Stereotypes for Sale: Portrayal of African Americans in the
When we hear that something is free we are all attracted to whatever it may be, but what if it's racism and racial stereotypes? Well they're being advertised and sold to the viewing audience free of cost everyday and they take note of these stereotypes without even knowing that they're doing so. These stereotypes of African Americans being used by the media today and years ago are injuring the realistic image of black people and the way that both colored and Caucasians view those of African heritage. These stereotypes that are being advertised and sold to the viewing audience can be found on television, in music, and in magazine ads. Even as early as the 1930s African Americans in television were presented as working in the following three professions: entertainers, athletes, and servants (Hill 136), either they have great wealth or nothing at all. This can be seen on television shows such as The Jeffersons and the Cosby Show, both rich African American television families. Then there is the animated show The PJs, where a slew of poor black families live in a run down apartment complex. Where are all the modest black television families, you know, with teaching professions or working nine to five behind an office desk? No where
When African Americas appear in magazine advertisements the people used are usually famous black athletes, or entertainers. Rob got killed for his [Nike] Barkley's", "Woke up the next morning niggaz done (sic) stole my bike", and "I wanna live good so shit (sic) I sell dope. When it's not an athlete or entertainer the black characters are culturally embedded so they can be appealing to adolescents by portraying what is currently popular, which right now is the gangster image (Appiah). " Another stereotype portrayed in rap music is that all black women have a large buttocks. They live in poor neighborhoods called ghettos that are filled with gangs, murders, drugs, and sex. Some black people are so poor that they kill others for a pair of sneakers, steal possessions from others that they can't afford themselves, and deal drugs to make an income. These cigarette packages impact teens because they're trying to create an identity for themselves and when seeing these depictions they see it as a possible identity for them. " Each gang has a designated color to represent it, red for Bloods and blue for Crips, and in some cases the animosity between two rival gangs can be so strong that they murder each other, the Game also states this, "I'm from Compton where the wrong colors be cautious. ), food, black history memorabilia, baseball, alcohol, and cigarettes (Appiah). These negative stereotypes being rampant in the media are misrepresenting and hurting the realistic image of the African American race. Just because what you saw on television was a black man walking like he's missing ¼ of his leg it doesn't mean all black men do the same while walking, the same goes for all racial stereotypes. Either it's rich or poor or there is no show at all. This is once again evident in the previously mentioned song by The Game through the lines ". Most rappers counteract that line from 'Money' by speaking of material goods as their one and only love in their songs like in 'Hate it or Love it' by The Game when he says "I told Pooh in 95 I'll kill you if you try [to murder] me for my [Nike] Air-Max 95's.
Common topics in this essay:
African Americans,
Appiah Kool,
Jelleestone Canadian,
African Americas,
African American,
Barkley's Woke,
Nike Air-Max,
Snoop Dogg,
,
Vanessa Williams,
african americans,
seen television,
african american,
television music,
negative stereotypes,
rap music,
black people,
television music magazine,
realistic image,
black families,
music magazine ads,
usually portrayed,
stereotypes african americans,
rap music black,
sold viewing audience,
|
Acceptance Essays
