Racism and power: Arizona politicians' use of the discourse of anti-americanism against mexican american studies

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15 Scopus citations

Abstract

The article discusses a legislation that would effectively terminate Mexican American Studies programs in k-12 was passed in Arizona in 2010. In this article, the author traces how this legislation drew from discourses of anti-Americanism and wickedness initiated by the state's superintendent of public instruction against Mexican American Studies and from larger social antagonistic language regarding Mexican ethnics. The author uses critical discourse analysis (CDA) and van Dijk's notion of the discourse-power circle, in particular, to demonstrate how the superintendent along with the author of the legislation, were successful in controlling the voting actions of enough legislators to pass the bill.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)43-60
Number of pages18
JournalHispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Volume34
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2012
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • critical discourse analysis
  • discourse-power circle
  • ethnic studies
  • racism
  • relations of power

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology
  • Cultural Studies
  • Anthropology
  • Linguistics and Language

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