Discourse Analysis: Observations of Linguistic Shifts of Authority Between the Movement for Black Lives and the COVID-19 Anti-mask Rhetoric

Abstract

The current socio-political mood has taken multiple forms. This year has been a breaking point for minority populaces and an awakening for the majority. I write to analyze my documentation of the observed intersection between the Movement for Black Lives and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Movement for Black Lives was initiated out of a need for social reform, sparked by the 2013 murder of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman. Taking in account the historical processes of colonization, the oppression of racialized cultural groups is not a new conundrum. The Movement for Black Lives is a mere continuance of social activism aimed to disassociate the normative social expectations to White public spaces. However, this year, the movement was met with great restrictions because of the viral pandemic, COVID-19. The coronavirus pandemic is, in itself, a social movement on the premise of humanitarian welfare and health care accessibility. Local and statewide mandates were institutionalized to help lessen the spread of this fatal virus. Business closures, capacity restrictions, social distance measures, and face mask requirements have been enacted as, more or less, recommended protocol. Subsequently, we have observed a tremendous push back with these governance resolutions. This year has brought visibility to the social disjunctions that inherently take precedence. The American experience has been documented, by social scientists, as perpetuating divisiveness within public social sectors by majoritizing the spaces for White ideologies. With further examination, I seek to present the ideas and evidence to explain linguistic shifts of authority from authenticity of the Movement for Black Lives to anonymity by the anti-mask rhetoric. I will detail speech events from digital media sources and explain their relevance. The phrase of analysis is that of, “I can’t breathe.”