DOCSLIB.ORG

Equity and Ability Grouping: a Study of Whole-School Practices and Reflections on Vocal Music Education

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Equity and Ability Grouping: a Study of Whole-School Practices and Reflections on Vocal Music Education University of Missouri, St. Louis IRL @ UMSL Dissertations UMSL Graduate Works 4-8-2021 Equity and Ability Grouping: A Study of Whole-School Practices and Reflections on ocalV Music Education Daniel Glossenger University of Missouri-St. Louis, [email protected] Andrew Cowell University of Missouri-St. Louis, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation Part of the Art Education Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration Commons, and the Secondary Education Commons Recommended Citation Glossenger, Daniel and Cowell, Andrew, "Equity and Ability Grouping: A Study of Whole-School Practices and Reflections on ocalV Music Education" (2021). Dissertations. 1033. https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation/1033 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the UMSL Graduate Works at IRL @ UMSL. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of IRL @ UMSL. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EQUITY AND ABILITY GROUPING 1 Equity and Ability Grouping: A Study of Whole-School Practices and Reflections on Vocal Music Education Andrew Cowell M.M.Ed., Vocal Music, Kent State University, 2014 B.M.Ed., Vocal Music, University of Missouri-St. Louis, 2006 Daniel Glossenger M.A., Education, Truman State University, 2009 B.A., History, Truman State University, 2008 A Co-Authored Dissertation submitted to The Graduate School at the University of Missouri-St. Louis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education with an emphasis in Educational Practice May 2021 Dissertation Committee Thomasina Hassler, Ph.D. Chairperson Cheryl Osby, Ph.D. Robert Good, Ph.D. EQUITY AND ABILITY GROUPING 2 Abstract This co-authored dissertation is a macro-level case study of a public high school tracking system and a micro-level autoethnography from a music educator about vocal music placement practices. The case study sought to comprehensively describe and analyze the characteristics of a tracking system in all core subjects at a single school, including the extent of differentiation of levels, placement practices, student mobility, teacher tracking, and inclusiveness by race, class, and gender. It also used network analysis software to map more than 75,000 connections among students created by their course-taking; it used this to quantitatively identify student communities, which then were analyzed for demographic trends. Paired with the case study, the autoethnography examined the assumptions and placement practices in high school vocal music and in educator preparation programs. The case study found limited student mobility, complex placement practices that differed from one subject area to another, extensive segregation in nearly all subject areas, and limited evidence for teacher tracking. It also revealed several student communities that function as segregated schools-within-a-school. The autoethnography revealed the impact of teachers as evaluator on the leveling and ability grouping practices within vocal music education and specifically highlights bias through the lens of Critical Race Theory. Recommendations for policy reform are provided. EQUITY AND ABILITY GROUPING 3 Acknowledgement We both would like to thank our advisors and the members of our dissertation committee, Dr. Thomasina Hassler, Dr. Cheryl Osby, Dr. Rob Good, and Dr. Matthew Davis. Our hearts break at the loss of Matthew, who was our counselor and a great activist for social justice. Although we miss him dearly, he will always be with us in peace, love, and struggle. —Daniel and Drew I would like to thank the advisors, professors, and mentors that have affected the success of my tenure in collegiate learning. I would like to personally thank Dr. Christopher Venesile for his encouragement during my graduate studies and fostering the growth of my research interests. I must also thank my friends, family, Steve, and my mother for helping keep me focused; your compassion and understanding allowed me to complete this work. Finally, I need to acknowledge a friend, colleague, and mentor who has shaped me both as a person and as a professional. Dr. Richard Robinson, thank you for inspiring me years ago through reading, conversations, and writing to challenge my understanding of scholarship. —Drew In addition to our committee, I would like to thank all of the educators and staff who helped me on this journey at my workplace, at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and at Truman State University. To Dan, Deana, Barb, Nathan, Josh, and Lois, thank you for your cheerful willingness to help in any way possible, from gathering curriculum guides in basement storage rooms to creating spreadsheets and answering my questions. To Wendy, Mark, and Jeff, thank you for your wisdom and years of service to teaching about history and education. I would not be where I am today without you. I also thank my partner, Julie, who has been patient and loving as I spent countless hours away from home. Your encouragement and sacrifices made this possible. —Daniel EQUITY AND ABILITY GROUPING 4 Table of Contents 1. Introduction 7 Problems and Audience 10 Purposes and Research Questions 11 Terminology 12 2. Literature Review 15 Theoretical Framework 15 Critical Race Theory 15 Social Reproduction Theories 20 History of Grouping 23 School-wide Grouping Literature 25 Vertical Differentiation 26 Horizontal Differentiation 28 Placement Procedures 29 Electivity. 30 Mobility. 32 Selectivity. 34 Inclusiveness 35 Scope 37 Teacher Characteristics 38 Music Education Grouping Literature 39 Audition Practices: Perpetuating Elitism 39 Musical Elitism 40 Auditioning and Listening for Whiteness 37 Diversity and Inclusion in Music 43 Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (CRP) and the Music Classroom 44 Ability Grouping & Course Selection: Student Input 47 3. Methodology 50 Case Study Methodology 50 Setting and Participants 51 Data Collection 51 Data Analysis 54 Autoethnographic Methodology 60 Participant/Researcher’s Role 62 Setting 62 Limitations and Delimitations 64 Ethical Issues 65 4. Case Study Results 66 Differentiation 66 English 66 Mathematics 69 Science 71 Social Studies 73 EQUITY AND ABILITY GROUPING 5 Placement and Mobility 75 English 77 Mathematics 82 Science 87 Social Studies 90 Inclusiveness 93 English 94 Mathematics 97 Science 100 Social Studies 103 Scope and Student Communities 105 Community Detection and Traits 105 Whole School. 106 9th grade. 106 10th grade. 109 11th grade. 112 12th grade. 115 Community Interaction 117 Whole School. 118 9th grade. 120 10th grade. 121 11th grade. 122 12th grade. 123 Community Evolution 124 Teacher Traits 127 English 129 Mathematics 129 Science 130 Social Studies 131 5. Autoethnography 132 Introduction to Inquiry through Narrative Reflection 132 Narrative #1: An involuntary absence… 133 Narrative #2: A voluntary absence… 137 Narrative #3: Noticing the void… 141 Narrative #4: Filling the void… 148 Narrative #5: Preservice undergraduate self-definition… 152 Narrative #6: Professional self-definition… 158 Narrative #7: Black music and popular culture… 163 6. Conclusions 168 Summary 169 Findings 171 Differentiation 171 Placement and Mobility 173 EQUITY AND ABILITY GROUPING 6 Inclusiveness 175 Scope and Student Communities 178 Teacher Traits 180 Vocal Music 181 Recommendations 183 Limitations 188 Future Research 191 References 193 Tables 215 Figures 259 Appendices 290 EQUITY AND ABILITY GROUPING 7 Chapter One Introduction Both of the researchers for this study believe it is important to understand the context of our work. While we have some important differences, we share the privilege of Whiteness, and we enter this phase of our work after years of study about effecting social justice. Daniel was drawn to this work by more than a decade in the classroom watching the system produce the same results, year in and year out, for the same kinds of students. Over and over again the schools where he worked lamented that Black and Brown children were simply not enrolling in advanced classes, all the while keeping gatekeepers in power and systems in place to maintain the status quo. He himself was part of that very gatekeeping, recommending students for certain classes but not others, and he admits to being complicit in the hoarding of educational opportunity. This dissertation is not enough to amend the harms done by decades of tracking practices, but he holds in his heart that one who moves mountains does so by carrying away a stone at a time. For Andrew, this work grew out of his own need for community and belonging within the music classroom. As a high school and collegiate music student navigating his own membership in a marginalized community, he not only found refuge but a sense of community in choral ensembles. Now as a choral music educator himself, he has noticed that the ensembles he directs and the music classrooms he teaches do not truly represent the diverse communities that he serves. Since the music classroom, specifically the high school ensemble setting, relies heavily upon the evaluative practices and consequently the ability grouping assignments by its director, he believes that reflecting on his tenure as a EQUITY AND ABILITY GROUPING 8 vocal music educator may reveal insight into systems that limit the participation of Black, Indigenous people of color. The goal of this dissertation is for him to contemplate his own experiences not only as a means of self-growth but to embolden other White
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Download (2399Kb)
    A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of Warwick Permanent WRAP URL: http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/ 84893 Copyright and reuse: This thesis is made available online and is protected by original copyright. Please scroll down to view the document itself. Please refer to the repository record for this item for information to help you to cite it. Our policy information is available from the repository home page. For more information, please contact the WRAP Team at: [email protected] warwick.ac.uk/lib-publications Culture is a Weapon: Popular Music, Protest and Opposition to Apartheid in Britain David Toulson A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History University of Warwick Department of History January 2016 Table of Contents Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………...iv Declaration………………………………………………………………………….v Abstract…………………………………………………………………………….vi Introduction………………………………………………………………………..1 ‘A rock concert with a cause’……………………………………………………….1 Come Together……………………………………………………………………...7 Methodology………………………………………………………………………13 Research Questions and Structure…………………………………………………22 1)“Culture is a weapon that we can use against the apartheid regime”……...25 The Cultural Boycott and the Anti-Apartheid Movement…………………………25 ‘The Times They Are A Changing’………………………………………………..34 ‘Culture is a weapon of struggle’………………………………………………….47 Rock Against Racism……………………………………………………………...54 ‘We need less airy fairy freedom music and more action.’………………………..72 2) ‘The Myth
    [Show full text]
  • Cultural Politics and Old and New Social Movements
    P1: FHD/IVO/LCT P2: GCR/LCT QC: Qualitative Sociology [quso] ph132-quas-375999 June 13, 2002 19:33 Style file version June 4th, 2002 Qualitative Sociology, Vol. 25, No. 3, Fall 2002 (C 2002) Music in Movement: Cultural Politics and Old and New Social Movements Ron Eyerman1 After a period of interdisciplinary openness, contemporary sociology has only re- cently rediscovered culture. This is especially true of political sociology, where institutional and network analyses, as well as rational choice models, have dom- inated. This article will offer another approach by focusing on the role of music and the visual arts in relation to the formation of collective identity, collective memory and collective action. Drawing on my own research on the Civil Rights movement in the United States and the memory of slavery in the formation of African-American identity, and its opposite, the place of white power music in contemporary neo-fascist movements, I will outline a model of culture as more than a mobilization resource and of the arts as political mediators. KEY WORDS: social movements; representation; performance. COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR: CULTURE AND POLITICS The study of collective behavior has traditionally included the study of sub- cultures and social movements as central elements. This was so from the beginning when the research field emerged in the disciplinary borderlands between sociology and psychology in the periods just before and after World War II. Using a scale of rationality, the collective behaviorist placed crowd behavior at the most irra- tional end of a continuum and social movements at the most rational. The middle ground was left for various cults and subcultures, including those identified with youth.
    [Show full text]
  • Hate and the Internet by Kenneth S. Stern Kenneth S. Stern Is the American Jewish Committee's Specialist on Antisemitism and E
    Hate and the Internet by Kenneth S. Stern Kenneth S. Stern is the American Jewish Committee’s specialist on antisemitism and extremism. Introduction For ten or twenty dollars a month, you can have a potential audience of tens of millions of people. There was a time when these folks were stuck surreptitiously putting fliers under your windshield wiper. Now they are taking the same material and putting it on the Internet." – Ken McVay[i] Visit any archive on hate and extremism and you will find a treasure trove of books, newspapers, magazines and newsletters. If you are lucky enough to find original mailers, many will be plain brown or manila wrappings, designed to protect the recipient from inquisitive neighbors and postal workers. If the archive includes material from the 1980s and early 1990s, it likely contains videotapes and radio programs, maybe even dial-a-hate messages from "hot line" answering machines. It may also house faxed "alerts" that were broadcast to group members with the push of one button, in place of old-fashioned telephone "trees." Supporters of the Branch Davidians at Waco used faxes, as did groups involved in some militia confrontations. Today’s hate groups still mail newsletters, print books, produce videos and radio programs, have message "hot lines," fax alerts and, yes, put fliers under windshield wipers. But they increasingly rely on the Internet. Hate groups understand that this global computer network is far superior to the other modes of communication. Even in its infancy — for the ’net is still being defined — it is already what CDs are to records, and may, for many, become what electricity was to gaslight.
    [Show full text]
  • White Noise Music - an International Affair
    WHITE NOISE MUSIC - AN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIR By Ms. Heléne Lööw, Ph.D, National Council of Crime Prevention, Sweden Content Abstract............................................................................................................................................1 Screwdriver and Ian Stuart Donaldson............................................................................................1 From Speaker to Rock Star – White Noise Music ..........................................................................3 Ideology and music - the ideology of the white power world seen through the music...................4 Zionist Occupational Government (ZOG).......................................................................................4 Heroes and martyrs........................................................................................................................12 The Swedish White Noise Scene...................................................................................................13 Legal aspects .................................................................................................................................15 Summary........................................................................................................................................16 Abstract Every revolutionary movement has its own music, lyrics and poets. The music in itself does not create organisations nor does the musicians themselves necessarily lead the revolution. But the revolutionary/protest music create dreams,
    [Show full text]
  • 14 European Far-Right Music and Its Enemies Anton Shekhovtsov
    14 European Far-Right Music and Its Enemies Anton Shekhovtsov I’m patriotic, I’m racialistic, My views are clear and so simplistic (English Rose, 2007b) In a self-conducted interview that appeared in his manifesto, Norwegian would-be right-wing terrorist and killer Anders Behring Breivik, under the pen name Andrew Berwick, argued that specifi c music helps sustain ‘high morale and motivation’ of ‘self-fi nanced and self-indoctrinated single in- dividual attack cells’ (2011, p. 856). He went on to list several ‘motiva- tional music tracks’ he particularly liked. Breivik described one of these tracks, ‘Lux Æterna’, by Clint Mansell, which was featured in the trailer for Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers , as ‘very inspir- ing’ and as invoking ‘a type of passionate rage within you’ (2011, p. 858). On 22 July 2011, ‘Lux Æterna’ supposedly played in his iPod while he was killing members of the Workers’ Youth League of the Norwegian Labour Party on the island of Utøya (Gysin, Sears and Greenhill, 2011). Another artist favoured by Breivik in his manifesto is Saga, ‘a courageous, Swedish, female nationalist-oriented musician who creates pop-music with patriotic texts’ (2011, p. 856). Saga soared to the heights of right-wing fame in 2000, when she released three volumes of My Tribute to Skrewdriver on the Swedish right-wing label Midgård Records (2000a). Her three-volume album featured cover versions of Skrewdriver, a model White Power band, whose late leader, Ian Stuart Donaldson, founded the Blood & Honour (B&H) music promotion network in 1987.
    [Show full text]
  • The North American White Supremacist Movement: an Analysis Ofinternet Hate Web Sites
    wmTE SUPREMACIST HATE ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB "WWW.HATE.ORG" THE NORTH AMERICAN WIDTE SUPREMACIST MOVEMENT: AN ANALYSIS OF INTERNET HATE WEB SITES By ALLISON M. JONES, B.A. A Thesis Submitted to the School ofGraduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment ofthe Requirements for the Degree Master ofArts McMaster University © Copyright by Allison M. Jones, October 1999 MASTER OF ARTS (1999) McMASTER UNIVERSITY (Sociology) Hamilton, Ontario TITLE: "www.hate.org" -- The North American White Supremacist Movement: An Analysis ofInternet Hate Web Sites AUTHOR: Allison M. Jones, B.A. (York University) SUPERVISOR: Professor V. Satzewich NUMBER OF PAGES: v, 220 ii Abstract This thesis is a qualitative study ofNorth American white supremacist organisations, and their Internet web sites. Major issues framing the discussion include identity and racism. The thesis takes into consideration Goffman's concepts of'impression management' and 'presentation ofself as they relate to the web site manifestations of 'white power' groups. The purpose ofthe study is to analyse how a sample ofwhite supremacist groups present themselves and their ideologies in the context ofthe World Wide Web, and what elements they use as a part oftheir 'performances', including text, phraseology, and images. Presentation ofselfintersects with racism in that many modern white supremacists use aspects ofthe 'new racism', 'coded language' and'rearticulation' in the attempt to make their fundamentally racist worldview more palatable to the mainstream. Impression management techniques are employed in a complex manner, in either a 'positive' or 'negative' sense. Used positively, methods may be employed to impress the audience with the 'rationality' ofthe arguments and ideas put forth by the web site creators.
    [Show full text]
  • Two-Faced Racism: Whites in the Backstage and Frontstage Leslie H
    University of Dayton eCommons Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Faculty Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Publications Work 2007 Two-Faced Racism: Whites in the Backstage and Frontstage Leslie H. Picca University of Dayton, [email protected] Joe R. Feagin Texas A & M University - College Station Follow this and additional works at: http://ecommons.udayton.edu/soc_fac_pub Part of the Civic and Community Engagement Commons, Community-based Learning Commons, Community-based Research Commons, Criminology Commons, Educational Sociology Commons, Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, Other Sociology Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, Social Psychology and Interaction Commons, and the Social Work Commons eCommons Citation Picca, Leslie H. and Feagin, Joe R., "Two-Faced Racism: Whites in the Backstage and Frontstage" (2007). Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Faculty Publications. Paper 11. http://ecommons.udayton.edu/soc_fac_pub/11 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work at eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. 3 THE BACKSTAGE Racial events that reveal the larger forces of racism in society are com­ mon and obvious in the sociospatial realm we term the backstage, especially in situations where whites interact with white friends and relatives. Backstage settings, where interactions typically take place among whites only, involve an array of complex interactions and per­ formances. There we observe all dimensions of racial events-- indica­ tions of who is allowed and not allowed in the backstage, what racialized performances are tolerated or expected there, the sociospatial character of contexts, the impact of conventional racial framing, and the perva­ sive influence of the larger society.
    [Show full text]
  • “Just a Dream”: Community, Identity, and the Blues of Big Bill Broonzy. (2011) Directed by Dr
    GREENE, KEVIN D., Ph.D. “Just a Dream”: Community, Identity, and the Blues of Big Bill Broonzy. (2011) Directed by Dr. Benjamin Filene. 332 pgs This dissertation investigates the development of African American identity and blues culture in the United States and Europe from the 1920s to the 1950s through an examination of the life of one of the blues’ greatest artists. Across his career, Big Bill Broonzy negotiated identities and formed communities through exchanges with and among his African American, white American, and European audiences. Each respective group held its own ideas about what the blues, its performers, and the communities they built meant to American and European culture. This study argues that Broonzy negotiated a successful and lengthy career by navigating each groups’ cultural expectations through a process that continually transformed his musical and professional identity. Chapter 1 traces Broonzy’s negotiation of black Chicago. It explores how he created his new identity and contributed to the flowering of Chicago’s blues community by navigating the emerging racial, social, and economic terrain of the city. Chapter 2 considers Broonzy’s music career from the early twentieth century to the early 1950s and argues that his evolution as a musician—his lifelong transition from country fiddler to solo male blues artist to black pop artist to American folk revivalist and European jazz hero—provides a fascinating lens through which to view how twentieth century African American artists faced opportunities—and pressures—to reshape their identities. Chapter 3 extends this examination of Broonzy’s career from 1951 until his death in 1957, a period in which he achieved newfound fame among folklorists in the United States and jazz and blues aficionados in Europe.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 1. When Is Music Political?
    Durham E-Theses Music, Civil Rights, and Counterculture: Critical Aesthetics and Resistance in the United States, 1957-1968 BARKER, THOMAS,PATRICK How to cite: BARKER, THOMAS,PATRICK (2016) Music, Civil Rights, and Counterculture: Critical Aesthetics and Resistance in the United States, 1957-1968, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11693/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Music, Civil Rights, and Counterculture: Critical Aesthetics and Resistance in the United States, 1957-1968 Thomas Barker PhD Music Department University of Durham 2016 Music, Civil Rights, and Counterculture: Critical Aesthetics and Resistance in the United States, 1957-1968 Thomas Barker Abstract This dissertation explores the role of music within the politics of liberation in the United States in the period of the late 1950s and the 1960s. Its focus is on the two dominant, but very different (and, it is argued, interconnected) mass political and cultural movements that converged in the course of the 1960s: civil rights and counterculture.
    [Show full text]
  • Angry Aryans Bound for Glory in a Racial Holy War: Productions of White Identity in Contemporary Hatecore Lyrics
    Angry Aryans Bound for Glory in a Racial Holy War: Productions of White Identity in Contemporary Hatecore Lyrics Thesis Presented in Partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Roberto Fernandez Morales, B.A. Graduate Program in Sociology The Ohio State University 2017 Thesis Committee: Vincent Roscigno, Advisor Hollie Nyseth Brehm Eric Schoon Copyright by Roberto Fernandez Morales 2017 Abstract The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that, over the last 20 years, there has been a steady rise in hate groups. These groups range from alternative right, Neo Confederates, White Supremacist to Odinist prison gangs and anti-Muslim groups. These White Power groups have a particular race-based ideology that can be understood relative to their music—a tool that provides central recruitment and cohesive mechanisms. White supremacist rock, called Hatecore, presents the contemporary version of the legacy of racist music such as Oi! and Rock Against Communism. Through the years, this genre produces an idealized model of white supremacist, while also speaking out against the perceived threats, goals, and attitudes within white supremacist spaces. In this thesis, I use content analysis techniques to attempt to answer two main questions. The first is: What is the ideal type of white supremacist that is explicitly produced in Hatecore music? Secondly, what are the concerns of these bands as they try to frame these within white supremacist spaces? Results show that white supremacist men are lauded as violent and racist, while women must be servile to them. Finally, white supremacist concerns are similar to previous research, but highlight growing hatred toward Islam and Asians.
    [Show full text]
  • Wednesday, September 18, 2019 “Meeting the Challenge of White
    1 Testimony of: Mr. Christian Picciolini Founder, Free Radicals Project Author, Breaking Hate: Confronting the New Culture of Extremism Before: House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa, and International Terrorism -and- House Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence and Terrorism Wednesday, September 18, 2019 “Meeting the Challenge of White Nationalist Terrorism at Home and Abroad” ORAL TESTIMONY & SUMMARY Thank you, Chairman Thompson and Chairman Engel, Chairman Deutch and Chairman Rose, ranking members Wilson and Walker, and distinguished members of these vital committees and institution. I am honored by your invitation to testify today. I am privileged to be here, considering my past. I am a former extremist. In 1987, I was recruited into America’s first neo-Nazi skinhead group, and at 14 years old became one of the youngest and earliest members of what was then a “fringe” hate movement. For the next eight years, I recruited other vulnerable youth, acted as a mouthpiece for hate, and wrote racist music that I performed for thousands of white supremacists across the U.S. and Europe. I rose quickly through the ranks to become a leader of the same “white nationalist” movement that thirty years later on August 12, 2017, marched in Charlottesville chanting “The Jews will not replace us” and killed a young woman named Heather Heyer. I escaped extremism in 1996 through the compassion of people I least deserved it from—black and Latinx Americans, Jews, people from the LGBTQ community, and Muslims— who brought me back to humanity. Free Radicals Project, 917 W.
    [Show full text]
  • University of Florida Dissertation
    WHITE HOODS AND KEYBOARDS: AN EXAMINATION OF THE KLAN AND KU KLUX KLAN WEB SITES By ANDREW G. SELEPAK A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2011 1 © 2011 Andrew G. Selepak 2 To my grandfathers, George Kanala and George Selepak, who spent their lives providing for their families and inspired me to achieve. Also to my parents, Ronald and Josephine, who have supported me in all my decisions, and without their love and guidance, I would never have been able realize the honor of receiving a doctorate. 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost I would like to thank Dr. Debbie Treise who has been my academic advisor, dissertation chair, mentor, friend, motivator, guide, and the person most responsible for me being able to achieve earning a doctorate. Second, I would like to thank Dr. Belio Martinez, Jr., who has worked with me on numerous projects, been a friend and colleague, and shown me a job is not who a person is but what they do. I would also like to thank Dr. Johanna Cleary who provided personal insight for this study and imparted me with invaluable knowledge of the field of Journalism and Communications. In addition, I would also like to thank Dr. Connie Shehan who has encouraged my diverse areas of research and always been enthusiastic about my topics of study. Finally, I would like to thank Jody Hedge, Kim Holloway, and Sarah Lee for providing untold assistance in helping me graduate.
    [Show full text]