African Americans and Media Research Paper

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Hate Crimes Against African-Americans

The media has lots of potential to be agents of positive change in the society. One of the aspects that the media can easily put a tight grip on, for change, is stereotyping. Unfortunately, the same media has been implicated in the court of public opinion as being supportive of stereotypes. There is a host of factors and methods adopted by the media that help to promote such stereotyping (HOFFMANN, 22). Indeed, a lot of images of African-Americans and similar minorities are widely shaped by media. This essay explores how the media has portrayed African-Americans with regard to hate crimes against this minority group in the USA. It also seeks to examine how the media has interpreted the scenario included and how it portrays it to the public. There is a further search to establish how the general public reacts to the media portrayals of hate crimes against the African-American population. All the media forms have been reviewed to provide answers to the puzzle.

There is a large amount of research data that shows how the media has misrepresented male African-Americans in many instances. Individual research efforts tend to focus on single media forms such as TV or Magazine or video games, the comprehensive research information expresses a wide ranging pattern that includes (HOFFMANN, 22):

Underrepresentation in general: for example, in TV interviews as successful fathers, product use ads, expert analysts called in to provide expert views, as computer gurus in TV commercials and in fiction shows that provide positive impression on characters.

Negative associations blown out of proportion: these have mostly to do with poverty and unemployment. Indeed, the idle black male person on the streets isn't the true face of poverty in the U.S. However, he happens to be targeted as the default image by the media across the country.

Positive associations limited: this is apparent in the sports arena, virility, music and physical attainments, generally. The American media is filled with a bunch of black males set up to inspire, these appear to represent a smaller range of qualities; with the omission of a range of other useful daily virtues.

The problem frame: Owing to the prevailing distortions and sympathetic discourses, male blacks seem to excessively associate with problems that are intractable.

Omitted stories: the media has largely ignored numerous dynamics that affect the life of a black male; including the historical injustices that spur the economic disadvantage of the minority community. There is persisting bias against blacks but the media chooses to ignore all these.

How Hate Crime is Perpetuated by the Media

Indeed, the media is a representation of the society it represents. They derive their information from the common sense pool that is rooted in all. It is expected that crime deserves punishment. There is also common sense to live by legal systems that ensure order. It is also true that some people will generate more income than others in a free trade society.

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These are unwritten knowledge reservoirs that everyone draws from. Such assumptions also happen to be laced with traces of earlier thought systems and belief (Jiwani).

One of the naturally occurring element of such a system is the way the media portrayed those who were perceived to be different. Such a difference spanned across color aspects and others. Any such difference was perceived to be wrong and bad. It was infused with connotations of negativity. Groups that showed a difference from the common majority were labeled as "others''. In particular, they were perceived to be the criminals. They were also perceived as dirty, uncultured and unkempt. Thus, to such apparent myopia, they were supposed to be kept away from civilized society. They were effectively confined to restricted areas. There was a clear distinction and antagonism between ''them'' and ''us'' (Jiwani).

Doreen Indra, in her extensive study of racial and ethnic minorities in Canadian Vancouver Press between 1907 to 1976, pointed out the presence of "moral economy'' as the underlying driving force. Colored people were presented in negative light. Similarly, favored groups were portrayed positively. Similar trends have continued to be seen in the U.S. despite ceding by around the turn of the century. These minorities were inadvertently portrayed as criminals, deviants and potent invaders. Such legacy still informs media today with the reservoir of images borrowed from times in the past; regarding the male African-American. Just like in Indra's findings, recent studies of dailies in the U.S. reveal that blacks are still associated with the undesirable traits and such dailies tend to focus on themes that capture black people as such. It is, clear, therefore that historical legacies continue to bear their influence on the way today's society views African-Americans.

Many other examples that epitomize the media's negative portrayals of African-Americans exist. Indeed, it is evident that such views are strongly influenced by skewed, traditional and historical perceptions of times past. The media made use of the strong and influential resources such as video games, TV shows, radio and the like to portray African-Americans as bad and inferior. Crime that is laced with racism refers to phenomenon that is systematic. These perceptions cut across various levels of the dominant groups in the society. The phenomenon is, therefore basically a group quality that translates in individual action in everyday life. Yet, it is not only restricted to individual manifestations. It is observed in the institutional and the culture matrix of the American society.

Meditation of Racial Crime Profiling: Commission and Omission

Mediation in racial crime works in a variety of ways. The common one is linking specified groups of people to particular behavior. Several studies suggest that African-American males tend to be notably absent from the media. On the other hand, they are featured prominently in stories associated with crime or even….....

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