African Americans and Media

¶ … Media and African-Americans The mainstream media should not stand in isolation from the society on which it reports. In fact, it should be an integral part of society and should represent fairly all groups of people in a spirit of equality and fraternity. Unfortunately, such a spirit appears to be lacking, especially with regard to the issue of race in today's world.

The relationship between the media and black people is a tense one: it often appears as though the media is used to excite racial tensions and to inspire dislike and even hatred for blacks in America. The major terms that will be examined in this essay are the ways in which the media aggravates racial stereotypes, how crime is reported and how violence against African-Americans is represented, informing the public about ideas of crime and injustice towards blacks in America.

The media's messages contribute to triggering and/or aggravating racial stereotypes in various ways. The media is a powerful tool, as Baum and Potter show. It can be used by political agencies to shape the way we think about ourselves and our foes. For African-Americans, the media can seem like a weapon -- both to give them fair treatment and voice and also to cast them in a negative light, where they all appear as criminals.

Blacks who use the media to show their community in a positive and realistic light include filmmakers like Spike Lee, whose Malcolm X was a critically-praised work of art that celebrated the life and career of the riveting black leader. However, as Andrew Selepak shows, other media can foster stereotypes and promote the idea that all African-Americans are violent and anti-social -- and one way to do it is through the use of violent video games.

Another way is through use of news programs that commonly depict blacks in a negative light, as rioters or drug dealers; rarely do they celebrate black lives that are community-oriented and fostering a spirit of peace and love (Mastro et al.; Holt). The fact is that African-Americans do contribute to society in positive ways everyday and the media presentations serve primarily to retard that process and keep blacks cast in an inferior and dangerous role.

This continued presentation of African-Americans in a negative light is harmful because it perpetuates the idea that all blacks are thugs and are out to rob and physically harm people. Yet when hate crimes are committed against African-Americans in response, the media does not always give them a fair shake. Some media will report on the reality of the situation, but others filter it through a lens of bigotry that seeks to profit from the proliferation of the idea that black communities are dangerous and should be suppressed.

This racial bigotry goes all the way back to Abraham Lincoln, who had the idea of moving the black communities of America out of the United States and settling them in other parts of the world. The fact is that America has always suffered from racism and today's media continues to struggle with that issue. Thus, on the one hand, media will attempt to live up to the ideals that Americans try to honor -- such as equality and fraternity.

But on the other hand, it still finds itself giving in to racist sentiments and perpetuating myths about African-Americans by promoting in spite of itself violent attitudes towards them. As Erica Hutton shows, media prejudice is directly responsible for cultivating in the public an attitude of mistrust, bigotry and racism that does more to undo progress towards equality and fraternity than anything else. In conclusion, the media is a powerful tool in the world and can be used for good and for ill.

Some use it to celebrate the real-world achievements of great African-Americans, as Spike Lee did in his film Malcolm X. Others use media to promote racist stereotypes that perpetuate the system of violence against blacks and that inadvertently allow hate crime mentalities and attitudes to persist. The media should realize that it is not.