Minorities In American Society

Throughout television’s existence, it has had an extensive impact on American society. It was considered a form of family entertainment when families would converge around the television after dinner and watch shows together. Television would help shape the population, including society’s relationship with race and ethnicity. This form of media changed the way individuals viewed important and controversial social issues such as race.

Before the 1970s, most programs had characters who were Caucasian. Having white characters on television soon became the “standard”. However, when minorities did seldom appear, they were presented as stereotypes. For example, roles such as servants would usually be played by African American actors and warriors would be played by Native American actors. The critics debated that the unfair treatment of minorities in America was the explanation for why there were not any minorities presented on screen. The concerns of minorities in America were ignored for years. In Phillip Brian

Classen’s Watching Jim Crow discusses American American’s obstacles to acquire representation on television programming of Jackson, Mississippi. Classen contests that African American’s “concrete, specific knowledge and memories were ignored, devalued, disqualified, and/or socially dislocated within the ‘nonracial’ processes of administrative law” (Classen, 139). This statement is supported by the complaints from African American individuals from Mississippi that were against both WLBT and WJTV’s programs and the Federal Communications Commission’s reaction. Society in American struggles to accept present-day racism possesses a “racist face” even though when evaluating programs with minority casts the representation is problematic. Television features few types of minority characters such as criminals, hustlers, family member, and crime fighters. Amos and Andy gave the example that they would hustle everyone if they could make money off