Ignorance, Racism, and Media in Today's Society

Media’s portrayal of black society has huge implications for both the black community’s self identification and non black societies expectations of the black community. According to a study conducted in 2009, media consistently portrays black people as violent and aggressive, minorities as criminals and white people as the victims. (Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz, et al) Alongside their overrepresentation as criminals in the news, blacks also are underrepresented as victims compared with their on-air counterparts (Dixon & Linz, 2000b). This portrayal would make anyone second guess a black person's intentions. Its forcing black people out of the invisible social circle and labeling him or her a dangerous person. “As black men...we always feel like we’re on trial, like we have to be on our best behavior. If your not you never know what’s gonna go wrong. You never know who’s gonna perceive you differently” This was stated in 2006 during a media project named , “Being a black man” in the Washington Post. “The image of a few black men now has been taken as who the black man is.The black man and manhood in our community needs to be defined. Defined by black men themselves.” Minority reporters account for less than 13% of the population working in the newsroom. How can a white reporter effectively portray black men and women if he or she has nothing but media to go off of. The black community has little to no voice in the media and therefore their story, their side never gets heard.

“There isn’t a single black person in Hollywood with any power, ...If i stood in a room with every major black star just talking, then I would hear the same things out of their mouths that are coming out of mine. Multimillionaires. The main thing you’ll hear is, ‘Whenever I take a project, I can’t get it done unless I have a white partner.’ In other words ….If Denzel Washington ...said ‘I want to do the movie of Hannibal’ They’ll say [Hollywood], ‘Yeah, well, we have to call in Al Pachino or the...