Angel S. Blog 3

The Media? I’m So Over It..

The media is guilty of many things, from informing us about what goes on in our world to providing us with a seven day forecast. The media is everywhere and reaches an extremely large audience. Now, you would think that something that reaches people city and countrywide would be fair in what they put on the air, right? Show no sort of bias, correct? Well, I cannot say that for media here in America, particularly when it comes to race related issues. In my opinion race and the media is not a very good mixture. Well, it depends on the race, to be quite honest. I am an African American female and I feel as though, every time I turn my television on a news channel for example, I am seeing nothing, but violence, criminal behavior or some sort of negativity aimed toward my people. Now, I like to think that news stations do not purposefully air only the negative aspects of African Americans, but it is quite difficult to have that sort of mindset when negativity is all that you see.  The media talks negatively about other races “I’m sure”, but my focus will be on the presentation of African Americans in today’s media.

It seems as if showcasing anything positive about African Americans in the media is a rarity. If it isn’t about an athlete setting a record in whatever sport or an actor or actress winning an award, there’s nothing. Now I won’t go on a rant about how African Americans are these huge victims, but the issue of African Americans being misrepresented in the media needs to be addressed. Everything from negative stereotypes to only highlighting violence and unconstructiveness. I actually stopped watching the news for a while because of the degradation I was seeing on a daily basis. These were people that look just like me. It is heartbreaking to watch at times, especially when it comes to reality television.

All I see on networks such as Oxygen and VH1 are young women acting a fool. I cannot blame the media for this solely. The people that participate in these shows know exactly what they are doing, it is just the editing that comes into play in the way they portray these young woman and it is all just a circus to be flat out.  They are either depicted as gold diggers or overly promiscuous.  An article I read on the internet entitled Black Women in Media: Gold Diggers, Jezebels and Baby Mamas? There was a statement that said “In the media negative imagery of Black women is seen often twice as frequently as positive imagery.” This truly did upset me; however it did not surprise me. African American women are often portrayed negatively in the media and it has been going on for quite some time now. Unfortunately I see no chance of it slowing down.

Bonilla-Silva discusses race relations in America when he discusses Barack Obama. Obama is an African American male who is president of the United States of America. Now, that right there is a positive example of showing positivity amongst African Americans, but of course, there is a catch.  There is  an abundance of negativity shown in the media about African Americans, but Barack Obama is shown as something positive so it can’t be true that all things African American in the media is negative, right? This is honestly what some people think and it is plain ridiculous. One African American person, who constantly endures major ridicule and criticism by the way, is shown in a positive light so anyone who says African Americans are only highlighted for wrongdoings is wrong. To avoid going off on a tangent about the obvious reasons as to what is wrong with that previous statement I will conclude here. In order to fix the media and how it portrays certain races…I have no solution. I honestly don’t know what to do about this current situation. I can only hope it gets better. That may sound lazy, but I am at my wits end.

http://www.theroot.com/blogs/journalisms/2013/10/black_women_in_media_portrayed_as_gold_diggers_jezebels_and_baby_mamas.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elon-james-white/another-message-from-the_b_549745.html

Gattaca to Earth: We're Ahead of Our Time.

There is not a particular shortage of films that speak to a bevy of societal issues we deal with on the regular basis. In fact, there is not a particular shortage of films dealing, to some degree, with race. Gattaca approaches the issue in a unique, appealing fashion that brings our attention to the greater issue by effectively detaching us from the issue as it is presented to the today’s Americans. In fact, Gattaca does not deal with race in America at all. Gattaca deals with all of the characteristics of race relations in America and around the world. It showcases discrimination, prejudice, inequality and oppression in a raw, compelling form.

Gattaca is based some number of decades in the future, in a world in which people’s jobs, and essentially their futures, are based entirely on their genetics. Jerome Morrow is the first child of his parents, the one they chose not to genetically engineer based on their most favorable traits. Throughout the film, he attempts to pass (as an ambiguously ethnic person might pass as “not black” or “not hispanic”) as a “valid” (someone lacking a certain degree of genetic flaws). His goal is to become an astronaut. In this society, invalids are not allowed to work as astronauts. The closest he might get is a position as a janitor in a space exploration base. Despite his devotion, his effort and his intelligence he would never be considered fit for space travel, due to being near sighted.

The aforementioned workplace discrimination and its basis reminded me immediately of the glass ceiling in the American job market. We have mentioned in class and seen in readings that minorities disproportionately occupy the most prestigious positions. They also disproportionately lack the formal education necessary to even begin to pursue such opportunities. The most striking part of the similarities between the situation in this movie and American race relations is how deeply engrained into society prejudice and discrimination are in both contexts. In both, oppressive and marginalizing policy is supported by the governmental system, those controlling all of the wealth and thus the power support oppressive ideals, and the collective has come to accept it as the way life is, has been, and always will be.

In Gattaca, the systems mechanisms for oppression were a bit more robust than they are in modern America. It was, essentially, a police state in which invalids could be reprimanded for being in areas they shouldn’t be or with people they shouldn’t be. The social situation in this movie had more akin to the Jim Crow era of American race relations. It went deeper than laws underhandedly holding invalids under the foot of the nation’s dominant group, as is done with minorities in America. Similar to Jim Crow and the era leading to it, their society had laws that forbade people to attend certain places, attain certain educations or work certain jobs. The part that transfers to modern day from both Gattaca and Jim Crow is the culture of oppression. Too many people still carry racially degrading thoughts, believe in stereotypes and stand aside quietly as racial inequality runs rampant. 

www.rogerebert.com/reviews/gattaca-1997‎

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/02/04/poll-61-percent-of-african-americans-say-us-race-relations-getting-worse/

Race in Politics

 Policies in America designed to help people of color are still inherently racist.  Bonilla-Silva wrote about ways language is still racist with out being racist.  President Obama's policy, "My Brothers Keeper", reads "President Obama is taking action to launch My Brother’s Keeper – a new initiative to help every boy and young man of color who is willing to do the hard work to get ahead. For decades, opportunity has lagged behind for boys and young men of color".  The clause in this statement "who is willing to do the hard work" is suggestive that the Obama administration will only help young men of color if they buy into the American dream and work hard.  They are reaching out and asking that the African American community work hard in order to be rewarded and bailed out of the hole they are currently in.  To merely suggest an ultimatum that will only allow help in trade for hard work lends itself to the notion that African American boys will only work hard if there is an incentive behind it.  It is a lot like saying "he works hard, for an African American".  It is a backhanded piece of legislation that posses a clause that needs not be said.  Further more, it also suggests that women of color have no business trying to better themselves.  This legislation does not mention women and their attempts to further education and try to climb the socio-economic ladder. This is an example of how politics in America have an underlying message that people of color need to be enticed more than others in order to work hard, and succeed.  Completely disregarding other policies that are aimed to oppress both the races of color and women of all ethnicities.  This is only a small example of the type of legislation that further solidifies the people in minority.  Americans need to open their eyes and realize that the problem is not the general public.  It is the eyes of the administration and the racial elements of our government bureaucracy.  If hating a race were a crime, most of the crimes dealing with race would be white-collar.  White-collar crimes are very dangerous to the well being of the nation because of the power it posses.  Street crimes may impact the local area, but large level white-collar crimes posses the ability to stretch far beyond localities.  With this added to the power of government agencies, we should be afraid of the damage that is possible from this point.  Not only do these powerhouses contain the ability to do what they want, but they also portray an ambiguous image that lends itself to a non-racist agenda.  It starts with addressing the issue of color-blind racism being a faulted notion.  In order to properly address racism, we need to come to terms that racism is very well alive, and it is in the hands of people who are conceivably the greatest threat.      

Race and Politics- A Sticky Situation

We live in a country built on racism, so it’s no surprise that people of color don’t exactly have the easiest time getting involved in politics. White superiority is embedded in our country, and slavery was the main reason. African slaves were defined as property, and weren’t given the right to vote until 1870. Due to Jim Crow laws some states but up barriers blacks were denied that essential right. President Johnson's Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the turning point in US history where blacks were viewed as full citizens with equal rights.

When President Obama got elected it seemed like a glimpse of hope was shown to minorities all over the country. People from older generations never thought they would even ever see a black man be elected president. Obama's election in 2008, as well as

his re-election in 2012 has irrefutably affected the nation's racial politics. Barack Obama proved that it is very possible for an African American to win the nation's highest office. But has President Barack Obama leading our country minimized or increased the racism? There are people in this country that believe Obama should never have been elected president simply because he is African American. Although I don’t believe criticism of the president should be based on skin color, since his election in 2008 it seems as though I have seen a new kind of hatred come out of my fellow Americans. It is clear that as a country we are very far from getting over racism.

Age, gender, socioeconomic status and race all play a part in who participates in politics. Typically people between thirty-five and sixty-five have the most political participation. Same goes for women, who recently have started to exceed men as far as voter turn up. Also, wealthier people tend to vote more often. Now, when it comes down to race black and white Americans are about equal in how much time they spend doing political activities other than voting. But the things that they have tendencies to participate in are different. Whites are more likely to contact public representatives and join organizations. Black citizens are more likely to participate in election campaigns and social movements.

One thing I can say is that since Obama’s campaign in 2008, African American voter turnout has gone through the roof. Especially in his reelection in 2012, African Americans really showed their support towards Obama. It turns out that now whites and blacks have similar voter turnout when it comes to elections. I believe that black would not have felt the pressure to vote if Obama wouldn’t have run. Although some people did only vote for Obama because he was black, many people voted for him because they believed he would make a great president, and changing history by electing a black man is just a plus. I would love to see a decrease in racism because Obama did break a stereotype that many whites felt about blacks which was that we can’t be successful, especially in politics. I feel like Obama changed that whole view around. But with the good comes the bad. Racists are going to try to make their point that Obama shouldn’t be president simply because he is black, but it’s up to the rest of us to inform them of the facts.

“Black” President Should Bring Real Changes for Minorities, but Does He?

               During Obama’s Presidential Campaign he spoke about all the changes he planned to do to make our nation better. Many believed Obama would look out for minorities since he is a minority himself. The truth is in today’s world there are still prejudices that keep minorities at a disadvantage. It is harder for a minority to get a high paying job, and it is common for them to be paid less than whites. Obama has admitted that this is a problem but he hasn’t done anything to help the situation. He has frequently avoided the subject of race and racism and the prejudices against minorities continue. Although we have a “black” president, who really is a mix of races not black, it is still easy to see that white hold most political positions. Many believed if Obama could make it to the top and become president than there is no excuse for any other minority to not do the same. This is just like saying just because Clinton became president means all whites can be president,  it doesn’t work that way The truth is Obama had a lot of advantages most minorities do not have.

                To truly make the race problem disappear in America we need to make things equal for all races. We need more people of color in politics. We need more minorities running for government positions and we need to get rid of the prejudices that keep minorities from being as successful as whites. Whites and minorities need equal pay and equal opportunities for jobs and then promotions in those jobs for a chance of being successful. All of this is a part of the new racism or colorblind racism. Instead of being blunt and clear with racist thoughts, white keep themselves at the top of the racial hierarchy by making sure minorities are never truly equal to them. Whites see Obama and other successful minorities as a reason not to believe racism still exists.  It is clear to see how rare it is for minorities to have positions of power, whether it is being CEO of a company or holding a political position.  So why is it so easy for people to believe racism no longer exists or isn’t a problem anymore?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/08/27/obama-speech-racial-issues-quotes/2710921/

This is an interesting website because it shows Obama’s struggle with being a minority and how he is appreciative for those who sacrificed themselves so people of color could have similar freedoms to whites. However Obama doesn’t discuss any plans to make things better for minorities in today’s world. 

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/03/my-brothers-keeper-obama-black-families-wedlock

This article is about Obamas plan to help black inmates. This program is called “My Brother’s Keeper” . The author discusses why many African Americans are offended.