RACE AND GENDER DISCOURSE STRATEGIES - CREATING SOLIDARITY AND FRAMING THE CIVIL-RIGHTS-MOVEMENT

Using a sociolinguistic analysis of correspondence, this essay examine s letters sent to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, by supporters and partic ipants in the Civil Rights movement. In the letters, writers employ di scourse strategies to construct their experiences of the movement and formulate themselves as supporters and participants. They also formula te their solidarity and framings of the movement. Correspondents' race , gender, and circumstances influence the ways they create solidarity with, and frame the movement. These findings indicate that Civil Right s movement supporters and participants held both private and shared co nceptions of the movement. The implications of these findings for move ment theory are discussed.