The profession and study of public relations have advanced much since Ivy Lee’s famed, “Public Be informed” era. As students, educators, and industry professionals, we have seen the evolution of two-way communication practices and the emergence of social media and analytics. We have mentally noted and vociferously debated about organizations’ public snafus, and we have witnessed said organizations deliver a myriad of responses ranging from thoughtless and disastrous to remorseful and vindicated. We have celebrated those who have chartered the course and been the impetus for these developments. Men such as Walter Lippman, Edward Bernays, and Harold Burson cemented their individual legacies in public relations history, and women have begun to be acknowledged for their contributions to the field. Doris Fleishman, Betsy Plank, and Anne Williams Wheaton broke barriers as well as glass ceilings to demand a place in history.
While her story is receiving necessary, long-anticipated attention, other historically underacknowledged groups have gradually garnered recognition. Individuals from racial and ethnic communities have not been historically counted as mass contributors to the practice of public relations. Whether positioned as the first in their respective groups to achieve a momentous accomplishment or other notable superlatives, these pioneers are not often found in textbooks or other publications. In his 1994 book, The Unseen Power: Public Relations. A History, Scott Cutlip charged his lack of inclusion to being “a fact of history, not a choice of mine” (Cutlip 1994, xi). When individuals from these groups are included, their presence is visually marginalized. Professor Denise Hill noted oftentimes these luminaries were often separated and “boxed” away from others presumably to illustrate their distinction (Hill 2021).
Authors have attempted to fill this void by showing reverence to underrepresented persons in the communication field. Jackson and Brown Givens (2006) published Black Pioneers in Communication Research to recognize 11 Black communication scholars. In addition to the honorees’ educational background and other credentials, the authors offered in-depth argument as to why these scholars’ works are an “influential part of the center of communication inquiry” (Jackson and Brown Givens 2006, 1). Public relations executives themselves contributed to Diverse Voices: Profiles in Leadership, a joint initiative of the Public Relations Society of America Foundation and the Museum of Public Relations. The first-person accounts of more than 40 diverse leaders provide insight into their personal struggles and successes.
These books expose readers to educators and industry leaders not often covered in theory, principles, or cases-related textbooks. The Untold Power: Underrepresented Groups in Public Relations offers a comprehensive view of multicultural professionals’ experiences, while exploring past practices and their burgeoning emergence.
The title is a play on Cutlip’s historical compilation. Due to the challenges presented and progress achieved, the collective untold power of marginalized publics deserves to be celebrated and recorded in public relations history. This text aims to showcase those unsung heroes who have been quietly observed as they dismantled obstacles and sought equity in the field and in society. The purpose of this text is to (1) feature the contributions of African American, Asian American, Latinx, and Native Americans to public relations practice and scholarship in the United States; (2) consider challenges faced by underrepresented groups in academic and industry environments; and (3) underscore resources that assist with the inclusion and representation of diverse perspectives in all public relations arenas.
The impetus for this book came while researching minority pioneers in introductory public relations textbooks. While there have been improvements in textbooks’ inclusion of information on ethnic minority groups over the last 20+ years, the coverage was imbalanced. African Americans received more attention than any other group. Information on Latinx groups as a public has increased as of late, but little is given to Asian Americans, Native American, and multiethnic groups (Fisher 2018).
What’s in a Name? Representation, That’s What
The title of this book originally included minority as the catch-all description for racially and ethnically disparaged people, but after conducting secondary research and interviews with featured professionals, it would be irresponsible to continue its use. While it is impossible to not offend everyone, it is feasible to intentionally compromise to not offend.
Minority is a loaded term generally meaning “a group having less than the number of votes necessary for control” (Merriam-Webster 2020). Waymer (2013) offers a nuanced discussion of the use of the term in the social science context and posits minority to be categorized as “those who are identified as belonging to less powerful ethnicities, racial groups, gender identities, wealth or social class statuses or sexual orientations” (Waymer 2013, 567–568). Limited to race and ethnicity, minority is meant to describe all groups who are “non-white.” Kern-Foxworth (1994) felt disdain toward the term after traveling to Africa and discovering people of color were dominant and vowed to not use it again. And as the demographics of the United States continue to rapidly change, minority will soon not be an accurate identifier (NPR Staff 2011). In an attempt to be more precise and inclusive, media entities have used “People of Color” and Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BiPOC) as umbrella terms, but these, too, can minimize identity.
The characterizations Hispanic versus Latino, African American versus Black, Native American versus Indigenous, Asian American, and Pacific Islander have been greatly debated in academic and popular culture circles surrounding appropriate use, but the terms are an individual decision, based on identity. In an effort to be inclusive and unoffending, this text will borrow Waymer’s (2013) descriptor, Underrepresented Racial and Ethnic Persons (UREP).
Including this introduction, The Untold Power: Underrepresented Groups in Public Relations is organized into six chapters describing people, organizations, and movements significant to the profession. It will pay homage to those whose work strategically defied odds, celebrate scholars and corporate leaders who have intentionally shifted paradigms and enacted progressive change, and encourage the next generation of thought leaders. Through the sections of past, present, and future, it is the hope that the text will trigger reflection on how far public relations has come and how much further it has to go.
Chapter 2, “Pioneer Overview,” begins with a discussion of the earliest recorded use of public relations tactics during the founding of the United States. It continues with activist groups that employed strategies in pursuit of social justice and equity, and lastly, features pioneers who were among the first to accomplish milestones in communication.
Chapter 3, “Professional Pioneers,” highlights contemporary trailblazers who have marked firsts in their respective communities to achieve extraordinary organizational and workplace recognition. You will read the profiles of award-winning agency owners, entrepreneurs, chief communications officers, and national spokespersons.
Chapter 4, “Educator Pioneers,” profiles scholars, researchers, and educators whose work has substantively informed the practice of public relations, and prepared future professionals for work in a diverse environment.
Chapter 5 focuses on the value and process of research in public relations and reviews the four-step public relations process and analyzes campaigns executed by UREP communicators for UREP communities. It also addresses “Brown-on-Brown Stigma,” and uncovers challenges with examining diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE and I) topics in higher education and the workplace. With examples from the early 1980s and from as recent as 2021, the stigma still plagues professionals’ progression in their respective careers.
Chapter 6, “Advancing the Profession,” focuses moving forward and ways that DE and I can continue to be a focus of communication research, strategy, and campaigns. It also lists organizations and resources established to advance representation of under-represented groups in public relations. It then concludes with a discussion of the status of diversity in education and the public relations workplace and resources available to make these segments more representative.
In addition, a glossary offers a quick reference to terms, acronyms, and phrases often used in the book.
The luminaries featured in the overview and Chapters 3 and 4 are not exhaustive of the growing list of outstanding UREPs in public relations. They were selected as the foremost in the field after discussions with colleagues, searches of award recipients and examining academic publication search databases. As much of this text was researched and written during the uncertainty and restraints of the COVID-19 pandemic, those presented simply are who were available at the time, yet are representative of the brilliance of the whole. Each person profiled in Chapters 3 and 4 was interviewed by the author and given the opportunity to edit drafts of their profiles for accuracy.
The Untold Power: Underrepresented Groups in Public Relations can be used in both the public relations classroom to supplement current textbooks, and in C-suites as a reference guide. Readers will be reminded of the breadth and depth of the public relations discipline, and the many moving parts and creativity necessary to execute effective campaigns, on behalf of clients or for career advancement. It should serve as an encouragement for the aspiring public relations professional who may be discouraged to enter a field that is not as diverse as others. Students will be inspired to create their own path if one has yet to be made.