EVOLVED RACISM

JADA PENDER

TUES AFTERNOON

04/29/2021

FINAL PROJECT

4:00 TRT

RACIAL TENSIONS IN THE UNITED STATES ARE TENSE TODAY AFTER THE COUNTRY WITNESSED A SERIES

OF KILLINGS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS BY THE POLICE AND A BIGOTED RESPONSE TO ASIAN AMERICANS

DURING THE SPREAD CORONAVIRUS. THESE TENSIONS HAVEN’T GOTTEN ANY BETTER ESPECIALLY

AFTER TWO RACIST ZOOM BOMBINGS AT PENN STATE AND RACISTS RHETORIC ONLINE. THE PANDEMIC

SHOWED A SIDE OF THE UNITED STATES THAT WAS ALWAYS PREVALENT BUT WENT VIRTUAL WHEN

MOST AMERICANS DID. COMM RADIO’S JADA PENDER EXPLAINS.

TAKE EVOLVED RACISM----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3:27 RT

AS SOCIETY ADVANCES TECHNOLOGICALLY THERE IS MORE ONLINE USAGE. WHILE THIS MAY BE A GOOD

THING THERE IS A NEGATIVE SIDE THAT HAS COME WITH IT. WITH ONLINE ACTIVITY SO HIGH,

ESPECIALLY DURING THE PANDEMIC, IT HAS BEEN A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE CAN GO AND POST ALMOST

ANYTHING THEY WANT WITH NO BOUNDARIES. THIS HAS LED TO AN INCREASE OF HATE SPEECH ON

SOCIAL MEDIA AND EVEN IN ONLINE CHAT ROOMS. FROM A ZOOM BOMBING OF A BLACK ORG AT

PENN STATE TO ONLINE BULLYING THAT TARGETS MINORITIES THE COMMONALITY OF ONLINE HATE
SPEECH HAS INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY. PENN STATE STUDENT KIANNA BINGHAM HAS SEEN A SHIFT IN

THE WAY RACISM HAS BEEN SHOWN DURING THE PANDEMIC.

(ER CUTS SOT #1)

“I think that racism is something that has been here since 1619 and that it's common. But I do believe
that through the pandemic that an influx of people online has definitely influenced how racism is being
portrayed to people.”

(MORE)

BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC EVERYONE WAS FORCED TO STAY IN THE HOUSE AND MORE PEOPLE

BEGAN TO USE DIFFERENT INTERNET SITES AND SOCIAL MEDIA OUTLETS. BEHIND A COMPUTER OR

PHONE SCREEN PEOPLE SEEM TO BE MORE COMFORTABLE POSTING OR SAYING RACISTS THINGS THAT

THEY WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO SAY IN PERSON WITHOUT CONSEQUENCES. KIANNA BELIEVES THAT THIS

RACISTS SPEECH HAPPENS SO OFTEN ONLINE BECUASE THEY FEEL LIKE THEY HAVE PROTECTION.

(ER CUTS SOT #2)

“I think that people are more comfortable being racist online because it's kind of a safety net when

you're behind a computer screen. People can't confront you, a lot of times people use fake profiles

which allows them to pour hatred into the world because they don't believe that they could get

consequences for their actions.”

ACCORDING TO A STUDY RUN BY A COMPANY THAT USES ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO DETECT

AND FILTER ONLINE CONTENT, THERE HAS BEEN A 70% INCREASE IN HATE SPEECH BETWEEN

CHILDREN AND TEENS DURING ONLINE CHATS. THIS HAS MADE ONLINE HATE SPEECH MUCH

MORE COMMON THAN PEOPLE HAVE SEEN IN RECENT YEARS. PENN STATE STUDENT AIYANA

SOUTHERLAND HAS SEEN THIS INCREASE AND THE SHIFT FROM OVERT RACISM IN PUBLIC TO

OVERT RACISM ONLINE.

(ER CUTS SOT #3)

“Hate speech has definitely become more common online than it has been in person, the

pandemic definitely contributes to that because during quarantine you had no one to talk to, so

the Internet and online spaces were the way to go.”

THE COMMONALITY OF SEEING HATE SPEECH ONLINE HAS INCREASED GREATLY AND IN A

RERSEARCH STUDY DONE BY CYBERSECURITY EXPERT AIMEE O'DRISCOLL, THEY FOUND THAT

HATE SPEECH ON TWITTER AGAINST ASIANS HAS INCREASED OVER 900% DURING THE

PANDEMIC. IT HAPPENS OFTEN WITH NO REPERCUSSIONS ESPECIALLY SINCE THERE ARE A

GOOD NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO POST HATE SPEECH ONLINE UNDER DIFFERENT NAMES OR

FAKE PROFILES. BECAUSE OF THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE RACIST AND HATEFUL WITHOUT

CONSEQUENCES, THIS HATE SPEECH HAS BEEN SEEN ON A NUMBER OF APPS AND SOCIAL

MEDIA PLATFORMS EVEN APPS THAT CHILDREN MAY USE. PENN STATE STUDENT TIFFANY BASS

SAYS THAT SHE HAS SEEN THIS HATE SPEECH ON APPS LIKE TIKTOK.

(ER CUT SOTS #4)

“There different things in different platforms for people to have a way to express this hatred

that they have for other people. Personally, I've interacted with this, whether it be on tiktok or

Instagram.”

ACCORDING TO RESEARCH DONE BY THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION ONLINE

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IS A GROWING PROBLEM FOR ADOLESCENTS AND WITH THE

INCREASE THAT HAS BEEN SEEN DURING THE PANDEMIC THE ISSUE IS CONTINUING TO GROW.

RACISM WAS BAD BEFORE THE PANDEMIC BUT ONCE THE PANDEMIC STARTED IT WAS SEEN
MORE OFTEN IN ONLINE SPACES AND CAN HAVE DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS ON THE VICTIMS OF

IT. FOR COMM RADIO I’M JADA PENDER.

TAKE ANCHOR TAG-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TO COMBAT THIS MULTIPLE SOCIAL MEDIA OUTLETS LIKE TIKTOK HAVE REMOVED POSTS THAT

HAVE HATE SPEECH IN IT AND ARE TRYING TO BAN HATE SPEECH ON THEIR PLATFORMS. THIS

WOULD IMPLEMENT CONSEQUENCES SUCH AS GETTING BAN USERS WHO POST HATEFUL

MESSAGES.