Racial violence in the United States

This article proposes a reconceptualization of racial violence in the United States. Departing from frameworks and definitions of racial violence that have been based largely on assessments of the intent and motivation of perpetrators, this approach incorporates as well the experiences and perceptions of victims and audiences of racial violence. Focusing on the racial fungibility of victims and the consequences of violence to victims makes possible a more rigorous exploration of the communicative, interpretive, and contextual nature of racial violence. I illustrate the utility of this reconceptualization with examples from my research on white supremacist skinheads, the Ku Klux Klan, and individual hate crimes.