Bailey, Ainsworth Anthony. "A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN MALE IN ADVERTISING." Journal of Advertising 35.1 (2006): 83-104. Communication & Mass Media Complete. EBSCO. Web. 17 Mar. 2010.
I chose this article because it discusses some elements of affirmative action. Companies want to make sure that minorities are included in advertising to keep protesters out of their hair. However, it clear to see that there are many brands that actually degrade minorities. A brand that comes to mind is Uncle Ben. He seems to be enthusiastic about his job and loves to cook. Why is this degrading? Uncle Ben is a slave. This article presents two studies in which researchers tracked how often black men are used in advertising. The researchers also kept track of the kinds of products they advertised, their roles in the ads, and the settings of the ads. The first study examined ads in hip-hop magazines which included The Source, Vibe, and XXL. All of the ads included black men but they were usually alone and advertising clothes and accessories. None of the ads featured black men in business settings. The second study examined the magazines, Ebony, Essence, GQ, and SPIN. Researchers found that there were hardly any black men in the advertisements but when they were, they were alone. There were limited business or work related ads. These findings are not surprising. The mentioned magazines are not targeted to black men but black women,( Ebony Essence), white men (GQ), and music fans (SPIN).The article relates the results of the studies to theories produced by social learning.
Billings, A. (2003). Portraying Tiger Woods: Characterizations of a "Black" Athlete in a "White" Sport. Howard Journal of Communications, 14(1), 29. Retrieved from Communication & Mass Media Complete database.
This article features a study that focuses on golfer Tiger Woods. In 1996, Woods suddenly became a phenomenon in the golf community. Ratings for the PGA tour increased by over 50% and Woods was called the greatest black golfer in the world.Prior to the study, Andrew C. Billings of Clemson University observed 66 college basketball games and found that sports commentators acknowledged white players for their intellectual abilities and blacks for their physical abilities. Using this knowledge, Billings wanted to see if the same characterization principle applied to Tiger Woods: “a black man playing a white man’s game”. Billings and other researchers analyzed over 37.5 hours of footage from a single tournament and examined every line from the sports commentators. 56.4% of the commentary featured some form of stereotyping. Of the 56.4%, 13.3% of the commentary described Woods and 86.7% described the other players. Billings found that Woods was characterized as an intellectual golf player whose years of experience have sharpened his skills. This is the stereotypical description for the white athletes. However, when Woods made a mistake or loss, the black athletic stereotype came into play. I chose this article because takes a different perspective on the “white man can’t jump” ideology that creeps its way into many sporting events. In this case, a biracial black man becomes a champion in a sport that is dominated by white males. Billings closes his article by reminding the reader that racial stereotyping is not a “relic of the past” and occurs in every medium. Americans must maintain a level of media literacy in order the filter messages that are fed to them daily.
Gorham, Bradley W. "Stereotypes in the Media: So What?." Howard Journal of Communications 10.4 (1999): 229-247. Communication & Mass Media Complete. EBSCO. Web. 14 Feb. 2010.
Generally, the word “stereotype” has a negative connotation. In the American media, any sign of stereotyping is quickly despised by civil rights groups and organizations. These stereotypes paint unfair pictures of people based on their culture. It is believed that when exposed to these images for an extended period, one may actually believe that the stereotypes portrayed on television are actually true. However, is there any physical evidence that this is the truth? This article by Bradley W. Gorham, a doctoral candidate from the University of Michigan, attempts to answer this question: Can stereotypes actually shape one’s ideology? Gorham defines stereotypes as “understandings about… social groups that [one] learn[s] from [the] social world”. The author states that the question can be answered by dividing the answer into two categories: 1) The effects of stereotypes on the general public and 2) what these stereotypes reflect on American society. Although this article does not focus specifically on racial stereotypes in the media, it offers an intelligent perspective on the subject. The article provides a question and an answer that provide a base for my research project. In order to begin my research, I attempted to find a general article that did not focus on a particular body of work or event.
Ji Hoon, Park, Nadine G. Gabbadon, and Ariel R. Chernin. "Naturalizing Racial Differences Through Comedy: Asian, Black, and White Views on Racial Stereotypes in Rush Hour 2." Journal of Communication 56.1 (2006): 157-177. Communication & Mass Media Complete. EBSCO. Web. 15 Feb. 2010.
This article discusses the success of the movie franchise “Rush Hour”. The movies star African American Chris Tucker as Detective Carter and Chinese action star Jackie Chan as his partner, Detective Lee. When the two first meet, they do not like each other and repeatedly make jokes about the differences between their cultures. But as the movie finishes out the two become friends and have learned to accept each other as they are. The article featured here discusses an experiment using a mixed race focus group of blacks, whites, and Asians. The group watched the movie, “Rush Hour 2” and were told to analyze the race jokes. It turned out that none of the participants were offended by the race jokes. Blacks and Asians, in particular, found the race jokes funny and were happy to see their cultures represented in the lead roles. Race jokes aside, Detective Lee and Detective Carter are two educated men who are good at what they do. Although the results from the experiment were positive, the author then asks the reader, “Is it okay that racial stereotyping has brought financial success?” I chose this article because I am a “Rush Hour” fan and am very aware of the vast amount of racial jokes that are included in the movies. Although they are successful, I have never pondered if this was step forward or a step back in the fight against racial stereotyping.
Ramasubramanian, Srividya. "Pride, Prejudice, and Policy Preferences: Exploring the Relationships Between TV Stereotypes, Racial Attitudes, and Support for Affirmative Action." Conference Papers -- International Communication Association (2009): 1-26. Communication & Mass Media Complete. EBSCO. Web. 11 Mar. 2010.
In U.S. history, racial discrimination played a large part in many memorable events such as the Civil Rights movement of the 60’s. In recent years, however, blatant racial discrimination has become a taboo. In recent history, affirmative action became its replacement. I remember hearing this phrase tagged on the end of job advertisements: “Women and minorities are encouraged to apply”. These ads have the decency to include minorities in the loop by excluding them. Does this mean that women and minorities have to be told to apply for jobs? Does this mean that they do not have minds of their own and have to be told what to do? As an affirmative action challenger, I felt that this article was essential to my research.
In this article, the author discusses the relationship between TV stereotypes, racial attitudes, and the support for affirmative action. This particular article focuses on how white Americans accept the portrayal of blacks and Latinos on television. The claim is that white Americans will eventually accept negative stereotypes of minorities as they continue to be exposed to them. The acceptance of these stereotypes becomes a part of the ideology and therefore influences their acceptance of affirmative action policies. This process is explained by the cultivation theory. In this case, white viewers based their thinking on false television images that display minorities as helpless people who need the “man” to save them. The article ends with a description of the various experiments involving the long-term effects of being exposed to negative racial stereotypes. The experiments include perspectives of blacks and Latinos.
Schemer, C., Matthes, J., & Wirth, W. (2009). Media Effects on Group-Related Stereotypes and Policy Opinions: Evidence From a Two-Wave Panel Survey in a Political Campaign. Conference Papers -- International Communication Association, 1-43. Retrieved from Communication & Mass Media Complete database.
Since the September 11th attacks, the media has become more bias in its portrayal of ethnic minorities. A news story may not say “Black people may rob your house” but their bias portrayal in the media would make you believe it. The article features a section on several experiments involving racial stereotyping on news stories. Although all of the experiments were different, almost all of their results were similar: racial stereotyping in news stories affected the subjects’ views on different ethnic groups. Researchers found that the subjects were more likely to attribute crimes and negative news stories to minorities. They felt that minorities were not motivated to be successful and were lazy. Although these studies only take a small group of the population into account, it can be said that racist attitudes stem from a “distorted perception of how…ethnic minorities” are portrayed. The studies support the view that ethnic minorities and immigrants are demonized by mass media. They are a threat to the economy and the security of the US and are not welcomed. Although they may not realize it at the time, viewers allow these images to control them and eventually allow these myths to shape their ideology. I felt that it was important to include this article because it includes a section on how exposure to stereotypical news stories can “perpetuate. …stereotypical attitudes toward ethnic minorities”. Unfortunately, this may never change.
Schulman, N. (1994). The House That Black Built. Journal of Popular Film & Television, 22(3), 108. Retrieved from Communication & Mass Media Complete database.
In this article, Norma Schulman, who is an assistant professor at George Mason University, focuses on the phenomenon in which blacks embrace stereotypes and use them as a source for comedy. This is called minor discourse. Minor discourse is a system of “stylized communication that is perpetuated by an oppressed group to cement its own distinctive identity”. As Schulman states, this form of comedy is not meant to harm any group but is a form of expression. Embracing negative stereotypes gives the oppressed group the power to own them because they know that they are not true. In this article, Schulman focuses on the comedy show, Comic View. Shows like these are created, written, and produced by blacks and are not meant to cross over into mainstream media. The most popular subject in black comedy is the differences between blacks and whites. As stated earlier, this is not to demonize whites but to oppose so called “white-washing”. A comedian once stated that he had to be “bilingual” in order to be accepted into American society. Black Vernacular English is often called bad English and is always used in minor discourse comedy. Schulman says plainly that, “African Americans [have their] own logic and cadence—[their] own exuberance, [their] own irony, and [their] own painful internalization of derogatory stereotypes deflected into comedy”.
Thibodeau, R. (1989). FROM RACISM TO TOKENISM. Public Opinion Quarterly, 53(4), 482-494. Retrieved from Communication & Mass Media Complete database.
I felt that my research project would not be complete without this article by Ruth Thibodeau. She is a Ph.D candidate in Social Psychology at the University of California. Although the article was published in 1989, it is still relevant. The article discusses a study that analyzes the frequency of black characters in cartoons printed in the New Yorker magazine. The study also analyzed if the portrayal of blacks changed over time. The cartoons that were used were printed between 1946 and 1987. These years were divided into four groups by year: 1946-55, 1956-1965, 1966-75, and 1976-87. The researchers analyzed over 2,000 cartoons and found a distinct pattern. As time increased, the number of stereotypes decreased while the number of token roles increased. These token characters came about after Affirmative Action laws started appearing. Token characters usually possessed positive characteristics but played a small role in the action. The 1956-65 period featured the least amount of black characters over all. Thibodeau implies that the lack of black characters reflected the fear came about at the beginning of the Civil Rights movement: blacks are going to take over. Out of all of the cartoons that were analyzed, only one black character was depicted neither stereotypically nor as a token. In other words, only one black character appeared in the New Yorker in an “everyman” role that did not relate to race. In present day media, you can look at any show or movie and pick out the token characters without much thought.
Tyler Eastman, Susan, and Andrew C. Billings. "Biased Voices of Sports: Racial and Gender Stereotyping in College Basketball Announcing." Howard Journal of Communications 12.4 (2001): 183-201. Communication & Mass Media Complete. EBSCO. Web. 20 Mar. 2010.
I felt that it was important to include this article in my research because it features a topic that is discussed often: stereotyping in sports. This particular article focuses on gender and racial stereotyping in college basketball. For my research project, of course, I will focus on the racial aspect of the article. We have become a society that despises racial inequalities yet, it is tolerated in the media. During games, commentators tend to comment on the natural abilities and skills of black players while attributing the skills of white players to hard work. This may not seem too negative at first glance but this is still stereotyping. Not every black man has the natural ability to play basketball. Any sports fan can clearly see that blacks are represented in basketball but not in an attractive way. Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan are portrayed as mysical beings who magically acquired their skills. Movies such as Space Jam even play into this stereotype. The basketball All-Stars have their powers taken away by a ball and gain their power in the same manner. The article presents statistical findings at college basketball games.
Tucker, Lauren R. "Was the revolution televised?: Professional criticism about `The Cosby Show' and the.." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 41.1 (1997): 90. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 11 Feb. 2010.
In this article, Lauren Tucker, describes the popular television show, “The Cosby Show”. During its run, many critics praised the show for its unique portrayal of an African American family. It was hailed as a predecessor for shows that were free of stereotypes and the supposed knight in shining armor for the black community. The show featured average teenage stories such as failing a test or sneaking to a concert. The Huxtable family included two parents who were professionals and five well-rounded children who were not “ghetto” and spoke proper English. Finally, a show appealed to mainstream audiences that featured a mostly black cast. However, as the article continues, Tucker brings up a point: was the “Cosby Show” actually free of stereotypes? According to the article, many television critics feel as though the characters merely emulated stereotypical white American culture. Many felt as though the portrayal of the Huxtables was not relatable to most of black America and alienated them. But the show remained a ratings beast during its run. How was this possible? According to critics, the show appealed to people who fit the stereotype portrayed on the show: white middle class Americans. Tucker continues and brings in another thought: Is the stereotypical white American life the ideal life? I chose to include this article in my research because I have never seen this issue brought up. When I watched the “The Cosby Show” as a child, I was happy that I could relate to little Rudy, the youngest Huxtable child. I grew up in a middle class neighbor with two parents. My lights were never cut off and we never lived off food stamps. According to the movies that I had seen, that was how black Americans lived. So when I chose this topic, I wanted to include this show and assumed that I would find positive material over the show. Instead, I found an article that made me review my perspective on the “Cosby Show”.
