Hi everyone, today I will be talking about The Race Card Project in regards to how the structure of the site contributes to its overall purpose as a contribution to public knowledge. The Race Card Project was founded by journalist, Michele Norris in 2013 and was intended to provide insight into how race is experienced by people across the United States (Norris, Michele). The project showcases a collection of six word summaries on how different people experience race. As each story is written independently, the tone varies with each post, ranging from funny to hopeful to heartbreaking, thus allowing for a well-rounded depiction of the role of race in contemporary America (Norris, Michele). I think that the intended audience for this project can be extended to all Americans as the information that the site provides can be used to educate, inspire debate and build a community amongst people with shared experiences.
The title of the project ‘the race card,’ offers a unique spin on a pejorative phrase allowing for a productive discussion to take place (Norris, Michele). Similarly, the format of the site invites people to engage in the discussion of race as it thanks its users for “joining the conversation” (Norris, Michele). The interactive qualities of the site can also be seen through its links to social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. In this way, the contribution of The Race Card Project can be identified as it shares one’s personal experiences with or ideas on race with the network in which they likely emerged, thus allowing people to reflect on their own role in perpetuating racism. In addition, the site encourages readers to reply to posts with their own thoughts and opinions. The safe environment that the site provides allows for honest discussion to take place as people regularly challenge one another and share opposing views in a respectful manner. Norris encourages her users to “come back often” implying that the discussion of race is ongoing, ever changing and therefore must continuously be engaged with (Norris, Michele).
The site has organized its posts in various categories allowing the reader to navigate the website efficiently depending on what they are looking for. These categories include; Faces, The Race Card Wall, On Location and Explore. The ‘Faces’ and ‘Race Card Wall’ pages offer different layouts of the same stories. While ‘Faces’ focuses on the photos of each author, the ‘Race Card Wall’ also incorporates their 6-word stories. Both forms work to articulate the diverse perspectives that are represented within The Race Card Project’s archive and allow the audience to establish a more personal relationship with the featured stories. The ‘On Location’ Page describes how the concept of The Race Card Project was implemented into universities across the country in order to establish how race was experienced within their respective campus communities. In this way, trends in data can be more easily identified and grouped together based on region. Lastly, the ‘Explore’ page works to initiate racial conversations on contemporary issues or debates such as how we should remember the confederate flag or the relationship between race and beauty. The Race Card Project contributes to public knowledge as it allows marginalised voices to express their views on a highly controversial topic in a non threatening environment.
Works Cited:
Norris, Michele. “Make Your Race Card.” The Race Card Project, theracecardproject.com/send-your-race-card/.
