Charlton McIlwain and Stephen Caliendo, both professors in media and political studies, wrote a book entitled Race Appeal. In the chapter “Producing Race Appeal: The Political Ads of White and Minority Candidates”, McIlwain and Caliendo discuss the implications of white and minority politicians using race-based appeals in their ad campaigns. In an excerpt from “Campaigning Through the Media” from Media Politics: A Citizen’s Guide by Shanto Iyengar and Jennifer McGrady, Iyengar and McGrady discuss the different media advertising strategies devised by candidates. Through the works of McIlwain/Caliendo and Iyengar/McGrady, I will be discussing the concepts proposed by McIlwain and Caliendo of de-racialization and racist potential as well as the
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Ted Cruz, born in Canada and raised in Texas, was born from a Cuban immigrant father and Irish-American mother, and is legally named Rafael Cruz (Washington Post). Although Cruz is white passing (being that, if seen either in person or on camera, one would not have cause to assume that he is a minority), Cruz is playing the election by using the de-racialization strategy. First, by not using his given name, Rafael, and using an American “white” name, Ted, Cruz has already shown that he does not want to be seen in the public eyes as a minority. In the ad, by affirming his stance against immigration, and by releasing this ad in Arizona, a state known for its negative views toward undocumented immigrants, Cruz is further distancing himself from his Latino roots and grounding himself into the “white Republican” demographic. There is a connotative meaning that comes from using bright, vibrant images and video of Grant Ronnebeck, Steve Ronnebeck, and Ted Cruz, but images of Altamirano and President Obama that are shadowed and bordered by a vignette fade, and the meaning is that it paints both Altamirano and Obama as the villains (or the “true” minorities) in the ad. Another way of furthering the racial inoculation
Ted Cruz, born in Canada and raised in Texas, was born from a Cuban immigrant father and Irish-American mother, and is legally named Rafael Cruz (Washington Post). Although Cruz is white passing (being that, if seen either in person or on camera, one would not have cause to assume that he is a minority), Cruz is playing the election by using the de-racialization strategy. First, by not using his given name, Rafael, and using an American “white” name, Ted, Cruz has already shown that he does not want to be seen in the public eyes as a minority. In the ad, by affirming his stance against immigration, and by releasing this ad in Arizona, a state known for its negative views toward undocumented immigrants, Cruz is further distancing himself from his Latino roots and grounding himself into the “white Republican” demographic. There is a connotative meaning that comes from using bright, vibrant images and video of Grant Ronnebeck, Steve Ronnebeck, and Ted Cruz, but images of Altamirano and President Obama that are shadowed and bordered by a vignette fade, and the meaning is that it paints both Altamirano and Obama as the villains (or the “true” minorities) in the ad. Another way of furthering the racial inoculation