Bachelorette's White Elephant Analysis

In Marlon Riggs’ 1992 documentary film titled Color Adjustment, Riggs, the Emmy winning producer of Ethnic Notions, continues his studies of prejudice in television. The documentary film looks at the years between 1948 and 1988 to analyze how over a 40 year period, race relations are viewed through the lens of prime time entertainment. The film examined many of television’s stereotypes and mythes and how they changed over the years.

For the first time in history, white owned news stations took an interest in African Americans that were not superb athletes or criminals. This event sparked a new, unequal field of competition amongst white and black news presses. However, inferior in every aspect of the business, African Americans slowly, but surely lost the battle against their more resourceful opponent. White broadcasting establishments also began hiring black journalist, which promised higher salaries, larger audiences, and more guidance for those that accepted. From this, the black press lost employment and skill. One newspaper article titled, Erna’s Strictly Feminine, discussed the different definitions of integration for white and black Americans. Though the author expressed an interest in integration, she also mentions how it should not equate to the disappearance of what African American’s had built, specifically mentioning the black

The social construction of race and ethnicity takes place around the world. Many people define their position according to race. Michael Omi and Howard Winant define race through the theory of racial formation, which is socially constructed not biology. In Janelle Monae’s music video Many Moons, racial discourse in the US is presented gradually in Omi and Winant’s racial formation theoretical framework. The use of montage images as well as radical lyrics as a voice by Monae provides her performance on race as a social concept which is not essential to human existence; instead, her conception of oppression of racism from the past to nowadays is a process being transformed by political struggle.

Hazell, V., and J. Clarke. "Race and Gender in the Media: A Content Analysis of Advertisements in Two Mainstream Black Magazines." Journal of Black Studies 39.1 (2007): 5-21. Web. 2 Mar. 2015.

The year is 2016 and American society is open-minded to so many issues, except televised stereotypes. Racial and gender stereotypes are continually reinforced by social media and television, it has played a major role in the way society views one another. Enabling stereotypes that have been associated with a person of specific race or gender in the media promotes prejudice. Meaning society expects that person to act a certain way based on what they have witnessed on television or social media. . A perfect example of how television shows incorporate stereotypes based on ethnicity is the tv show “Everybody Hates Chris “which is about a working class African-American family that lives in a poor urban neighborhood in New York. Chris Rock is the

Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver is a collection of writings and correspondence with his attorney Beverly Axelrod from his time in the Folsom State Prison in California in 1965. Eldridge Cleaver was convicted of drug crimes and then convicted again later after he committed a series of rapes against black and white women. Within Soul on Ice, Eldridge Cleaver details his pursuit of self-discovery and the pursuit of knowledge and new ideologies within the prison system. In addition, Cleaver explores the social system and race relations of black and white people during the Civil Rights Movement. Cleaver renounces his actions as rapist and converts to a Malcom X follower and later a Marxist revolutionary.

Minorities in sitcoms were less portrayed in contrast to an accurate representation of the time period. Ironically, minorities in sitcoms were not always represented by minority actors and actresses. Sometimes makeup was used on a white actor so he could portray an African man. It was not until the 1950’s when African Americans were shown on television. African Americans were often portrayed as crooked people with poor English and less education. In the sixties, segregation and racism dominated in most social settings. In the seventies, most minorities were trying to deter from old beliefs of prejudicial ideas. In modern times, minorities have equal rights and respect to their white counterparts. Four sitcoms, Amos ’n’ Andy, Julia, Sanford and Son, and The Cosby Show depict how the role of minorities changed throughout different time periods.

In The Whites Of Their Eyes Stuart Hall goes on to talk about certain race constructiveness in the media. The article then begins to talk about how the media poses a representation of multiple ideologies, and how these ideologies define race. Stuart Hall uses logos to attract the readers trust in the article, he also uses a little ethos to persuade his audience through character that what he’s writing is in fact an important matter. Stuart goes on to talk about many different forms and practices of media pointed towards multiple dissimilar races. One could say his tactics reflect that of the media, and the examples he uses in the article mostly rely on his emotion towards his argument.

Media misrepresentation of African Americans as an industry issue has been a major concern in our American culture; and is also a component of media bias in the United States. Unfortunately, the media representation of minorities has not always been in a positive light. Instead there has been publicized, controversial and misconstrued images of who African Americans truly are. Since the mass media is an important source of information about African Americans and their image, it influences the public perception and reinforce opinions about African Americans. Typically, these opinions are unfavorable and highlight negative stereotypes associated with African Americans. Sadly, the overrepresentation of white characters in American culture contributes

The media bombards society with the notions of good versus bad, acceptable versus unacceptable. In this case, light skinned versus dark skinned. The dispositions are evident in modern media racial bias in its portrayal of African Americans. Colorism in the media additionally enforces the belief that lighter skinned women are more appealing than dark skinned women. “If you are darker than a paper bag, then you not beautiful, you are not a woman,” Violas Davis, an African American actress, stated on the colorism in the media and Hollywood.

Littered with behind the scene looks, final interviews, spoilers and deleted scenes; The Bachelorette site is clearly intended to intrigue a wide audience of women. With access to never before seen footage, women are compelled to step into the shoes of the beloved cast members and experience the making of the show. Although watching the show and surfing the site is free, the extravagance of the show is tailored to a certain class of wealth. With the constant trend of Caucasian contestants and Bachelorettes’, this has a repercussion of how the audience views The Bachelorettes racial diversity. With implications of sex and the certain level of raunchiness, there is a definite target age restriction for viewing. Lastly with the lack of multiple advertisements on the website, this speaks volumes of the reputation and image that ABC network is trying to uphold with their television series.

Race has always been a problem in America and other countries. But developments such as Critical Race Theory (CRT) has helped challenge race and racial power and its representation in American society. Articles such as Critical Race Theory: An Introduction by Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic; White Privilege, Color, and Crime: A Personal Account by Peggy McIntosh have helped CRT develop further. Along with the documentary White Like Me by filmmaker Tim Wise. These articles and film explore the race and racism in the United States, along with critical race theory. In this paper, I will be critiquing these articles and films in order to evaluate the purpose of these readings and how they have helped further develop race in America. But most importantly, whether the author has achieved its purpose to inform readers about CRT, whiteness, and racial inequality.

When a regular viewer tunes in the hit show, Saturday Night Live, what do they see on their screen? They see a comedy show with primarily young Caucasian men and some Caucasian women. There is a problem with the level of diversity within Saturday Night Live, otherwise known as SNL. Since its beginning, Saturday Night Live has had a very long history with not displaying actors from a variety of races and backgrounds. I, Hannah Rabitoy, head writer for SNL, am writing to the executive producer, Lorne Michaels, to address this issue of diversity and what must be implemented in the future. In order to improve viewership and creativity within the hit television show, Saturday Night Live, the producers must enforce a plan to diversify the cast members by placing quotas on the Human Resources department to ensure all are represented properly, recruiting from more standup comedian centers rather than typical non-diverse comedy

Minorities have made significant strides towards equality in American society. In America the minority groups are being stereotype due to their ethnicity. The media has had a significant impact in passing the stereotypes to the work that have convey negative impressions about certain ethnic groups. Minorities have been the victim of an industry that relies on old ideas to appeal to the "majority" at the expense of a minority group ideals (Horton, Price, and Brown 1999). Stereotypes have been portraying negative characteristics of ethnic group in general. According to an article in The Huffington Post, Americans love to muse over the characteristic of our foreign immigrants residing in the country, and even if there descent have assimilated

“By 1960, 90 percent of U.S. homes owned one” (Phruksachart, 100). The statistic this quote is referring to this the rise of televisions in America. Recently, television has taken steps in an effort to include more diversity in their shows an example of this is seen in ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat. Following the life of Eddie Huang, a middle schooler who has just moved from Chinatown in DC to a predominantly white neighborhood in Florida, Fresh Off the Boat is a sitcom that that showcases some struggles immigrant families face. The show brings the question, are these inclusive shows being handled correctly? By portraying a Chinese immigrant family that addresses specific immigrant issues while still connecting with mass America, Fresh Off the