A Critique of Anti-racism in Rhetoric and Composition: The Semblance of Empowerment critiques current antiracist ideology in rhetoric and composition, arguing that it inadvertently promotes a deficit-model of empowerment for both students and scholars. Erec Smith claims that empowerment theory--which promotes individual, communal, and strategic efficacy--is missing from most antiracist initiatives, which instead often abide by what Smith refers to as a "primacy of identity": an over-reliance on identity, particularly a victimized identity, to establish ethos. Scholars of rhetoric, composition, communication, and critical race theory will find this book particularly useful.

• Cover
• A Critique of Anti-racism in Rhetoric and Composition
• A Critique of Anti-racism in Rhetoric and Composition: The Semblance of Empowerment
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface
  • Notes
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
  • The “Duboisian” Attitude
  • Notes
• Chapter 1
• The Primacy of Identity
  • The Sacred Victim: An Ethopoeia
  • The Victim as Rightful King
  • Notes
• Chapter 2
• So What is Empowerment?
  • Empowerment Theory
  • Empowerment and Emotional Intelligence
  • A Rhetoric of Empowerment
  • The Need for True Empowerment
  • Notes
• Chapter 3
• Disempowerment and Code-meshing Pedagogy
  • The Minority Writer and “Sacred Victimhood”
  • The Logistical Problem in a Primacy of Identity: How Does One “Teach” Code-meshing?
  • Notes
• Chapter 4
• The “Soft Bigotry” of Anti-racist Pedagogy
  • Victim-Framing
  • Trickster Racism and Protectionism
  • Notes
• Conclusion
  • Problem-Based Learning: A Theory and Pedagogy of Empowerment
  • Notes
• Epilogue
  • Notes
• References
• Index
• About the Author