Western States Communication Association – Statement in Opposition to Racist Violence
As officers of the Western States Communication Association (WSCA), we stand in outrage with the Black community and in witness to the murders of and attacks on African-American citizens. Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd are notable, yet few, among the many deaths from overt racism in the United States, and we stand with individuals and organizations working to focus awareness on this fact and to elicit national change.
We condemn systemic efforts to centralize white experiences and obscure/delegitimize historic and ongoing racial discrimination, as well as the abuses of communication and power that uphold those systems. We also recognize ourselves as an association that is situated within these systems, and commit ourselves to continued actions to move away from the status quo and to actualize social justice.
We reassert our Association resolutions and policies on anti-discrimination and diversity:
- The Western States Communication Association is fully committed to principles of equal opportunity, freedom from harassment, and freedom from discrimination.
- The WSCA opposes the abuse of communication in order to silence, coerce or exploit individuals or groups based on essentialized differences;
- The WSCA opposes acts of violence against all individuals regardless of differences;
- The WSCA opposes all that discriminates, prohibits, and/or restricts individuals’ expression and movements based on essentialized differences;
- The WSCA emphasizes our belief in the power of communication to have transformative possibilities in social relations;
- The WSCA endorses the use of public protests, advocacy, civil disobedience and/or other nonviolent means of expression as (counter)responses to acts of injustice;
- The WSCA endeavors for social change and justice in its pursuits;
- The WSCA supports communication scholars’ and practitioners’ exercise of academic freedom.
We also commit to opening access to information to support social justice and anti-racist efforts. By end of day Friday, June 5th, and extending through the end of 2020, the following six articles published by the Western States Communication Association in our Western Journal of Communication and Communication Reports journals will be completely free for public access. We hope that people might read and share these select works, and use them as part of their efforts to inform, frame, and engage in the creation of systemic and individual anti-racist change.
Signed:
Marnel Niles-Goins, President
Christina Granato Yoshimura, President-Elect
Rodney Reynolds, Immediate Past President
Heather Canary, First Vice President
Sara Hayden, Executive Director-Select
Flores, L. A. (2020). Stoppage and the racialized rhetorics of mobility. Western Journal of Communication, 84(3), 247–263.
Free link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10570314.2019.1676914
Holling, M.A. (2018) Centralizing marginality, marginalizing the center in the WSCA 2018 presidential address. Western Journal of Communication, 82(5), 529-536. DOI: 10.1080/10570314.2018.1463450
Free link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10570314.2018.1463450
Triece, M. E. (2018). Constructing the antiracial city: City planning and antiracialism in the 21st century. Western Journal of Communication, 82(5), 613–630.
Free link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10570314.2017.1390148
Gallant, L.M. & Krone, K.J. (2014) Tensions in talking diversity. Communication Reports, 27(1), 39-52. DOI: 10.1080/08934215.2013.837497
Free link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08934215.2013.837497
Maurantonio, N. (2014) “That photo”: Journalism and bearing witness to history. Western Journal of Communication, 78(4), 500-521. DOI: 10.1080/10570314.2013.845687
Free link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10570314.2013.845687
Richardson, B. K., & Taylor, J. (2009). Sexual harassment at the intersection of race and gender: A theoretical model of the sexual harassment experiences of women of color. Western Journal of Communication, 73(3), 248–272. DOI:10.1080/10570310903082065
Free link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10570310903082065
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