Eth/125 Final Paper

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek” Barack Obama. The question is always asked does the media reflect the reality of society, or does society try and imitate the reality shown by the media? There are a number of stereotypes associated with African Americans in our society such as African American men are athletes, rappers, criminals, deviant, streetwise, uneducated, and unemployed just to name a few. African Americans in the media have changed through the years. The history of African Americans on TV or minorities in general is hampered by the racial conflicts and segregation that are embedded in American society. Historically, black actors have been grouped stereotypically and assigned to comedy. This has often been traced to the genre of black minstrelsy that was popular in the early 20th century.

After watching this, I now feel that it would be very beneficial for a child to learn a second language because like the video says, it opens up more future opportunities for the child. In the article, “Chinese, English, Spanish” by Tom McArthur, it talks about how English is one of the most popular languages today, and how variations of English can be heard or read almost everywhere. Although English is a very popular language, it is always an advantage to know other languages. In the video, it states that knowing just English is actually a limitation in life because so many jobs want bilingual

In my experience, I see the media portray African Americans in negative images from being criminals, uneducated, violence, etc. This same media is shown worldwide and the sad truth is other cultures perceive these images to be factual. These negative images hurt the African American communities. These same communities consume these images on a daily basis and see false representation. African Americans are hardly shown in a positive light, unless the play a sport or a musical instrument. The medias negative images are damaging the psyche and affecting our relationships with other cultures. Other cultures often shape their perception of themselves off of other cultures. The negative images of the black community do not help the community move

The media is a profoundly impactful outlet, which has the capability and power to change ones perception about something or someone. However, there are innumerable portrayals that are deemed stereotypical to many people, such as Black people, who happen to face those cynical depictions. Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager from Ferguson, Missouri was killed by former and now resigned officer Darren Wilson in 2014. Brown was portrayed as a nonchalant troubled student who bullied people. The media failed to enlighten the greater public on how he was supposed to go to college the day after he was murdered and how he was a compassionate kid who loved and care for children. This is a prime example of what misuse of false information is, because

In many ways, television has portrayed a great deal of stereotypical behavior, and is distorted because it does not seem to represent the diversity or culture of certain ethnic groups, for example, Black, Hispanic, Arab, and Muslim communities etc. In my outlook, I feel that the objective of most of these television shows/media is to target certain subcultures for the reason of it being understood as amusing or entertaining, but in turn it evokes other raciest humor. At time, I do find it extremely difficult to watch television, not only is it down grading it clearly shows a misunderstanding of those communities I mentioned, but in general the misperception of Black people over all. The most frustrating and irrational thing about all of

The media appears to shed a negative light on African Americans in the media. A story that comes to mind was a Caucasian couple who resided in the suburbs and had average jobs. The media describes them so eloquently as a family who just made a wrong decision. The article described them as “- In their hometown of Trinity, Alabama, MaryAnn and Wesley Landers were seen as doting parents of two girls, a couple with a very strong faith” (www.whnt.com).

Media contributes to the way the world is shaped, portrayed and viewed through the eyes of the viewers. With racial stereotypes and bigot behavior raises the question, has media influenced the continuance of discriminatory behavior against minorities? While the minority population continues to rise, it has become very transparent the majority population will quickly transform into another minority group. As this happens, the nation and its media will need to change how people of diverse races and cultures are seen and treated (Wilson, Guiterrez, & Chao, 2013).

Racial profiling in the media is problematic since it leads to biases and stereotypes in the American culture. Constant depiction of such stereotypic behavior in the media reinforces such false perceptions in the viewer's eyes. According to one study concerning this issue states that stereotypic images of Blacks depicted as criminals is very strong in the present media which consequently results in perpetuation of stereotypes in the culture in a subtle yet effectual manner (Gorham, 2006). Moreover, a study in 1991 concluded that the TV media is playing a strong role in spreading "modern racism" through muted portrayal of stereotypes. The study further

With the United States being on the most diverse and most populated countries in the World, the ability of speaking a foreign language can be beneficial. The United States Population is estimated at 321 million and 41% are of another ethnicity, according to the United States Census Bureau. Most that have migrated to the US, speak another language other than english and it comes in handy when it is needed. Such as for translating for others that are in need or helping with directions. The more people communicate with other the more knowledge and different perspectives they can gain of of others. The ability of communicating with others in a different can change people’s point of views of others by helping them understand one’s

The media often presents Blacks in a negative light, especially when reporting to the mass public. Many things that are shown on the Internet or the television have been edited to show people in an unfavorable way. The news is

The media often paints a picture of certain groups that may not be accurate for example, African Americans in the media are portrayed as criminals, drug addicts, or misogynist which also includes African American women are viewed as abrasive and promiscuous. While there are millions of responsible and respectable African Americans. They are not celebrated in the media. What the community sees are instead are thing in movies and on TV. This changes the general perception of African Americans and cause people to assume they are violent and are a burdened to society.

Mass media is perhaps the most powerful tool in the world for creating, changing or perpetuating society’s ideas about an issue or group of people. It works both blatantly and subconsciously by deciding which issues are important, how to frame those issues, who to show as affected by them, and, increasingly, providing personal commentaries on the matters at hand. Because the majority of media outlets are owned by corporations dominated by white heterosexual men, many minorities are portrayed in ways that perpetuate negative stereotypes – if they are portrayed at all. Even though men have made great strides in regards to power, but with the black male they continue to experience both misrepresentation and underrepresentation in the modern

Spreading injurious words and images to progress as an influential involvement in today’s society presents the media to be perceived as a distrusting figure. The media favors portraying different ethnic groups for society to view as displeasing. From spamming story constantly targeting these groups the word stereotypes begins to expand rapidly not just across the country but the world. Stereotyping is labeling a group based off of certain beliefs, such a racial profiling which can result in discouraging feelings in an individual. Leaving undesirable feelings on society the media is still used to support these unfitting acts. Providing civilization comical views of

I believe that it is important for all people to learn another language other than their native language. I come from a family with great pride of heritage my father’s family begin German and mother’s family begin Russian I learned multiple languages growing up. Since having this background I wanted to learn more languages and know I can speak eight languages English, German, Russian, Arabic, Spanish, Finnish, Ukrainian and French. I know learning a language is a long a stressful process, but it will help you in the long run in any field of study.

If we are able to speak a foreign language, it can remove the barriers between people and cultures, thus uniting people. According to CNN news, about “1,051,031 people are granted lawful permanent residence” in the year 2015 (Immigration Statistics Fast Facts). The immigrants consist of people from Mexico, China, Philippines, India, and Cuba, which means that the different ethnic groups in the United States increases the cultural heterogeneity. As the diversity continues to grow, the United states is gradually enlarging its different cultures and traditions. Therefore, people should learn a foreign language because it can generate less prejudice towards people who are different from us. Prejudice can divide a community and eventually lead to violence, harassment, and racism. When an individual has a limited understanding of other people that are different from them, they can create stereotypes of that person. This can possibly lead to intentional racism, feelings of inferiority, and being hurtful to another culture.