The Image of African Americans in Media

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Methods
Findings
Discussion
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

Despite decades of addressing the issue of equity in general and the impropriety of racial profiling, in particular, the misrepresentation of African Americans in media still remains a topical issue. The specified phenomenon can be explained by the fact that the factors, which stereotypes regarding Black people thrive on, persist in the modern society, particularly, in the form of media images and literary representations of African Americans.

Seeing that the current image of African Americans is filled with the prejudices that used to be around for several decades running, it can be assumed that the specified image is shaped by the dominant part of the U.S. population and, therefore, that it blocks the actual African American culture from being manifested in the modern society.

Methods

The study of the subject of interpretation of the image of African Americans in media was carried out as a qualitative research, as there was no need to quantify the relations between the key variables.

Ethnography was chosen as a research method, whereas the analysis of the existing studies of the representation of African Americans in modern and traditional media was used as the means of retrieving the data. The information was chosen with the help of the opportunistic sampling technique and processed with the help of coding based on a deductive approach.

Findings

The study has shown that the current representations of African American people in media not only incorporate a variety of stereotypes but also are mostly based on how the representatives of the dominant culture want to see African Americans. On the one hand, some of the early writings show African Americans as fighters for freedom and, therefore, the promoters of equality in relationships.

Particularly, the creation of the National Social Equality League deserves to be mentioned (Cook 277); in fact, Cook specified that “a black man once headed” (Cook 277) the society in question, which serves as a graphic proof of determination and passion of African Americans. On the other hand, the current concept of Black culture seems to be shifting towards the image that can be defined as a rather laid-back, careless, and undetermined one (Franklin and Carlson 112).

As the study of the existing literature shows, the specified difference in the actual identity of African American people and their image in media is linked directly to the tradition of portraying the specified denizens of the American population in media (Martinez 28).

Herein the root of the problem lies; although the modern standards of societal interaction, including the principles of equity, promote the idea of subverting biased ideas and prejudices related to African Americans and other cultures, the very basis of modern representation of Black people and the African American community is rooted in the stereotypes created by European Americans, whereas the voice of the former can hardly be hard.

Additionally, the study has revealed that the current image of an African American, much like the representation thereof several decades earlier, still thrives on reinforcing the idea of African American people being inactive, goofy and, therefore, harmless to the rest of the communities (Leiter 3).

Discussion

The study results show clearly that there are significant biases in the current representation of African American people in media, especially in the traditional one. The current portrait of an African American person is obviously dictated by the way, in which the African American identity perceived by European Americans. Therefore, when viewed through the prism of the above-mentioned perception, the media representation thereof is altered significantly (Drysdale et al. 78).

Despite the fact that the current concept of the African American culture and its representatives does not demonize the specified denizens of the American population, it still represents them in the light that is far from being favorable.

Particularly, the above-mentioned inactiveness, which can be traced in a range of past and modern interpretations of an image of an African American, can be interpreted as the way, in which European Americans would like to see the aforementioned population. In fact, a similar problem used to occur at the very beginning of the integration of the image of African Americans in art, as the lack of success of The telephone among the specified denizens of the U.S. population shows:

Such poorly made movies as Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Burglar (both 1987) and The Telephone (1988) wasted Goldberg’s talents. African-American audiences particularly found little to like in these films because they depicted Goldberg as an oddball with no identity as a Black woman. (Otfinoski 85)

Thus, the way, in which African American people used to be portrayed in media and the manner, in which they are depicted nowadays, do not differ much. The same prejudices that used to define the course of representing African American people in media still have a significant effect on the image of Black people in art.

Particularly, the findings of the research show that unique characteristics of the African American culture used to be kept in the shadow as the European Americans decided, which representation of the specified denizens of the population aligned with the idea of African American people being lazy and inactive.

As it has been stressed above, the concept of harmlessness, which can be attributed to the current representation of Black people and the Black culture in general in the contemporary media cannot be deemed as negative; however, it makes the very concept of the African American culture bland and deprived of any elements that could challenge people to think and discuss.

Indeed, the contemporary art pieces and literature that are supposed to represent African American population are remarkably bland, as the overview provided above shows. The samples selected for the study indicate that members of the Black community are portrayed in contemporary art and literature, as well as modern media in general, in the way that does not provoke thinking and further discussion for the most part, with several rare exceptions.

Based on the comparison of the current representation of African Americans in art and literature with the ones that were introduced into the specified area several decades ago, one must admit that some of the stereotypes, such as the alienation of the Balck culture, the alleged simplicity thereof, etc., as well as several other erroneous concepts of Black people and their culture, still define the way, in which media portrays the aforementioned denizens of the American population. Therefore, the stereotypes that used to dominate the society years ago, though swept under the rug with the introduction of the principles of equity into the modern society, still define the attitude of the U.S. population to the specified segment.

The specified tendency for the Black culture to be discriminated against in the contemporary art and literature is very disturbing; moreover, it shows that the current image of a black person portrayed in modern media is still powered by the stereotypes that have been in existence for years. The specified stereotypes, once trickling into modern media, define the specifics of relationships between African and the European American population of the United States; moreover, these stereotypes prevent the latter from understanding the very concept of the African American identity. As a result, the image in question gets misinterpreted to the point, where it can no longer be associated with the culture in question, thus, leading to more misunderstandings.

Conclusion

Because of the persistence and the staying power of stereotypes, which emerged due to the lack of equality at the primary stages of intercultural relations, the present-day image of African American people is still influenced considerably by the European American culture.

Moreover, the influence, which the specified stereotypes have on the development of the image of Black people in media, may subvert a range of progressive ideas and representations of the above-mentioned culture and people in media. As a result, the outcomes of the specified stereotypical portrayal of Black people in art and literature may be dire.

The portrayal of African American people in traditional media has been enhanced by prejudice and stereotypical concepts, which were reinforced by the principles of racial profiling that were viewed as a standard of societal interactions a century ago. Nevertheless, contemporary art and media still incorporates some of the ideas that were typical for racial profiling several decades ago.

Although the above-mentioned components are rather subtle, they, nevertheless, affect the way, in which people of other races see African Americans; as a result, intercultural interactions are altered by the way, in which modern media portrays the Black culture.

Works Cited

Cook, William W. African American Writers and Classical Tradition. 2010.

Drysdale, Jessica Renee, Jay Lutz, James E. Gober, and Thomas Allan Scott. Interview with James E. Gober. 2009.

Franklin, Bob and Matt Carlson. Journalists, Sources, and Credibility: New Perspectives. New York City, New York: Routledge, 2010. Print.

Leiter, Andrew B. African American Masculinity in the Harlem and Southern Renaissances. 2010.

Martinez, Jonathan. Art and Humanities. New York, NY: Jonathan Martinez Publishing, 2009. Print.

Otfinoski, Steven. African Americans in the Performing Arts. 2010.

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