Diversity on TV

After all these years, you would think that diversity in media would have progressed by now.  In reality, it seems to have regressed.  The LA Times posted an article about this called "No black-and-white answer for the lack of diversity on television".   In the article, the writer takes his time explaining, and giving statistics, on how the number African-American sitcoms has decreased.  Shows with an all black cast are almost non existent.  The shows that do highlight African-Americans still try to portray them in a stereotypical way.  No longer are the black families on tv like the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" family.  Uncle Phil was a successful lawyer, and his was wife was a college professor.  Or families like "The Cosbys", where the parent were a doctor and a lawyer.  Now you see shows like "The Game".  Sure they show successful black men, but they are all athletes.  This is to try to reinforce stereotypes of the world that African-Americans aren't intellectuals. 

What shocked me the most about the LA Times article was the comments left.  Most of the comments were against media diversity.  A lot of white Americans want to pretend like race is not an issue in the media.  There are more African-American gangsters, rappers, and hustlers than ever.  The black man/woman is being portrayed in a way to make the viewer comfortable seeing African-Americans in lower income societies than whites.  Its sad to see people that don't want diversity in the media.   Its even worse to see people who don't want diversity in the world.

Check out this article from the LA Timeshttp://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2010/06/diversity-television/comments/page/2/#comments

Blacks in Media: Sitcoms forming stereotypes and social identity

Cultural and Social Identity of Blacks in Media

Throughout the years, there have been many forms of racial inequality in the media.  The media attempts to establish a certain perception of blacks to the audience.  Unfortunately, we have seen this perception to be socially and culturally demeaning. In many media cases, young black men from the "ghetto" are considered to be criminals.  Black Women are also negatively portrayed.  For example; according to the Entman-Rojecki Index of Race and Media, 89% of Black female movie characters are shown using vulgar language, while only 17% of White woman are. Black women are shown as being violent in movies 56% of the time compared to the 11% of white women. Are blacks really a more violent race? The statistics say no, they are not (www.raceandmedia.com).

Intro to Blacks in Media

Welcome!  My name is Joshua Smith and this is my blog for my Mass Communications course, Blacks in Media.  I was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi and I am a Senior at Jackson State.

My goal is to understand the contributions African Americans have brought to the media.  Studying this history is not only educating, but also inspirational.  During this course, I will be blogging my assignments and sharing my thoughts and opinions in discussion with my classmates and others who are interested in the history and roll of blacks in the media.

Thanks for reading and feel free to leave any comments