Race in and of itself is a social construct. With no real biological or genetic meaning aside from the presence or absence of melanin, the chemical that indicates race and skin color, there appear to be no biological or genetic differences between “races.” Despite how abstract race is as a concept, it has very real social, political, legal and socioeconomic implications on the human race entirely. Racism been around since the nation’s earliest and unestablished days. Racism is not a topic that is easy to talk about; it has painful psychological, mental and emotional implications that stem from the past and affect the present. Its roots, to many, do not make sense. It is misunderstood how and on what basis skin color makes one inferior, lesser or less worthy than another. Although much time has passed, we are not in a post-racial society as many like to think. Race and racism are embedded in the fabric of nations worldwide against many communities of color and unfortunately, it persists to this day.
Racism and stereotypes are inextricably linked and have a reciprocal relationship. As described by Kite and Whitley (2016), stereotypes are characterized by “a fixed general image of a person or thing shared by many people.” Stereotypes are driven by dogma and beliefs that are perpetuated by those in authority and with credibility. One extremely important medium that often portrays and upholds stereotypes is today’s mass media. From news to film to television to music, we see racial inequality and incidents surrounding it at the forefront of the media’s consciousness. Incidents of police brutality, harassment from law enforcement and even reporting on crime often perpetuates one particular stereotype—that African Americans, specifically, are to be feared and seen as inherently violent and dangerous. I While watching the news about how African Americans are more likely to be arrested by police officers than any other race due to them being stereotyped, we see in the media that its own implicit news bias is part of what allows these stereotypes to remain in place. Unfortunately, other ethnic and racial groups are stereotyped as well, including Hispanic and Latinos and Asians.
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In today’s society, everyone seems to be stereotyped and grouped together by the way we are seen in the media and how we see each other in movies, news, magazines, television and more. Stereotypes and categorizing people is how we, unfortunately, separate ourselves from others to make sense of the world. The categories that people are put in, however, can mean more negative things than there should be. The movies we see, the news that we watch daily, and books and magazines that we read all seem to help us from our opinions about people that we come into contact with daily—whether it is right or wrong. The media is pervasive enough especially as a 24-hour news cycle to influence the opinions we all have about our communities and those who are on the outside. For example, CNN news, during coverage of the killing of an African American teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012, portrayed that Trayvon Martin was being stereotyped as an African American young man. It was implied that his killer George Zimmerman saw him as a threat, particularly due to his clothing and demeanor. Martin wore a hoodie in a “secure” and wealthy neighborhood where his father lived, and Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch member, felt that Trayvon was a threat. Feeling threatened by Martin’s presence, Zimmerman shot and killed the teenager. In this major case, the media frenzy that ensued was laced with racist and prejudicial undertones, seeing as Zimmerman is a white man (although he has Latino ancestry) and up against Martin, he felt threatened and unable to protect himself physically. Guarded by Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, Zimmerman was acquitted of his murder. The news in general is quick and meant to report crime, especially violent crime. In terms of crime and portrayals of certain racial groups, the media bias that is likely inherent within every outlet and organization often positions people of color as the aggressors and violent ones in contrast to their White counterparts.
Unfortunately, incidents of young people of color being shot or killed by police agencies happens within our nation daily. As of today, those incidents are usually followed by widespread outrage in the form of protests and riots. As the media plays a significant role in today’s society, the opinions and implicit biases of those whom work for it often show, even discreetly, in the information viewers and readers get from the news. Even in television history, stereotypes ran rampant particularly in sitcoms. People felt that the shows in the 70s, like The White Shadow, Welcome Back Carter, Good Times, Sanford And Son, What’s Happening, and many more showed African Americans—who mainly made up the cast—in stereotypical lights of being poor, Black and in unsafe and dilapidated neighborhoods, just getting by daily. Shows in the 80s like Diff’rent Strokes, Silver Spoons, The Facts of Life, The Cosby Show, and A Different World showed Black people in a more positive light, hoping to change the overall perception of Black Americans. These shows began to transform society’s consciousness and views and people of color in America and around the world became enriched by the positive representation of people who had, for so long and still were, discriminated against based on their skin color. Progressive shows like A Different World and The Cosby Show, both created by Bill Cosby, demonstrated that Black people were able and had just as much right to succeed and move along the path of upward mobility. The Cosby Show portrayed Bill Cosby as Cliff Huxtable, an OB/GYN and his lawyer wife raising a well-adjusted family of well-educated children. The show A Different World showed people of color the benefits and intricacies of attending college and bettering themselves through education. These shows demonstrated the importance of an education as a way to rise out of poverty and still be conscious of the state of African Americans.
- Kite, M. E., & Whitley Jr, B. E. (2016). Psychology of prejudice and discrimination. Psychology Press.
- Younge, G. (2013, June 30). The US supreme court thinks racism is dead. It isn’t | Gary Younge. Retrieved April 06, 2018, from https://www.theguardian.com/
