Racial Justice

Framing racial justice prompts people to think differently, acknowledge the root causes of disparities, and support equity-focused policy.

We can’t get to the America we want without talking about racial equity, structural racism, and racial and ethnic discrimination. But if communications aren’t framed carefully they can reinforce misconceptions about people of color and set back change.

FrameWorks’ research reveals that the widely-held American belief in “rugged individualism” fuels a toxic assumption about personal failings that obscures public policy failings. While this is where many people start, it’s not where they have to stay. Framing can help people see how opportunity and oppression work. Advocates need to explain—not just assert—inequity, lead with shared values, and point to solutions.

Explore how to lead more productive conversations on racial equity.

Featured Work

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Navigating Cultural Mindsets of Race and Place in the United States

The places where we live shape our lives. Structural racism has shaped and continues to shape where and how Americans live.

Young girl with hand raised in front of collage of education images

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Advancing Anti-Racist Education

How School Leaders Can Navigate the Moral Panic about “Critical Race Theory”

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Talking About Racism in Child and Family Advocacy

As the field seeks to lead a more public conversation about the impacts of racism on children and families—and about how racism structures the systems that children and families interact...

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Caning, Context and Class: Mapping the Gaps Between Expert and Public Understandings of Public Safety

For justice reform efforts to be sustained, we need ways to navigate public perceptions of crime and punishment. This study offers a map of dominant thinking.

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Talking About Disparities: The Effect of Frame Choices on Support for Racial Equity Policies

How can we talk about disparities in ways that prompt people to rethink assumptions, acknowledge the root causes of racial disparities, and support equity-focused policies?

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Every Picture Tells A Story: An Examination of Racialized Visuals and their Frame Effects

Is there a difference between images that explicitly depict Black children and visuals that more subtly cue the issue of race?

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The Illogic of Literalness: Narrative Lessons in the Presentation of Race Policies

Findings from several survey experiments with registered voters demonstrate that order matters significantly in overcoming racial resentment to elevate support for policies that address...

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Invisible Structures of Opportunity: How Media Depictions of Race Trivialize Issues of Diversity and Disparity

This media analysis was conducted to examine the various ways in which race is presented to readers, directly and indirectly, in the nation’s news media.

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Effects of Explicitness in the Framing of Race

An online experimental survey of 622 people was conducted to test the effects of several reframes on racial attitudes and policies.

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The Architecture of a New Racial Discourse

This message memo synthesizes the research findings and makes recommendations about applying these findings in the context of framing communications about race.

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Creating a Unified Voice for Opportunity: An Analysis of Qualitative Research Exploring Perceptions of Race

Fourteen focus groups were conducted in 2004 with engaged citizens across the country to observe how citizens discuss race in general.

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The Color of News: The Racial Dimension in Media Coverage of Selected Issues

This study examined news coverage of race in connection with selected policy issues, with particular emphasis on the treatment of racial disparities.

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Six Harmful Patterns in Newspaper Presentations of Race

This report examines the numerous ways in which of race is presented to readers, directly and indirectly, in the nation’s newspapers.

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Thinking About Race: Findings from Cognitive Elicitations

Interviews with 50 individuals in 7 states helped identify the most common and corrosive frames in play with respect to race and racism.