racism in the american mass media

The Hague Universty of Applied SciencesExpert Analysis

Racism in the American Mass Media

Lecturer: Mr. Mirad Böhm

Student: Madalina Papoiu, 13037978

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Date: October 31st, 2014

Introduction

Alex Haley, the author of the famous bestseller, ‘’Roots’’ used

to say that ‘’’Racism is taught in our society, (…) towards

persons with dissimilar physical characteristics’’. Racism is a

present issue and racism in mass media is a reality in the

United States; famous brands such as Cheerios and Disney use it

as a tool while written media subtly shape perceptions

regarding racial differences. Mass media is regarded as

responsible for how the Caucasian population of the United

States perceive African Americans. (Cazenave, 2002, p. 8) For

instance, the United States of America is a racially diverse

and cosmopolite society. Nevertheless, on the basis of its

significantly rich ethnical diversity, racism is a common

issue. (Gardner, 2010) In fact, history

indicates that the most discriminated against are African-

Americans and media is held responsible for encouraging racist

attitudes among US citizens which contributed to the African-

Americans being discriminated against. (Dijk, 1987) The current

piece of writing is aimed at arguing the claim according to

which racism does exist in the US media. However, the purpose

is that of acknowledging the readers by means of arguments as

result of extensive desk research. The report consists of five

paragraphs; the first one introduces and defines the topic by

means of the thesis statement, the second one consists of the

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research question, the third and forth paragraphs, entitled

‘’Audio-Visual Media’’ and ‘’Written Media’’ present arguments in favor of

the claim supported by examples. Also, opposite points of view

are taken into account and discussed throughout the paragraphs

‘’Audio-Visual Media’’ and ‘’Written Media’’. The last paragraph represents

the conclusion where the main points are summarized.

Research question

The research question is ’’How do US media shape the image of

African-Americans?’’. Consequently, the answer to the question

will be provided in the following three paragraphs supported by

evidence.

Audio-visual media

The most popular tool for spreading racism is television.

(Dijk, 1987) It is the most effective way for sending

subliminal messages which are detrimental to African-Americans.

Some people, regardless of their racial belonging are deeply

disturbed by the biased position of TV commercials such as

Cheerios’. People are told that cereals are beneficial to their

health. Furthermore, one of the advertisements of Cheerios

indicates that cereals are even more beneficial to African-

Americans than other ethnic groups. To explain it briefly, the

commercial depicts an interracial couple with a mixed female

child; while the Caucasian woman is preoccupied by the little

girl’s education whereas, the African-American man is resting

on a sofa, completely disconnected from the surroundings.

Suddenly, the little girl makes a cereal heart shaped form on

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the chest of the sleeping man. The morale here being that

despite the genetic predisposition of African-Americans to

heart diseases triggered by lack of physical activity and

inadequate diet, Cheerios will build a shell that will protect

the heart.

The commercial triggered myriad reactions from the public

sphere, both positive and negative. Besides, while some people

thought it was an entertaining commercial, others regarded it

as offensive and highly racist. (Blake, 2013) Another aspect to

consider is the racism hidden in animated productions. Of

course, some people will not agree and others might feel that

too much attention is being given to analyzing the hidden of TV

productions where there is none except from pure entertainment.

For instance, one of the most loved corporations in the world,

Disney also faced accusations for discriminating against

African-Americans in their productions. Allegedly, ’’Song of

the South’’ and ’’The Princess and the Frog’’ explicitly

contain highly racist elements. ’’The Princess and the Frog’’

depicts the only two African-American men from the movie as not

being able to provide for the family (Tiana’s father) and the

evil character (Dr. Facilier) while the charming prince is a

Caucasian man. (Sastry, 2012) The young audience is subjected

to distorted perceptions regarding people of other race. In

spite of that, Disney claimed that the two productions were not

aimed at subjecting any ethic group to unfair treatment and

they argued that the entire strategy behind the productions was

based exclusively on offering quality entertainment.

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Written media

According to Bernard Cohen the world looks different to

different people’’ (Cohen, 1963, p. 13). The press is poured

with examples that continue to encourage people to discriminate

based upon race. Advertisements with inadequate content are

printed and posted on regular basis, which shows that

stereotypes and racism are still prevalent in our everyday

thinking. The research conducted indicates that media portrays

even sports people differently depending on their race. This

aspect shows that their performance in the field of sports is

subordinated to race. (Derse, 1995)To exemplify, in numerous

occasions both glossy and sports magazines depict athletes in a

stereotypical manner: Caucasian athletes are presented as calm

and thrust worthy people with a serene facial expression and

impeccable body posture, while African-American athletes are

pictured as fretful, bad-tempered and even aggressive people.

(The Sport Digest, 2010) The reason might be represented by the

knowledge that African-American’s ancestry can be traced back

to the African continent, a place of wilderness and the silent

assumptions develop as it follows: Africa, scarce,

underdeveloped, wild, dangerous, uncivilized, et cetera. By

following this line of stereotypes people are provided with

biased images. (Sports in Black and White, 2012)

Conclusion

To sum up, media does contribute to racism against African-

Americans though many elements such as TV shows, cartoons,

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magazines, news papers and commercials which exploit race and

stereotypes that are to be funny. However biased attitudes and

discrimination are never funny. There is racism in US media

because media is responsible for the information that a society

uses and bases its knowledge, attitude and behavior upon.

(Troyana, 1981) From commercials we learn that African-American

men are lazy people, fans of sofas and suffering from high

blood pressure. Meanwhile, Disney production ’’The Princess and

the Frog’’ depicts the only two African-American men from the

movie as not able to provide for the family (Tiana’s father)

and the evil character (Dr. Facilier) while the charming prince

is a Caucasian man. From magazines we learn that African-

American athletes are aggressive while Caucasian athletes are

calm and the media is full of other examples. (The Sport

Digest, 2010) US Media shape perceptions, build attitudes and

encourage opinions which in most cases are detrimental to

Africa-Americans because their inner qualities and attributes

are subordinated to ‘’dissimilar physical characteristics’’

compared to those of Caucasian people. (BBC News Magazine,

2012) As a result of analyzing and assessing sources, the claim

that there is racism in US media has been proved because there

is no thing as the universal truth. The best solution is to

focus more on knowing and acknowledging situations accurately

and not always fitting them into a modus operandi of racial

behavior. Besides, this approach shows a basic misunderstanding

of what the effects can be in the long run. Human beings are

similar, the same and unique and they must be regarded and

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treated at such by the media in general and US media in

particular. There is no valid reason for perpetuating images of

individuals based on racial sketches which have been proved

numerous times incorrect and morally wrong. All these being

said, will there be a time when media will be absolved of guilt?

Hopefully, yes.

Works Cited

BBC News Magazine. (2012, November 27). BBC News Mgazine. Retrieved September 15, 2014, from BBC: www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20500031

Blake, M. (2013, June 02). Cheerios commercial target of racist abuse. Retrieved September 27, 2014, from Daylu Mail: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2333903/YouTube-forced-shut-comments-Cheerios-ad-featuring-mixed-race-family-racist-trolls-abuse.html

Cazenave, K. J. (2002). Welfare Racism. New York.

Derse, E. (1995). The Portrayal of Race, Ethnicity and Nationality in Televised International Athleti Events.

Dijk, T. A. (1987). Mediating racism The role of the media in the reproduction of racism. In T. A. Dijk, Mediating racism (pp. 202-205).

Franz, G. B. (2014, April 30). CNN U.S. Retrieved October 04, 2014, from CCN: edition.cnn.com/2014/04/29/us/clippers-

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sterling-scandal/

Gardner, J. (2010, March 18). The ''Post-Racial'' Mainstream Media and The New American Racism. Huffpost New York , p. 1.

Sastry, K. (2012, June 1). Shame on Hollywood. Retrieved September 23, 2014, from Business Insider: www.businessinsider.com/the-most-racist-films-of-all-time-2012-5?op=1

Sports in Black and White. (2012, December 5). Sports in Black and White. Retrieved September 22, 2014, from Media Depiction of Black Athlets: www.sportsinblackandwhite.com/2012/12/05/michael-vick-and-the-media-depiction-of-black-athletes/

The Sport Digest. (2010). Media's Effect on Perceptions of Athletes's Genderand Race. Retrieved September 29, 2014, from The Sport Digest: http://thesportdigest.com/archieve/article/media-s-effect-perceptions-athletes-gender-and-race

Troyana, B. (1981). Public Awareness and the Media:A study on reporting on race. London.

Appendices

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