White Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry The Racial Project in Explaining Mass Shootings

View/ Open
Issue Date
2010-01-01Author
Mingus, William
Zopf, Bradley
Publisher
Department of Sociology, University of Kansas
Type
Article
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Mass shootings, such as the ones that occurred at Columbine, Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois University, and Fort Hood receive considerable attention in the public arena. Though race is seldom highlighted as a significant consideration in
mass shootings, this paper considers the way in which the race of the perpetrator influences the response of the media and the public to these tragedies. Mass shootings are viewed through
the lens of Omi and Winant’s (1994) racial formation theory. The prominence given to the race of the perpetrator when the shooter is of any race but white and the deliberate omission of race in discussions of white shooters suggests a racial project that results in both white privilege and an opposing “forever foreigner” status for non-whites.
Collections
Citation
Social Thought and Research, Volume 31 (2010), pp. 57-78. http://dx.doi.org/10.17161/STR.1808.10073
Items in KU ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
We want to hear from you! Please share your stories about how Open Access to this item benefits YOU.