The Race-Class-Narrative is a simple way to disarm the culture war from the right. The powerful constantly name migrants in their messaging and falsely blame migration for a range of problems. When we develop our messages we can not ignore this context. For this reason it is important that we also name racialised and migratizised people in our messages and link the people we name to a shared value. When we do this we normalise the recognition of the things that bring us together. This is messaging that everyone can use. It is one messaging tool and does not substitute for anti-racist work.
Why can it make sense to use the RCN communication model?
Our opponents regularly use racist narratives as a means of exploiting economic fears and turning people against each other, even when their economic and class interests align. In doing so, they regularly scapegoat people based on their (social) background or skin color for problems created by self-serving politicians and their unrestrained financiers.
The messaging architecture of the race-class narrative inhibits these attacks to create solidarity and support for change and vision that can improve the lives of all people.
Example
Movement Hub worked with the “Wir fahren zusammen” campaign (an alliance of the climate movement and public transport workers for better working conditions and climate protection), using the RCN as a communication model. In this process, we have developed a range of resources that make it easy for you to use this tool in your campaign.
How does the RCN work?
To create RCN messages, the following questions will help you at the very beginning:
- Who is your target group/audience?
- What values does your target group represent, what values do you want to bring into the discourse around your topic?
- Who is responsible for the problem, who are your opponents?
- What are your demands? How could you package these as a vision?
You can use these questions in general for your public relations work. Below you will find a guide to help you develop your own message. However, this is only one step in using the concept. It is also important to think about which racist/classist narratives you want to counter, what values the RCN represents and which target groups you want to reach with your messages.
Make your own RCN messages:
Ressourcen
From our collaboration with Wir fahren zusammen:
Communication guide
Phrases That Work! – Simple phrases with the GWB
Message testing evaluation
Instagram post explaining the Big We message
History
The Race-Class Narrative (RCN) is an empirically tested communication concept developed by communications expert Anat Shenker-Osorio and political scientist Ian Haney Lopéz with several partners in the United States in 2017. It has since been used in many campaigns in the United States and was adapted in Australia in 2021 and the United Kingdom in 2022. Based on the “Wir fahren zusammen” campaign, we adapted the RCN narrative to the German context.