Do The Right Thing: The Epidemic of Racial Stereotyping in the Media

Over the past couple of decades the usage of offensive stereotypes have played a big role in popular films, TV shows, music videos, and comedy routines today. In fact one can only argue that these offensive stereotypes have increased considerably and will only continue to grow. There are many reasons as to why these stereotypes have only increased and have led to the creators of these films making millions and millions of dollars. The main reason behind this is making fun of race, color, poverty, and other cultures and using straightforward offensive words to do so is humorous to a large part of the US population. Although most of us would feel insulted if these

Stereotypes are defined as an oversimplified image or idea about a specific type of person. It is believed that stereotypes about African Americans began in the United States around the 18th century. Anti-Black stereotypes arguably the most developed racist stereotypes in racial framing and have been used as foundations for the capture, enslavement, and later, the subjugation of African American people. Stating that stereotypes are just a joke is an understatement of the consequential after – math racial images and stereotypes have on the African American population. Even stereotypes that are considered positive are often concealed with negative implications and reasons as to why they exist. Most people may think they only hold stereotypes in the back of their head, but studies show that people are more likely to fall back on them in making judgments when they feel challenged, face uncertainty, or experience sensory overload. Using information from class, comparisons from the films we have watched and Ed Guerrero’s Framing Blackness, this paper will analyze the stereotypes in the television show Empire.

Race in the media is a very sensitive issue now a days. When it comes to minorities we can still see that the media portrays us in a bad light. The image of blacks in the American media has changed over the past two decades with the civil rights movement, changes in attitudes towards minority groups, and increased sensitivity on the part of those who and project these images. An examination of the image of Blacks in the articles and advertisements to show attitudes subtly represented, and these attitudes can be linked to historical and social realities of the time.

Why as white people have we been lulled into thinking its safe to be around other white people. Why have we been taught since birth that it’s the people of that other color we need to fear? They’re the ones that will slit your throat (Moore 57). The mass media has played and will continue to play a crucial role in the way white Americans perceive African-Americans. As a result of the overwhelming media focus on crime, drug use, gang violence, and other forms of anti-social behavior among African-Americans, the media is fostering a distorted public perception of African-Americans. Looking at past examples of African Americans treatment

Malcolm X, a civil rights activist, stated that “The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have to power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent and that’s power. Because they control the minds of masses.” Unfortunately, some people lose their lives trying to get an “ideal body.” From the article “NYC Girls Project - Media and Girls,” this organization conducted a study in 2010 that stated that “63 percent of girls think the body image represented by the fashion industry is unrealistic and 47% think it’s unhealthy. Due to these reasons and others, the media influences individuals in a negative way because of how it reinforces racial/gender stereotypes.

The characters: Tre Styles and Mookie are two young African-Americans in the films “Boyz N The Hood” and “Do The Right Thing” respectively. Both films were released around the same time period, with DO THE RIGHT THING being released in 1989, and BOYZ N THE HOOD in 1991. Both films are coming of age tales for Tre and Mookie, they both reside in a low-income, predominantly black neighborhood. Both films share a common theme: the idea of hopelessness and survival as a young black male in the “hood.” Both men are a product of what can only be described as “urban decay;” they are trying to find their place in a society that doesn’t care much for their well being or success. BOYZ N THE HOOD and DO THE RIGHT THING have a common

As society continues to advance, it is evident that technology is vital to the facilitation of everyday living. In today’s media, minorities are constantly being represented in a negative light. Those who fall victim to this tend to be Latinos and African Americans. In the news, there are many aired reports of acts of violence that are portrayed as being committed either by an African American or a Latino. Entertainment media also does its part in showing minorities through negative stereotypes and are underrepresented in important leading roles. Both tend to be seen as antagonist characters or minor characters, while others, such as Anglos usually play leading protagonist roles. Mass media has an influence on how society sees Latinos and African Americans because these perceptions of minorities are constantly shown. Sociological studies on the content analysis of mass media have confirmed that negative portrayal of minorities helps to perpetuate radical prejudices and sustain their low status. Furthermore, it is important for Latinos and African Americans to be given equal opportunities to be positively portrayed.

The United States of America has been called a “mixing pot” since the birth of the nation. Everyone, especially politicians and educators, will proudly declare that the U.S. is a land of unmatched diversity. The U.S. seems to always be portrayed as a highly cultural territory, harboring a vast population of many races. Admittedly, the United States has come a long in terms of eliminating racial barriers and pursuing equality. All around the world, America is seen as a country of colors, yet mass media does not recognize that fact.

When I first heard someone say, “All African American people are Ghetto,” I was very offended that someone would make this type of assumption about my culture, and I thought how ignorant this person must be; but then I stopped and wondered why other people would think this about us. I asked her why she would say something like this, and she instantly listed shows like Tosh.O and Chelsea Lately, which highlight my culture in a negative view. It was clear to me that she had made up her mind about black people through watching the media and seeing African Americans fulfill that stereotype in person. This led me to question: Where exactly do these stereotypes come from?

During the process of producing a television series, the demand for the producers to introduce their characters with only their highlighted traits make it impossible for viewers to gain a deep understanding of the community that the characters represent. One of the stereotypic traits that is usually seen on movies and television shows is societal difference that each race is placed into. Michael Omi in his article In Living Color: Race and American Culture stated that “in contemporary television and film, there is a tendency to present and equate racial minority groups and individuals with specific social problems” (546). There are many films and television shows found today that ground racial minorities into a specific social problems that are related to the color of their skin. It can be inferred from the current popular culture that this stereotype still persists.

Racism isn’t as violent as it was today some people will blindly say that it doesn’t exist anymore but the truth of the matter is that it does. A lot of people believe in racial stereotypes in an article written by Joe Fagin he talks about how Americans and the media have downgraded the Mexican race by mocking their language and calling them aliens it’s the same thing with African Americans popular Stereotypes of African Americans are that we are criminals and people who are only destined to end up in jail if they don’t make it in sports or entertainment. One of the most recent problems occurring today is racism in the media. Stereotyping in television and movies has reached a peak. The media gives children negative views of African American lifestyle. There are T.V. shows that depict African Americans in a way that is not true. There's even a video game about with an African American as the main character and the only thing that he does is kill, rob and have sex with people. The people who stereotype are mainly people who haven't been around African Americans and go by the only thing that they see about African Americans. So therefore, the media is a large part of the part of stereotyping of African Americans. Back When Troy Maxon and August Wilson were growing up Black men were characterized as brutes who were unintelligent and prone to committing crimes such as rape and murder. The representation of others as inferior serves as a purpose in justifying the negative

My group analyzed how African Americans are being portrayed in the media using multiple media sources, but we mainly analyzed television, movies and videos (YouTube segments). As a whole it was determined that there is a negative portrayal of this race in these media sources, and often times it is covered up with the use of comedy. According to the findings of my group members, African American in the news and on criminal shows are usually assumed to be guilty before proving to be innocent, instead of innocent until proven guilty like it should be and there is a lot of negative information reported. For me I was surprised that there wasn't any news stories about African Americans the day I took notes, but I also noticed that there weren't

The scene takes place inside of Sal’s Famous Pizzeria which is in the Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. The pizzeria has been in that neighborhood for many years and most its customers are blacks. Inside the pizzeria we see chairs, tables, refrigerator that contains soda, a pizza oven and a cash register among other things typically found inside a restaurant. The temperature inside the pizzeria is hot and coupled with the extreme hot day makes the racial tensions more intense.

The definition of race is often based on physical characteristics such as skin color, hair texture and eye shape. Race is both a set of genetically defined biological characteristics and culturally defined characteristics. One influence on culture is the media and the media have a huge influence on the way different races are viewed by society. The media consists of communication devices and some media forms include television, newspapers, magazines, film and radio. Misrepresent can be defined as to give a false or misleading representation with an intent to deceive or be unfair.

When we try to understand why the characters act as they act and what drives each of them, the viewers are inevitably drawn to the conclusion that they are just like them. They realize they are human; they have both good qualities and bad qualities. Spike Lee also makes them understand that at times they may make terrible mistakes, and that at other times they may display admirable heroism, and that sometimes they simply act without knowing why. Spike Lee does more than try to show his viewers that despite tensions, this Black neighborhood is a community. What Lee does is he makes the viewers think. He simply presents events as they are leaving the viewer to figure out the motives of the characters and the ‘why’ behind the course of events. Lee doesn’t really put a positive light on any particular race while shadowing the other ones. He doesn’t try to make conflicts have an obvious solution. Lee simply re-creates a piece of life, with a little twist of extreme (yet realistic) drama for deeper effect, and by doing this he tries to simply make his audience think and question.