Many blacks seem to live up to these stereotypes of being the ones who are expected to play basketball, rap about non-sense, and gang bang they even take pride in these stereotypes. That is where the problem lies, and this isa case study analyzing why this is happening. For the first Unit in the Equality class we read a book called Race Matters by Cornell West. The book talked about how races are portrayed in the media and what goes on behind closed doors of peoples mindset in their race. We applied certain therioes of citizenships to Cornel West's thoughts and opinions about race. We took our knowledge of citizenship and Cornell West's theories and we created our own Declaration of Rights in response to the racial inequalities/issues that are happening today.
Preamble
This Declaration is necessary because this is something that nobody should not be doing to a race. The inequity that I have observed is How blacks are portrayed in the media. Blacks are believed to be less experienced in the media world, because of what is done on their part. We as citizens, must look deeper into this topic and understand that blacks today are not getting the same amount of respect like everybody else in the media.
Article 1
All human beings are born and created equal and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood
Article 2
Everyone has the right to believe in what they’re taught to believe in
Article 3
All citizens shall participate in the economy whether it’s a small occupation (small pay) or a large occupation (large pay)
Article 4
Every citizen has the right to pursue their lifelong dreams and aspirations
Appendix:
Article 1:
The media sets the tone for the morals, values, and images of black culture and other minority cultures. Many people in this country, believe that the degrading stereotypes of blacks are based on reality.Such as the sterotype of a young black teen gang banging. Some people's action speak loud but they should never speak loud enough for everyone to suffer the consequences of the awkward looks and the opportunity loss in society to grow as a person. Everything they believe about blacks is determined by what they see on television. After over a century of movie making, these stereotypes continue to plague black people today, and until negative images of blacks are extinguished from the media, blacks will be regarded as second-class citizens.
Article 2:
Many black rappers glamorize the world of ghetto living, living only for material possessions, and bragging about being from the violent streets. Younger blacks latch onto this 'cool' image just like many other young teens latch onto the rebellion of punk rock or the drug induced blur of techno music.
Article 3:
Decades after the Civil Rights Movement, Black workers earn significantly worse than White workers. The gap is either 40% or 25% depending on whether the average or median census data is used, but the fact remains that there is a large gap.
Article 4:
Mintel conducted a survey to understand how blacks feel towards how the media portrays blacks. 80% of the people of color who responded said that they are simply proud of their race, while on the other hand, 82% stated that it was important to them for blacks to be portrayed positively. It is clear to us that black men are always shown on TV as to be part of gangs and smoking weed. This is a huge generalization of black males today. As much as people see black males on the streets doing “wrong”, they are mostly being judged for being of a lower class. There are many black males who go to school and have a career, but they are never portrayed in the media in that positive way.
Article 5:
Representation of blacks in the media can also be related to ownership. “Free Press” made a report called "Off The Dial” and said that of all commercial broadcasts and radio stations, African Americans only take 3.4% of it. Since African Americans don’t really own a lot broadcasts and stations, the owners can have a certain opinion on them and portray them as they like. It is still unjust, that African Americans have to listen to the negative things said about them. A big majority of Black americans are of a lower class and these negative advertisements does not make them look any better, in terms of wanting to get a job.
Citations:
Yurii Horton. Poverty & Prejudice; Media and Race. June 1, 1999
Payne, Maxwell. How Does the Media Portray Black America. April 7, 2007
Nielsen, Robert. Why Are Black People Paid Less Than White People. April 21, 2012
http://reachingblackconsumers.com/2011/09/portrayal-of-blacks-in-the-media/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representation_of_African_Americans_in_media
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