Racialism and the Media. Venise T. Berry
in for comedic purposes.
Abraham and Appiah (2006) discuss how the role of visual imagery in the priming of racial stereotypes through the media involves an implicit racial propositioning.
In this process, the images of blacks function as concrete and vivid cues, exemplars, which provide context that adds to and elaborates understanding of the specific issue discussed explicitly in the text … This process of implicit racial propositioning may be one of the discursive means through which contemporary forms of prejudice manifest themselves, and through which black stereotypes are rehashed and maintained in society. (p. 189)
Despite the fact that we are seeing more African Americans in mediated products today, many of those images and messages reflect certain stereotypes, biased frames, and historical myths. In an effort to open up the conversation about race and media and to promote a move toward change in the status quo, Racialism and the Media: Black Jesus, Black Twitter and the First Black American President presents selected exemplars of how race is normalized in the media.
Research has shown that mediated images and messages are an important part of how people see the world (Means-Coleman, 2013; Napoli, 2010; Nightingale, 2011; Ross & Nightingale, 2003). While the media may not have an all-encompassing power or control over an audience, it has been documented that images and messages can impact certain people, at certain times, in certain ways (Newman & Guggenheim, 2011; Potter & Riddle, 2007; Preiss, Gayle, Burrell, Allen, & Bryant, 2007). Mediated texts offer ideas and images that feed our societal norms and ultimately influence how meaning is constructed and deconstructed around the world.
Born out of what sociologist, Herman Gray (1989) calls, “America’s storehouse of racial memory,” racialism is supported by the historical and ideological distinction between races in this country. As a political construct, it is also tied to social and institutional ideologies and behaviors (Harris-Lacewell, 2003). And ←7 | 8→finally, the commodification of race through commercialism is another important element to be considered as part of racialism’s significant reach (Thornton, 1996).
Chapter One, “Contemporary Zip Coons: The Problem with Funny” examines how the Zip Coon stereotype is alive and well today. It has evolved into a contemporary image in film and television that is very popular. For example, comedians like Eddie Murphy, Kevin Hart, Chris Tucker, and David Mann star in numerous roles as modern day buffoons.
Chapter Two, “Ghettofabulous: How Low Can You Go?” critically explores exemplars in reality TV, rap music, news, film, and urban/street fiction questioning how “ghetto equals black” has become a norm in society.
Chapter Three, “Advertising and Black Folks: Whassup!” focuses on advertising as it uses images of and messages about black culture to sell certain goods and services. This chapter will not only look at negative exemplars, but it will also discuss advertising that frames black culture in a positive way.
Chapter Four, “Black-ish and the Changing Nature of Black Identity” offers an exploration of core ideas surrounding blackness. Through this comedy series blackness is challenged and redefined in relation to class, gender, and environment.
Chapter Five, “Balancing Stereotypes: Black Male and Female Roles on Prime-Time Television” explains how complex characteristics can be found in numerous roles on prime-time television that challenge black stereotypes such as Jezebel and Mammy or gang member and criminal.
Chapter Six, “A Satirical Parody: Black Jesus in the Hood” investigates how religion and poverty coexist in the inner city. Black Jesus meets the people where they are and in his own way he tries to help everyone understand that life should and could be better.
Chapter Seven, “Deconstructing Intersectionality in Crash” is an evaluation of the movie Crash which demonstrates how the collision of different genders, classes, and cultures in Los Angeles influences power and experience.
Chapter Eight, “Black Twitter, Interpretive Communities, and Cultural Capital” studies the way that Black Twitter has redefined activism on a global scale by generating a wealth of knowledge and opportunity through shared experience, meaning, and collective behavior.
Chapter Nine, “President Barack Obama: Biased Frames and Microaggressions” evaluates the problematic macro and microaggressions experienced by Obama as the first Black American president. Visual and verbal exemplars are discussed in the perpetuation of biased cultural framing.
Chapter Ten, “Science Fiction and Fantasy: Going Where Few Blacks Have Gone Before” is a critical examination of black themes and characters imagined now ←8 | 9→and in the future. The world today is fifty percent people of color, so it makes sense that stories about the future in science fiction and fantasy must be more inclusive.
Race will always be a significant part of America’s ideological consciousness. As Cornel West (1994) so eloquently wrote, “… a candid examination of race matters takes us to the core of the crisis of American Democracy (p. 156).” Race matters and it will always matter because our societal structure is built on a system of Democracy that depends on it.
The media exemplars studied in each chapter of this book will show that racial phenomena, racial effects, and racial hierarchies are not necessarily the product of racists or racism. Instead racialism, routine images and messages about race have been shaped and sustained through the media over decades then accepted as mainstream ideology and developed into comfortable social behavior.
This book is definitely not an effort to let racists and racism off the hook, but rather a means to expose, deconstruct, and critique other factors that make up racialism. We are technically already there. When scholars use concepts like modern racism, colorblind racism, enlightened racism, averse racism, or subtle racism they are taking a step away. Yet, that one word, racism, still pervades the overall meaning, so I propose this repositioning. We need to think beyond racism in order to better understand the world we live in today. My goal is for Racialism and the Media to provoke a serious change when it comes to the problematic racial images and messages that we have all come to know and love.
References
Abraham, L., & Appiah, O. (2006). Framing news stories: The role of visual imagery in priming racial stereotypes. The Howard Journal of Communications, 17, 183–203.
Bell, D. (2000). Race, racism and American law. New York, NY: Aspen Law and Business Press.
Black Panther. (2018). IMDb. Retrieved from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1825683/
Bonilla-Silva, B. (2014). Racism without racists: Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in America. Lanham, MA: Rowman and Littlefield.
Carr, L. (1997). Colorblind racism. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing.
Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (2012). Critical race theory: An introduction (2nd ed.). New York, NY: New York University Press.
Doane, A. (2014). Shades of colorblindness: Rethinking racial ideology in the United States.