African American Culture Resistance Essay

REPRESENTATION MATTERS: BLACK LIVES MATTER AND THE MEDIA BIASES WITHIN

African Americans and law enforcement have never had a cooperative, dependable relationship throughout the history of this country. Throughout the United States, from coast to coast, various police departments have officers who have participated in the unarmed killings of black men. While most of the police officers have had a trial, many of them have not been convicted of their crimes. Mothers will never be able to see their children again, their futures will never have their intended result.

There have been outpourings of emotions and demonstrations that have been met with resistance from major media outlets. The media has played a major part in upholding the biases that people who don’t have

relationships with the communities that they are slandering. On certain talk shows such as “The Rachel Maddow Show” “Sean Hannity” “Morning Joe” and other outlets have had horrible, inaccurate things to say about these young men who have been killed by law enforcement. The only people who have had anything constructive to say were the guest speakers, however they don’t have much airtime to articulate their responses to the masses. Although I believe that newscasters pledge a certain degree of loyalty to their network, I would like to believe that they have an understanding of how the erasure of representation has a direct effect to how people are treated. In this paper, I will try to have a direct response to why these biases exist, and why they have a pervasive effect on society, culture, and people. These critics do not have access to certain spaces that allow them to have perspectives that are loaded with biases, which can be misconstrued as mal intent with an untrained eye. There is a certain language that the media uses when they attempt to talk about men; especially men of color. For example, the word “thug” has become synonymous with the word “black” and with the n-word. I want to explore that theme, and many more below. Prince said at the 2012 Grammys “Like Books and Music, Black Lives Matter.” I want to change that to All Black Lives Matter. Regardless of sexual orientation, mental health status, or immigration we have a duty to protect people.
Our own.

Black Lives Matter was an initiative that was started by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. The killing of Trayvon Martin sparked the movement that was met with great acclaim and adverse commentary by the global community that we now partake in. The issue of policing in this country hasn’t led to any reform, and when people see one side of the story, which is the story they choose to believe. FOX News is a leading conservative media outlet, and they have the most viewed programs on the air as far as news is concerned. A lot of people who religiously watch that show subscribe to ideals that only affect their day-to day actions and it also leads to the erasure of representation by people who are being oppressed. There are people who understand the power the media has in relation to representation, and dominant narrative surfaces, which allow negative reactions to thrive. I understand that all facts of a matter have to be acknowledged before it is brought to a court for deliberations, but once the facts are known, it doesn’t change anything. Police officers are allowed to kill and menace one part of the American society, when in actuality statistics show that the people who aren’t being policed commit those crimes. This isn’t a ploy to show that one part of American society is better than another part, but statistics show that there is a difference between those who commit crimes and those who are convicted of crimes.

Since the killings of Trayvon Martin, Ezell Ford, Rekia Boyd, Rahmarley Graham, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Freddie Gray, and countless others, the police have been convicted of none of those murders. Recently, a police officer by the name of Daniel Holtzclaw was convicted on multiple counts of rape, sexual battery, and other countless crimes, but it isn’t the same as being convicted of a crime of murdering someone. The media has sensationalized these killings by law enforcement officers, although there has been no change as to how these killings have been covered by the media. Recently, Sandra Bland was killed within the confines of a police holding unit. The police told media and several other outlets the she was found hanging in her jail cell, but the way that she was found later suggests that she was killed. Character assassination often gets in the way of the thought processes of the jury before credible evidence does.

Major media outlets such as CNN, FOX, and MSNBC have been criticized by civil rights figures for not showing these stories in their entirety. They often show black people as lawless villains who take the law into their own hands after they have been wronged. Since the advent of their landing into this country, African- Americans have been enslaved not only by people, but also by the ideals that those people have bestowed upon them. Historically, African-Americans have had an incorrigible relationship with authority; especially those who work in law enforcement. From the abolition of slavery their relationship with slaveholders ended, but a new relationship emerged between them and sharecroppers, and later on between them and the way they were represented.
When “Birth Of A Nation” was shown at The White House, these god-awful representations of them were shown, and as a result the levels of progress that leaders before them had laid out subtracted a lot of years. When President Woodrow Wilson allowed this movie to be shown, in a building that enacts legislation under the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government, it shows that a level of disrespect that has taken years to undo. The damage was then furthered perpetuated by Ronald Reagan and his criticism of “welfare queens” his mis-managing of the crack epidemic which terrorized the lives of many (particularly African American and other minority citizens) and his mis-managing of the AIDS epidemic.

Although this movie debuted at the White House a little over one hundred years ago, it is part of a movement that has conceptualized how these people want to be seen (in different mediums) and how they expect to be treated under the law. When we enter different eras of the United States, from the Progressive Era, to the Harlem Renaissance, The Great Depression, and beyond there has been black representation that has contributed to the various successes that this country has enjoyed. When the police kill young black men, it sends a message to the media and to media handlers that it is okay to treat people who are underrepresented in the media- but overrepresented in jail populations that these instances will get swept under the rug. In essence, people do not care about the lives of black men, black women, and children.

The power of media has a strong presence that permeates through different societal levels and it has an interesting effect on how and when it reaches that individual. There are people in this world who have the aptitude to understand that the lack of representation has a direct correlation to treatment by authority. The language of civility seems to have no meaning or boundary when the people who are in need have no access to it. I think that the media sources who aren’t that popular within society (i.e. The Guardian, Al Jazeera, BBC) often pose an unbiased disposition to those who would like to reach a full, responsible sense of a story. These often publicized stories do not possess much positive intent to the lives of those who are killed.

Social Media has evolved from something that had no presence in our daily lives, to something that we rely on for communication, connection, and convenience. The multiple streams that we inject have a direct response to what we perceive, and depending on which side of the spectrum that we are housed in, it can either damage or repair. When we are shown images on Instagram, Vine, or Twitter of people looting various businesses in Ferguson, Baltimore, and Los Angeles, it is easy to criminalize and demean these people. When we take a contextual lens and apply reasons as to why these people are upset, it is taken lightly. I think that people feel “if something doesn’t happen to me, how is it possible that this happens to you?” The inherent biases that people express showcases their true intent, and that paradigm of oppressed begins to spread.
Supremacy is the language of the oppressors, and it allows us to understand certain thought processes that are projected onto other people. The rhetoric that is used is only used when protection people who aren’t oppressed. People who aren’t being oppressed don’t need to be protected. One thing that was discussed in this class was “Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.” Emotionally responses over time become emotionally taxing, and often times becomes too strong to bear. The thought of seeing someone else become killed by the police is something that will soon become a breaking point.
Although the killings of black men by police have happened in different environments, they share a common theme that they’ve been killed by police officers. People who don’t make up the make-up of the people represent these neighborhoods and counties that they’ve been sworn to protect. I think that the following shows such as Melissa Harris Perry, Anderson Cooper 360, and to a lesser extent Jake Tapper, offer interesting points of view that aren’t shown often enough for people to understand different facets of these cultures and systems. Urban policy and designing show that these neighborhoods are hyper segregated, and aren’t allowed to have basic necessities that other neighborhoods are keen of having. It is easy to understand that these news anchors have a loyalty to their network to push a certain agenda that criminalizes other points of view to the oppressed.
When people try to build an erasure of images, and history against those who have been oppressed, a different language is used to maintain that their supremacy remains intact.

When Marc Lamont Hill had a debate with CNN about who can use the n-word, he was able to ask questions that people did not want to ask. Another facet of cultural resistance is respectability politics. These politics always try to demean the integrity of people by insisting that by acting the way that society wants you to, will determine your stance in the culture.

Bill Cosby says that young black men need to pick up their pants, and stop listening to hip-hop. Well, it’s easy to pick up your pants. It’s not necessarily easy to stop listening to a music to music that speaks to your condition, but how does that translate into establishing respectability politics that will allow you to improve your condition as a human being. The media has a strong understanding as to how they can manipulate the thoughts of people.

I would like to think that people understand how media has a direct connection with consumers, and although a lot of people may not understand, or want to give governance as to why that is a factor, but it truly

is.
When we see images of people that don’t look like us, that is a problem. When we see images of people that look like us, but they are preforming in ways that demean, or do not allow people to see all the facets of the culture, that is a problem.