Portland State University PDXScholar University Honors Theses University Honors College 12-14-2020 Racial Gatekeeping in Country & Hip-Hop Music Cervanté Pope Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/honorstheses Part of the Mass Communication Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Social Psychology and Interaction Commons, and the Sociology of Culture Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Pope, Cervanté, "Racial Gatekeeping in Country & Hip-Hop Music" (2020). University Honors Theses. Paper 957. https://doi.org/10.15760/honors.980 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in University Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible:
[email protected]. Racial Gatekeeping in Country & Hip-Hop Music By Cervanté Pope Student ID #: 947767021 Portland State University Pope 2 Introduction In mass communication, gatekeeping refers to how information is edited, shaped and controlled in efforts to construct a “social reality” (Shoemaker, Eichholz, Kim, & Wrigley, 2001). Gatekeeping has expanded into other fields throughout the years, with its concepts growing more and more easily applicable in many other aspects of life. One way it presents itself is in regard to racial inclusion and equality, and despite the headway we’ve seemingly made as a society, we are still lightyears away from where we need to be. Because of this, the concept of cultural property has become even more paramount, as a means for keeping one’s cultural history and identity preserved.