Preview

The Media's Racial Role In Society

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
464 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Media's Racial Role In Society
Racism, today, is alive and well. We see it all over the media so frequently. Media plays a crucial role in society. It shows us how society views us, as people. Media focus crimes and gang relations when it comes to African Americans or Hispanics. When Trayvon Martin was murdered back in 2012, the media destroyed the young teenager’s image. The media made claims of Martin using drugs and used negative photos during the coverage. Instead of using photos of his accomplishments, media displayed photos where his middle finger was up. And once even mentioned he looked like a thug because he had a hood on.

White privilege will never let down. Since the beginning of time, white americans have been more privileged than other races. A “white” name like John Smith is more likely to receive a call back than a Michael Rodriguez. A college acceptance is higher for a white American than an African American with the same grades. These are all statics. Most white Americans do not believe there is no such thing. A police officer is more likely to stop a black male jogging along the road then a white male. It is not equal.
…show more content…
Just because we have an elected black president doesn't mean those problems we once had are now gone. Situation where police officers are killing the majority of African Americans is not being looked as a race matter is a problem. The media never wants to relate any situation to race but it usually is always about race. When you don't speak about it, it makes it seem more racist. It makes it seem unimportant to the media. The problem is being brushed off and media acts as if it doesn't exist. For example, the movement Black Lives Matter, the media attacked the notion and said why doesn't all lives matter. They attempted to take away the significance of the movement and tried to flip the motive behind it. Not talking about racism doesn't solve the problem, it adds to

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    This article describes an elusive "unspoken" advantage toward white people in our society called " white privilege" which basically gives white people invisible privileges that work against people of color and keep them oppressed. It also says being oblivious to white privilege is ingrained in our culture and is kept that way by the "few groups who have most of the power already"(White Privilege,McIntosh).…

    • 337 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Many delegations have occurred within the last decade when it comes to how our society view African Americans. The media has portrayed images of African American men to either be rappers, criminals or professional athletes. Arguing the non-existence of racism in this text would be absurd. The case involving Trayvon Martin a 17-year-old African American that was shot by George Zimmerman a white male. That alone caused a lot of controversy amongst the African American community. After Martin's death, rallies, marches and protests were held across the nation. Along with the negativity that was surrounding the elections of Obama being that he is the first African American to ever be president. Also being questioned if he has the capabilities to…

    • 251 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Tv Perpetuates Race Bias

    • 371 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In this article, researchers at Tufts University devised a study to reveal how even passive diversion may lead to actively damaging affects, especially when it comes to issues of race and how we shape out attitudes towards those of a different race. Being a couch potato may be more detrimental than previously thought.…

    • 371 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Peggy McIntosh provides vivid examples on how "white privilege" is considered to be unapparent for many white individuals and negatively affects people of color. White privilege is an “unearned advantage” given to Caucasian individuals, as it “confers dominance” by establishing that the is white race is superior (McIntosh, 1990). With white privilege, white individuals are protected from the “hostility, distress, and violence,” which is often associated with individuals of color (McIntosh, p. 332). White privilege gives these individuals the opportunity to receive vital educational, political, and social resources that may possibly be inaccessible for people of color. By providing awareness on how white privilege works and how it can be detrimental in the attempt to gain racial equity for individuals of color, this concept can work to improve racial equity by establishing educational programs that inform individuals on white privilege and ending political policies that serve as a measure to oppress individuals of color.…

    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Racism is still prevalent today. Many people act as the “white moderate” (3), who Martin Luther King Jr. condemns during his lifetime for ignoring the injustices that are present in society. White people become uncomfortable when talking about controversial issues regarding race. Instead of leaning into and exploring this uncomfort, they avoid the tension that Dr. King believes is a necessity in promoting equality. Of course times have changed in regards to…

    • 1257 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Colorblins In Race

    • 1222 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Many white people fail to realize that this nation was manufactured for them, on the labor and bodies of minorities. With the slave work of Africans, to the dangerous work in mines and on railroads by Asians, to the genocide of the Native Americans, this country was established for the benefit of white people, on the labor of those they hate the most. Still, white privilege is rampant and prevalent in so many areas of this country, from governmental to economical fields. Living in a colorblind society, where all the history of race relations in this country are magically disregarded, continues the perpetuation of white privilege, which in the end, only benefits white…

    • 1222 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first kind of racism that was around is old fashioned racism or now known as Racism 1.0; where there were people running around verbally and physically abusing racial and ethnic minorities. Tim Wise, author of “Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama”, makes it clear that although racism 1.0 is still around just not as prevalent because “Obama’s election to the presidency demonstrates that old-fashioned racism (or what I call in this volume Racism 1.0), though still far too prevalent in the nation, is capable of being defeated” (Wise 19). In recent, more accepting years, Racism has not vanished but instead simply evolved into racism 2.0. Wise explains it as “Racism 2.0, in which whites hold the larger black community in low regard…and yet carve our acceptable space for individuals such as Obama who strike them as different, as exceptions who are not like the rest” (23). Racism is not the same as it used to be; where people are running rampant in the streets just looking for a person of color to beat to a bloody pulp, it is not obvious anymore. It hides under a blanket of white privilege and oppression. It has adapted to a new society where going up to someone of color and calling them a racial slur is not acceptable. Thus, causing many to think racism is a thing of the…

    • 900 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Have you ever wonder why African-American males are usually drug dealers, pimps, convicts, or even a father with multiple children and is a deadbeat father? Or why does an African-American female have to be man-less, on well-fare with multiple children with different baby daddies, or even sometimes on the screen shaking her ass? Well to me this is exactly how most movies, television shows, music, and magazines portray African-Americans. The media portrays African-Americans in a stereotypical manner. Even though there may be some truth in these portrayals, they are sometimes unrealistic and unfair.…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the United States, the inequality of many different types of races and genders is very clear. Many people are treated unjustly whether it's from the police, the judicial system, or society itself. A lot of people are prejudiced towards others because of their appearance, skin tone, or who they are and it's a very serious problem. The media that we have today is arguably being used as a tool to make certain groups of people look inferior to others. Many people feel this way because of events that have happened in the last few years across the country from Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown repeatedly being depicted as thugs in the news to racist advertisements in the 1900s. Black masculinity is being manipulated by the media to fit a certain…

    • 1263 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On White Privilege

    • 720 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Imagine two job applications came across your desk; one belongs to a Caucasian female and the other belongs to an African-American female. Which one would you choose? The African-American female who has experience in your specific work field or the Caucasian female who graduated from a good school and received a Merit scholarship for college? Would you look at their individual background or their individual skin color? A lot of businesses tend to choose the Caucasian woman. In today’s society, no matter where you go, there will be white privilege. White privilege is an advantage that white people have over non-whites and it is manifested by preferential treatment. By analyzing Difference Matters by Brenda Allen, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh and Jennifer Pozner’s article in Barclay Barrios’ Emerging, we can understand white privilege as an rarely talked about concept but certainly can be recognized when people of other races are treated less fairly as if they are below white people.…

    • 720 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    America is in denial. “I don’t see color” and “It’s not about race” are the first phrases heard when a racial issue presents itself and although they sound like harmless, well-meaning words they continue to suppress the black voice in America. When 18 year old Mike Brown was shot and killed in Ferguson, MI earlier last year the masses came together to mourn for the loss of child. However, for every outpouring of sympathy, there was a racist comment to match it. Everyone across the nation had something to say about this small town boy’s death.…

    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The brutality with which official would have quelled the black individual became impotent when it could not be pursued with stealth and remain unobserved. It was caught—as a fugitive from a penitentiary is often caught—in gigantic circling spotlights. It was imprisoned in a luminous glare revealing the naked truth to the whole world” – Martin Luther King (8, Kasher)…

    • 924 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Through the Lens : Racism

    • 1406 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Racism is prejudice or discrimination directed against someone of a different race/ethnicity. In 1991 Rodney King was beaten by members of LAPD after a car chase. Any policeman does not have the authority to hit anyone unless it is in self-defense. In this case Mr. King had not done anything to threaten the policemen after he got out of his car. Rodney King being an African American, the Caucasian policemen felt threatened by the idea that he might do something due to his ethnicity. The Caucasian race in this case tends to think that they are better than any the race especially the African Americans. Racism is seen in day to day life not just in the media.…

    • 1406 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Colorblindness

    • 764 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Since power and privilege predominantly lies in the hands of middle to upper class white folks, this ‘white privilege’ will not change if we decide to ignore the issue of race and racism. Since whites typically have the power, their point of view (which may be racism against blacks and other minorities) will continue to hold its place.…

    • 764 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    White Privilege

    • 1055 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Racism has been prevalent for centuries. And it has been an issue that requires action for just as long. Racism is defined as a system of advantage based on race. Due to this racism, white people are those that receive the greatest advantage. White privilege is the term given to that advantage. According to Peggy McIntosh, “white privilege is an invisible package of unearned assets” (McIntosh, 1). George Lipsitz similarly defined white privilege as “the unmarked category against which difference is constructed” (Lipsitz, 1). This privilege has worked its way to underpinning the systemic inequality within the United States through its belief to be the norm and securing its authority as such.…

    • 1055 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays