Racism in the Media in America
Racism is the discrimination of different races and it is thought that one race is superior then the other. Racism is one of the worlds discussed topic. Many people do not know how much racism goes on in people’s daily lives. They hear about it every day on the news but choose to do nothing about it. Racism can be experienced by all kinds of people including children, students, teachers and workers. One of the main influences of racism is the media. The media has a very substantial effect on the way races are perceived. The media is made up of newspapers, television, radios, and films. The television is one of the more popular ways of spreading racism. Almost everyone in the United States watches television so this makes it easy for the media to stereotype races. This is one of the major reasons that racism is in America. For example, in the television show “That 70’s show”, is aimed for the white audience. The show consists of mostly white people. There is one character named “Fez” who is Hispanic. His white friends usually make jokes about him crossing the border into the United States. This is one of the most common stereotypes there is. These shows portray a society made up of one race. This is a very misleading embodiment of the American society. There are many more ways of how racism in media is portrayed such as the mistreatment of Muslim people after 9/11, The Trayvon Martin case, and how the media stereotypes other races.
This not only affects adults but also young children. Children are very easy to persuade into thinking things. They also spend many hours watching television. When they watch these shows that only contain one race, it creates invalidating thoughts against other races. This makes them vulnerable and prejudiced. Between ages 5 and 11, the researchers found, children become aware that many people believe stereotypes, including stereotypes about academic ability (for example, how intelligent certain racial...
