The Intersecting Roles of Race and Disability in Media Coverage of the Police Homicide of Eric Garner: A Case-Based Thematic Content Analysis

Background and purpose

Police aggression towards African Americans reflects the enduring legacy of racism in America, as does media coverage of such aggression, contributing to the oppression of people of color through inaccurate and unfair representations. These representations are especially problematic regarding legal systems issues: Racial minorities are overrepresented as criminals and less likely to be depicted as victims than whites within media representations. As social justice-oriented professionals, social workers must understand the impact of these unfair depictions on their professional lenses and on the lives of their clients. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze how news media outlets across the ideological spectrum represented the narrative of Eric Garner’s life and homicide by the police. Garner was chosen as a case example due to the pre-eminence of his case and its connection to the Black Lives Matter movement, for which his dying words, “I can’t breathe,” became a rallying cry.

Methods

Five online media news sources were identified based on a Pew Center Report establishing which sources were viewed as trustworthy by the politically left, right, and center. Garner’s name was searched on the websites of all the media sources. Each result was reviewed to determine if it included substantive and relevant content. In all, 133 articles met inclusion criteria. The overall data analysis approach was case-based thematic content analysis: Focusing on the single media case, a hybrid approach of inductive and deductive coding and theme development, informed by stigma and identity, and critical theories, was used to analyze content and identify themes and their connections to the orienting theories.

Findings

Analysis identified differing narratives of Garner’s death and that the true narrative was not the dominant one; media used Garner’s health conditions to discredit his victimhood; and Garner and his family were portrayed as “unworthy poor.” Although Garner’s legal history connects to historical trauma and mass incarceration, and despite the fact of his death as a police homicide, he is consistently portrayed as a criminal, and untruths about his activities on the day of his death, and in general, permeate stories. Conversely, the officer who killed Garner is portrayed as a tragic heroic in some accounts. Finally, it is noted that the legal system has historically worked against African Americans, but media accounts were nonetheless hyper-focused on legal aspects of the case, especially the chokehold and “resisting arrest.”

 

Conclusions and Implications

Findings demonstrate how systemic racism is both reflected and created in the media, generating deeper understanding of the survival of White racism in American society. The power of discrediting Garner’s death by police homicide by placing blame on Garner connects to media frames around protests and efforts to discredit the Black Lives Matter movement. Discussion will conclude by describing how Garner’s case may be used in social work education and practice, as well as how critical media consumption can be conceptualized as a critical social work skillset.