Racism in the American Press and Policies

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to identify whether the depiction of the stop-and-frisk policy in the American press is racist. The first phase of the paper consists of a brief summary of the implementation and practice of the stop-and-frisk policy in New York City. The second phase studies racism in the American press as a whole. The final phase involves a critical analysis of an article appearing in The American Signal following T.A. van Dijk’s theory on critical discourse analysis. By applying these guidelines, different levels of scrutiny have been assessed since there is not only one form of racism. This research will provide information regarding the way in which racism is conveyed through the press and policies in America.