Intermediary Public Policy Organizations and the Discursive Evasion of Systemic Racism and Racialized Violence

Abstract

The 2020 health pandemic and high-profile police murders of Black people inspired national conversations about racism and police brutality. This study examined how Intermediary Public Policy Organizations (IPPOs) discursively engaged with the racialized nature of the pandemic and the police murder of George Floyd, which have increased awareness of systemic racism in society. Our discursive analysis of IPPO statements published during these events revealed a pattern of humanizing higher education institutions, race evasive policy proposals, and a lack of policy action addressing systemic racism. IPPO evasion of race is consequential because it has the potential to limit the ability of public policy to dismantle systems of oppression and highlights the need for race-conscious policies to support Black, Indigenous, and people of color students and communities.