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Racial stereotypes of blacks
Racism in the media
Racism in the media
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Since racial stereotyping in the media serves to justify, emphasize, and perpetuate antagonistic and munificent racism, there is need for focused study efforts on practical strategies to challenge and ultimately eradicate stereotypes. Stereotypes are generated and altered on the basis of first-hand encounters with stigmatized groups, as well as recycled information from mass media, acquaintances, as well as family. While both express and circumlocutory sources of stereotype lessening are acknowledged, the mass of the research on inter-group relationships has concentrated on direct examination of stereotyping conduct in an interpersonal background (Tator & Frances, 2006). On the other hand, taking into consideration that people generate stereotypes even with nominal or no express contact, the function of vicarious contact via mass media in triggering and altering existing stereotypes is a significant concern.
Evidently, the economic structure of the contemporary news media makes it subject to pressure from influential interest groups. For instance, one of the key reasons for the insufficient coverage of the fundamental causes of racial stereotyping in the U.S media is that the condition of African Americans per se is not a subject of high significance to the white majority. Their concern in African Americans is focused on circumstances where their imagined fears develop into real problems such as civil rights demonstrations, boycotts, picketing, and mainly racial violence. These are instances where African American activities impinge on white concerns, and consequently, the white-inclined media seeks to gratify the needs of the white audience and as a result mirrors this pattern of interest to selected occurrences (Govorun & Payn...
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...of the Amadou Diallo case, it is evident that race stereotyping can prejudice spontaneous judgments, and that prejudice can coexist with impartial intentions. While overt resentment toward African Americans is possibly enough to generate prejudice, it is not obligatory since the bias takes place not only as a result of racial animus, but as a result of stereotypical links that trigger reactions when people are incapable to effectively control them. Negative stereotypes may remain increasingly accessible as a result of contextual factors, for instance racist occurrences in the media, as well as interacting with racially prejudiced persons. Implicit stereotypes can be equally detrimental, if not more problematical, as conventional stereotypes since they can manipulate judgments in subconscious and subtle ways, even in persons who assume that they are not narrow-minded.
The power of stereotypes stored in the brain was a daunting thought. This information enlightened me about the misconceptions we carry from our cultural experiences. Also, it startled me that according to (Banaji and Greenwald, 2013) “those who showed high levels of White Preference on the IAT test were also those who are most likely to show racially discriminatory behavior,” (pg. 47). I reflected on this information, and it concerned me that my judgments were simply based on past cultural experiences. This mindbug was impacting my perception of someone before I even had a chance to know him.
Network news appears to convey more stereotyped impressions, a narrower range of positive roles for blacks than for whites. Representations of whites in network news are more varied and more positive than of blacks, not because of conscious bias, but because of the way conventional journalistic norms and practices interact with political and social reality. The findings raise questions about the journalist ability to represent the reality of black America while adhering to the professional practices that currently shape network news. Mainstream news portrayed African American as criminals, homeless beggars, welfare queens, ghetto-dwelling gang members, or drug addicts in American Society. Perpetuation of young black men as dangerous has been planted in the mind of American society not only by words and images projected by journalists but also in the mainstream news especially. Television particularly the news has the least positive representation of African Americans especially young males. When television became a house-hold item in the early 1950, this was a dark time in American History because there were huge racial tensions brewing in the south. The news show African American mostly young males getting abuse, hosed by police and attack by police dogs during a peaceful protest. It gives the negative images that African American was unlawful people and need to be dealt with swift action. Most of the time African Americans weren’t resisting but the news media depicted the images that they were and police were just doing their job to keep the peace.
Racism and discrimination continue to be a prevalent problem in American society. Although minorities have made significant strides toward autonomy and equality, the images in media, specifically television, continue to misrepresent and manipulate the public opinion of blacks. It is no longer a blatant practice upheld by the law and celebrated with hangings and beatings, but instead it is a subtle practice that is perceived in the entertainment and media industries. Whether it’s appearing in disparaging roles or being negatively portrayed in newscasts, blacks continue to be the victims of an industry that relies on old ideas to appeal to the majority. The viscous cycle that is the unconscious racism of the media continues to not only be detrimental to the white consumers, who base what they know about blacks by what is represented in television, but also the black consumers, who grow up with a false sense of identity.
It begins with a detailed story discussing the history of the Negro press in the United States, preceding the lunch counter, bus boycott, and school desegregation activities affiliated with the civil rights movement in the twentieth century, and introduced the small group of white editors who were determined to encourage their paper to take a stand against the segregation that surrounded them for decades. The story covers everything from the Brown vs. Board of Education decision in 1954 to the march in Selma, Alabama in the summer of 1965. The Race Beat accounts for how the press covered the civil rights movement and how the movement learned to use the press to its advantage. Most importantly, it gave a better understanding of how the news changed over time.
“The media serve as a tool that people use to define, measure, and understand American society” (Deo et al., 149). Thinking of the media as a tool for the American people also extends into the realm of race and ethnicity. The United States has had a long and difficult history pertaining to the racial and ethnic identities of the many different people that reside within and outside of it’s borders. That history is still being created and this country still struggles with many of the same problems that have plagued this area since before the founding of the U.S. As stated above, the popular media has a large impact on the way that race and ethnicity are understood by people, especially when considering the prevalence of segregation in the U.S.
Many forms of media fail to eradicate dangerous stereotypes that are keeping racism and discrimination alive. However, there are also forms of media that bring attention to dangerous stereotypes that have indoctrinated society for centuries. Through a careful and diligent analysis of these three pieces of media, racial misrepresentations and efforts to eradicate them become more noticed. Therefore, it is important to take a close look at the media that surrounds us so that we can distinguish and extinguish false stereotypes that limit our population’s social growth.
39 Wilson, Clint and Felix Gutierrez. Race, Multiculturalism, and the Media: From Mass to Class Communication. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1995: 45.
Goodman, Mark. "Chapter 8: The Media Contribution to Racism and Sexism." Mass Media and Society. Mississippi State University, n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
The use of media has always been very tactical and representative of a statement or purpose. The issue of race has always been a topic of immaculate exploration through different forms of media. Mediated topics such as race, gender, and class have always been topics represented in the media as a form of oppression. The widely use of media surrounds the globe extensively as the public is bombarded with media daily. There are many different types of media that circulates the public making it widely available to anyone. Media can hold an immense amount of power as it can distort the manner in which people understand the world. In our society the media creates the dominant ideology that is to be followed for centuries in the classifications of race, gender, and class. Media can be a powerful tool to use to display a message which, is how “…the media also resorts to sensationalism whereby it invents new forms of menace” (Welch, Price and Yankey 36). Media makers and contributors take advantage of the high power that it possesses and begin to display messages of ideologies that represent only one dominant race or gender. It became to be known as the “dominant ideology of white supremacy” for many and all (Hazell and Clarke 6).
“Stereotypes unreliable, exaggerated generalizations about all members of a group that do not take individual differences into account” (Schaefer 40). Stereotypes can be positive, but are usually associated with negative beliefs or actions such as racial profiling.
A stereotype is defined as “an often unfair and untrue belief that many people have about [an entire group of] people or things with a particular characteristic” (stereotype, n.d.). While not all stereotypes are necessarily negative, the word “stereotype” itself has a negative connotation that it has earned over the course of human history. Stereotyping has been a mental phenomenon that has intrigued psychologists and others alike for many years. There have been questions to whether or not it is an automatic response or a controlled cognitive belief. More specifically, this study addresses the question if a person’s perception of another person or subject influences the automaticity of stereotyping. This is an important subject because it approaches the issue of whether we as humans can control our immediate, initial thoughts, positive or negative, about a person or thing; which ultimately determines our attitude toward the individual or thing, which effects our behavior.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, however what is considered beautiful by some is not considered as beauty when discussing diversity within the media. Society is based on criticism of judging one’s characters body, shape and or race/ethnics background. In the media the society only sees one type that is only focused on perfection to the mind; however within the United States, it is very typical in that the media lacks ethnic representation, cultural identity and gender inequalities. There are no ethnic representation when it comes to the media world and that the media has been trained to believe that the ethnic groups are not valuable. African Americans and Hispanics writers are the minority group when it comes to a social group. According to journalist Prince and Television critic Deggans “CNN , let go one of its most high-profile anchor of color, Soledad O’Brien, replaced her with a white man, Chris Cuomo. Wolf Blitzer gave up one of his hours to another white man, Tapper. Though Zucker met with both National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalist to try and address their concerns, there has been no overt sign from CNN that it is bringing on any more anchors of color, ”(Mirkinson p.1).
Recently, the media produced audio files of stereotypical, racist, discriminatory and defamatory statements from Donald Sterling, who is the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. Though given the benefit of the doubt, the term “racist” stuck in the minds of the media audience, thereby, labeling Sterling as a racist before personally meeting Sterling. However, as days and weeks passed, Sterling’s consistent behavior on camera showed proof of racism. In analyzing Sterling after the release of the first audio file, the author’s attention concentrated on Sterling’s words, which in-so-doing, according to Schneider (2004), revealed Sterling’s character and behaviors (124). The media, according to Macrae, Stangor, and Milne (1994), “primed stereotypes by having subjects [i.e., the media audience] lists traits relevant to stereotype” (as cited in Schneider, 2004, p. 124). Therefore, the author used categories under gender (white male), race (Jewish) and an active schema under (racist). The audio file was the root of the “perceptually degrading words that were relate...
Currently there is a long-standing debate dealing with the effects of media. Some believe that the media is just something to indulge or watch and that it has no significant affect on people while others say that has a powerful pull on society as a whole. Research indicates that bias in media articles leads to minorities and women being portrayed in a stereotypical or harsh manner (Hazell and Clarke 3). This leads to African Americans being seen as individuals fit for “lower status occupations,” (Hazel and Clark 7). Black men were also seen as hostile, intimidating figures mainly working as athletes or musicians while women were portrayed as domineering, overly expressive people (Hazel and Clark 9).
There are several factors that play a role in the development of stereotypes. The biggest learning of stereotypes come from family influences. Young children don’t see color or hold beliefs about culture and religion, but as they grow up, their ideas about people change with the people that they are surrounded by and associated with. Stereotypes also come from the media and social categorization (Ferguson). In young l...