT 1102
March 13, 2016
Racial Studies
This semester my group selected to research racial studies in the
United States for our inquiry project. In particular we wanted to gain a
better understanding of the racial issue between African and White
Americans. The time frame we chose to look at ranged from the 1960s
to now. For my section of the project I was looking at what areas racial
issues are most prevalent in, if location affects how racial issues are
portrayed, why racialsm issues are still prevalent today, and if social
media can beis used as a catalyst for racial issues.
From my research I was able to find a lot of resources that
related to my topic area. The sources ranged from movies, articles,
social media, and news broadcasts. Last year the Washington Post had
a segment that talked about the most racist areas in America and
suggested that these areas were the rural Northeast and South. The
article referenced a study that compared increase in African America
mortality rates and the number of times the N-word was plugged into
the Google search engine. While many, myself included may make the
assumption that the Deep South would be the most racist area. The
study found the areas most racist areas bordered the Appalachian
mountain, starting at Georgia and worked its way up. (Ingraham,
2015)

Ani Fitzgerald
UWRT 1102
March 13, 2016
A few years ago during presidential election in 2012, CNN did an
article discussing an incident where a former New Hampshire governor
Sununu made a remark that tinted this image. He referenced that Colin
Powel might have supported President Obama for alternative reasons.
The article went on to discuss that the Mr. Powell supported President
Obama based on his attributes but the governor suggested a racial
connection. (Brazile, 2012) maybe discuss on how he did that
An article written a few years ago discussed if status has any
effect on the views of racial issues between African and White
Americans. The article talked about how some people link racial issues
to white racism, while anothers link it to the racial gap. A survey done
showed that White Americans of an elite status are less likely than
African Americans to view racial issues as one of the main issue facing
America today.
Social media has completely changed the way we we
hearreceive about information. We dont have to wait to read it in the
newspaper or watch it on the news. We now have access to
information within seconds. Twitter in particular has revolutionized how
we share information. Hashtags allow news to be clumped together. An
article talked about how social media allows highly controversial topics
to be talked about with limited moderation.

Ani Fitzgerald
UWRT 1102
March 13, 2016
I still have to analyze different Twitter post and movies
for my project.

From my research I have gained a better understanding of the

racial issues occurring in America. I have learned what areas might be
the most racist based on demographics, how different medias can be
used to influence an audience on a topic, and how social media plays
into racial topics. One limitation in my research is that I can make a
personal connection with the articles. I have experienced the types of
racial issues they have. This constricts how Im going to view this
information.
In the past few decades, America has made great progress in the
fight for racial equality. African and White Americans now share the
same rights in contrast to how it was back in the 1950s. With all the
progress America has made over the years maybe people dont really
see racism as an issue anymore. This has caused many issues to occur
these past few years because Africans Americans still view racism as a
prominent issue in American while White Americans no longer see it
this way.
Maybe a little more information about your topic it kind of feels a
little cut off.
Coming up with a few questions to add to the end of your draft
wouldnt hurt.

Ani Fitzgerald
UWRT 1102
March 13, 2016