The voice of (White) reason

This chapter argues that the power of “covert racist discourses” lies in the obscurity of authorship and the interpellation of readership along with the tacit preconditions of their enunciation. Drawing on Jane H. Hill’s concern with the practices of enunciation (2008), this chapter explores the ways in which conceptualizations of difference and unity are enunciated beyond clearly defined institutional domains. It analyzes the semiotic elements deployed in electronically-circulating jokes with American Indian characters and shows how such jokes re-inscribe tropes of conquest. Furthermore, the discourse emanating from such characterizations maintain a particular type of citizen as quintessential and perpetuate the already difficult struggle people of color, especially American Indians, face with respect to recognition, legitimation, and citizenship in “White” domains.