Absence is the first discourse that explains how local participants in the study deny or minimize the existence of racism. In the discourse, people claim that racism is not an issue in their area (Nelson, 2013). The argument still holds despite evidence from collected data of instances of racism in the particular regions. There are factors known to discourage a person from acknowledging the presence of racism in their locality including and not limited to consciously or unconsciously protecting the area from the stigma of racism. Temporal is the second discourse and presents a plan of minimization or denial where time separates a place or person from racist issues (Nelson, 2013). The discourse is utilized by a person to distance himself or herself from incidences of racism in their local areas. Spatial deflection is used by people to claim the absence of racism in a particular place or locality with the aim of comparing their areas with other zones (Nelson, 2013). Deflection from mainstream refers to a discourse where people acknowledge “pockets” of issues that are racist but not systemic or structural racism and thus, blaming the existence of racism to a small fraction of their population.
Question 2
The movie “The Help” written and directed by Tate Taylor employs deflection from the mainstream discourse by illustrating that racism is not an overpowering subject but a problem with an insignificant percentage of people (Nelson, 2013). Eugenia Phelan, a white graduate, is determined to expose the evil of racism in her community. However, she is a member of a women’s socialite group where some of its members were accused of expressing racist attitudes towards their maids. Hilly Holbrook seeks to install different bathrooms for her and the housemaid forming the grounds for firing her. Celia, wife to Johnny Foote was not a racist, and she developed a friendship with her housemaid despite her unemployable status. Skeeter realizes that her mother fired her childhood maid for reasons that were unclear leading to the death of the maid’s daughter. Johnny appreciated the friendship between his wife and Minny and was thankful for saving his wife’s life and in the end, gave her permanent job security. Therefore, the play depicts that racism is an issue with a particular fraction of society.
References
Nelson, J. (2013). Denial of racism and its implications for local action. Discourse & Society, 24(1), 89-109. doi: 10.1177/0957926512463635
