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Description
Over the past twenty years, Howard Ehrlich conducted the first national surveys of ethnoviolence, helped design the protocol for identifying hate crimes, and has served as the director of the Prejudice Institute. This collection of essays is the result of his unparalleled research in this vital area of study. Ehrlich introduces the ten dimensions of American’s social heritage that are necessary for a complete understanding of prejudice and coherently explains the complex differences between ethnoviolence and hate crimes. Through analysis of network television news programs and in-depth interviews with newspaper editors and reporters, Ehrlich explores how our mainstream media maintains racial and ethnic stereotypes. Case studies (the Oklahoma City bombing, Rodney King riots, Columbine High School shootings, and Hurricane Katrina) show how traumatic events are manipulated by political elites and the news media to shape intergroup relations. Ehrlich concludes with a personal and political look at the concentration of power in the United States and the increasingly prevalent and concerning employment of political ignorance as a tool of oppression.
Howard J. Ehrlich is the director of The Prejudice Institute (formerly the National Institute Against Prejudice and Violence) and the recipient of the Sociological Practice Award from the Society for the Applied Study of Sociology and the SAGES Award from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. Ehrlich conducted the first national survey of ethnoviolence, helped design the protocol for identifying hate crimes, and wrote and produced the nationally syndicated radio program The Great Atlantic Radio Conspiracy for which he won nine national awards for documentary productions.
About the Author
Howard J. Ehrlich is the director of The Prejudice Institute (formerly the National Institute Against Prejudice and Violence) and the recipient of the Sociological Practice Award from the Society for the Applied Study of Sociology and the SAGES Award from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. Ehrlich conducted the first national survey of ethnoviolence, helped design the protocol for identifying hate crimes, and wrote and produced the nationally syndicated radio program The Great Atlantic Radio Conspiracy for which he won nine national awards for documentary productions.
Reviews:
2009 Choice Outstanding Academic Title
"Sociologist Ehrlich’s latest scholarly endeavor is perhaps the quintessential work currently available on this ‘hot button’ topic. … Ehrlich’s work is indispensable, extremely well written, very thought-provoking, and well organized and researched. A very valuable resource not only for scholars and practitioners, but for students and the general public. Essential."
—Choice
"Howard Ehrlich is widely known as a pioneer in the field of hate studies—or as he prefers, ethnoviolence studies. This book, then, represents the culmination of a lifetime of committed scholarship in the area. Hate Crimes and Ethnoviolence takes an historical and fully critical approach to enhance our understanding of the contexts in which prejudices give rise to violence, and especially the role that media and popular culture play. This is a book that promises to find a ready audience among scholars, students, and practitioners."
—Barbara Perry, University of Ontario Institute of Technology
"Hate Crimes and Ethnoviolence: The Past, Current Affairs, and Future of Discrimination in America is easily one of the most thought provoking books on prejudice in years by a man whose pioneering research has framed intelligent discussion and debate by scholars and policymakers for over a generation. His powerful and eloquent presentation challenges the reader, including those of us who sometimes disagree with him, to confront difficult issues in non-doctrinaire ways."
—Brian Levin, California State University, San Bernardino
"An excellent and readable sociological analysis of ethnoviolence and hate crimes. Ehrlich demonstrates how racially motivated acts of psychological and physical violence are embedded in the culture and economic inequality of American capitalism. A valuable resource for scholars, students and the general public."
—Fred L. Pincus, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
"The concept of ethnoviolence, coined and developed by Ehrlich, advances a thoroughly sociological approach to hate and bias crime, placing them within a broader sociohistorical context. This indispensable text provides a complex and nuanced argument that is highly readable. This text should be required reading for scholars in the field, while Ehrlich's case studies of the media also make the text appealing and accessible to students at all levels."
—Abby Ferber, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
Part I: Ethnoviolence
1. The Social Conditions of Ethnoviolence
2. Ethnoviolence and Hate Crimes
3. Further Observations: Some Questions, Some Answers
Part II: The News Media
4. Ethnoviolence and the News Media
5. The Gatekeepers of Newspapers
Part 1. The Editors
Part 2. The Reporters
6. The Production of Pathology: The Social Function of Local TV News
7. The Design of Local TV News: If it’s White, it’s right
Part III: Popular Culture
8. Lessons Learned: The Bombing in Oklahoma City, The Civic Disorders in Los Angeles (1992), The Columbine High School Shootings, Hurricane Katrina
9. Prejudice and Ethnoviolence on Campus
Part IV: The Struggle Continues
10. Profiling the Belief Structure of Right-Wing Groups
11. A Brief Note on the Politics of Ignorance
12. Step by Step: A Personal Trek
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