Systemic Racism In The Flint Water Crisis: A Media Analysis

An analysis of the media coverage of the Water Crisis in Flint, Michigan from April 2014 to January 2016 revealed that the news coverage of the crisis served to reinforce the white racial hegemony of 21st century America. In the Introduction, I provide a general overview of the contents of the thesis. In Chapter One, I sketch an outline of the colorblind paradigm I constructed as an analytic model using the theories of Joe R. Feagin, Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, and Cedric C. Clark. I then apply that model to four types of media – advertisements, sports, reality television, and news media – to demonstrate how the media perpetuates and reinforces white racial hegemony. In Chapter Two, I provide a historical sketch of Flint, Michigan and the events that led to the Flint Water Crisis. In Chapter Three, I apply the colorblind paradigm to the media coverage of the Flint Water Crisis to underscore the prevalence of white racial hegemony within the coverage of the event. Finally, in the Conclusion, I offer potential avenues for future research.