Language, race, and accountability

12:00: Language, race, and accountability

1:00: Publication of private messages convulses American politics

What is the relationship between language, power, and race? Rochester native Jonathan Rosa is an author and linguistic anthropologist at Stanford University’s Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity. He's in town as a guest of the University of Rochester for a talk on the role of language when it comes to the upheaval of DEI. He joins us to discuss how language is used by people in power and how that translates to our daily lives.

In studio:

• Jonathan Rosa, Ph.D., author and associate professor in the Graduate School of Education, Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity at Stanford University

Then in our second hour, a bombshell report in Politico revealed that a group of Republicans — some in New York State politics — repeatedly used racial slurs and other bigoted language. The fallout has cost a number of Republicans their jobs. And while many Republicans are condemning the hateful messages, some are pointing to the violent messages sent in 2022 by Democrat Jay Jones, the candidate for Virginia Attorney General, who has not dropped out of his race. We discuss where to draw lines and how to assess private messages that become public.

Our guests:

• Nayeliz Santiago, president of Monroe County Young Democrats
• Jimmy Vielkind, public media reporter at WNYC

"Connections with Evan Dawson" is livestreamed each day on the WXXI News YouTube channel. Watch here.