The Media

The Media and the Negative Affect on the African American Community Malcolm X, was a civil rights activist in the 1960s, famous for his quote, “by any means necessary.” According to Malcolm X (1960s), “The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” The media has sullied African Americans for many, many years which lead me to believe they should be censored and regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). One may ask, “Who is the Media”? From an African Americans perspective the media is mostly White Supremacist which consists of Multi-National Corporations and members of the Caucasian race who believe they are superior to other groups or races of the world, particularly African Americans. Would it be fair for African Americans to display whites as rapists, and murderers for lynching, burning, beating our ancestors? Nevertheless, the media portrayed Malcolm as a man of hatred merely because of his words. Perhaps it was his famous quote, “by any means necessary.” If one would delve further into the quote, one would learn that Malcolm believed that African Americans were entitled to secure their rights “by any means necessary,” up to and including the use of violence in defending themselves. But, who did he kill? Who did he rape? Who did he lynch? Who did he burn? Was he ever associated with violence or any public disturbance? This has yet to be reported by the media. In 1998, Laura S. Moncur, a white writer expressed her view on the Spike Lee movie about Malcolm X. Laura believed there was a great deal of excitement surrounding the movie but not much about Malcolm X. She felt there were a few clips showing a man with a strong voice talking angrily. Laura did not know what to think about Malcolm; the media had portrayed him as a violent man, yet after reading many of his quotations, Laura eulogized Malcolm and completely agreed with many of his quotes. Laura had drew an opinion of Malcolm based solely on how the media portrayed him without even knowing anything about him (Moncur, 1998). Malcolm is only one illustration of why the media should be censored and regulated; they are notorious for slandering and destroying the true image of African Americans based on stereotypes and unfounded information. The line between freedom of speech and slander is extremely thin. Malcolm was a civil rights leader in the 1960s; yet in 2009, the media still continues to misconstrue the portrayal of African Americans and social issues that have plagued them for many years. Another disturbing example of how and why the media should be regulated is the cartoon that appeared in the NY Post of cops shooting and killing a chimpanzee. The caption underneath read, “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.” (The Associated Press, 2009) The obvious reference is to the story of a crazed pet chimpanzee that was shot and killed after it mauled a woman. The cartoon is troubling given the historic racist remarks regarding African-Americans being comparable to monkeys. The stimulus bill and President Barack Obama being the first African American president are synonymous. During the presidential campaign, President Obama was referred to as Curious George. Even if it were fair to say that this was not the intent of the cartoonist, which I find hard to believe, if the mass media, which includes, TV, newspapers, magazines, and radio were censored and regulated maybe this cartoon would have been scrutinized before it was released and caused so much pain and controversy. Media is a very integral part of our lives and therefore, they generate interest and debate about many social problems. TV has too much sex and violence, talk shows have gone too far with sensationalized topics, newspapers are insensitive to minorities and media reports of crime heighten the fear of citizens. Many people base most of their knowledge on government news account, not known facts. The media affects our thought process, how we learn about our world and interact with one another. Many times I have come across a white person whom has had little or no interaction with a black person but dislikes black people based on what they have read in the newspaper, seen on TV and heard about in the news? The media may be an influence, but each person has a free will. The media will always be an influence, but it can’t control us unless we hand over control. Influence and control are two different things. Influence is the power of producing an effect on a person and control is the power to direct or determine. One can be affected; however, if one would reason with his or her own thoughts, than perhaps the negative affect of the media would not always be the determining factor. Sadly the media has enticed the public to focus on the negative repercussions of the cartoon. I am perplexed at how African Americans became the target of a chimpanzee being shot to death, minimizing the horrific events in the lives of the real victims: the chimpanzee, the owner of the chimpanzee and the woman who was almost mauled to death. As Malcolm X said, “The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.”

References

Malcolm X. (1960). Retrieved February 18, 1009 from http://thinkexist.com/quotation/the/ media-s_the_most_powerful_entity_on_earth/216234.html on February 18, 2009

Moncur, L. (1998) Articles and Features. Retrieved on February 19, 2009 from http://www.quotationspage.com The Associated Press. (2009) Retrieved on February 18, 2009 from http://www.washingtonpost.com

References: Malcolm X. (1960). Retrieved February 18, 1009 from http://thinkexist.com/quotation/the/ media-s_the_most_powerful_entity_on_earth/216234.html on February 18, 2009 Moncur, L. (1998) Articles and Features. Retrieved on February 19, 2009 from http://www.quotationspage.com The Associated Press. (2009) Retrieved on February 18, 2009 from http://www.washingtonpost.com