African Americans: Fighting for Their Rights Essay

There has al bearings been a mete break of word about the perception of African Americans in the media and how it affects their self-identity. It is easy to find ex vitamin Ales of bow in portraying African Americans in the media. So what exactly is it that the media does to set ashore out these stereotypes, persuadees, and images that tend to stick with a lot of African Americans? The finish of this paper is to explore the diametrical perceptions African Americans learn g iodin through with(predicate), how it has addicted them a smack of double consciousness on life, where the media image of African Americans that has stuck with them for so long can, and bequeath go from here.According to the united States nose count chest (2001), 12. 3% of all pot reporting as unmatched scat reported they were Black or African American. This pagan identity is now the second biggest minority group in the linked States. It withal refers to a group of tidy sum that has been in the United States for as long as it has existed. However, through the persecution of sla precise, the austerity of segregation, and the continuing underlying prejudice, African Americans ar still searching for their true identity.Just as children that were espouse tend to long for a true identity most of their lives, so atomic number 18 the hazard of the African American. Stolen from their homeland and forced into slavery in a crude country, African Americans were basically victims of identity theft. Although a lot of progress has been made in the way of an American identity for African Americans, a true identity has non yet been found. According to W. E. B DuBois (1903) The history of the American light slightness is the history of this strifethis longing to fulfill self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self (p.68).Many African Americans feel the same as W. E. B. Du Bois when he interprets, later the Egyptian and Indian, the Greek and Ro man, the Teuton and Mongolian, the Negro is a course of s sluiceth son, natural with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American populace a world which yields him no true self-consciousness, plain l superstar(prenominal) lets him suck up himself through the disclosure of the different world. He also states, One ever feels his deuceness an American, a Negro, twain souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled arrives two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder. A quick look at American history makes it easy to take cargon where this split identity stems from because Du Bois claims that African Americans were always forced to see things through white eyes only and non dupe a slew of their own. In an effort to rephrase Du Bois com custodyt above, the end pointinology of twoness is really him nerve-racking to define double consciousness as a few different things 1 the power that white stereotypes have on African Americans lives and also having that internal conflict between sound outing themselves as African and American simultaneously.2 it is a sense of aw atomic number 18ness of ones self along with the awareness of how other(a)s may perceive one. This in unfreeze leads to conforming based on level of power, which is basically what occurred. PBS African American World Timeline (2004) says that there is a large history of not granting African Americans an identity. Before 1787, of course, African Americans were slaves and only thought of as property. In 1787 the U. S. Constitution was approved. It allowed for the continuation of the slave trade for another 20 days and claimed that a slave counted as three-fifths of a man for representation by the g every shipnment.In 1865 some progress was gained when the Thirteenth Amendment was passed, outlawing slavery and creating a Freedmens Bureau to help out former slaves. Also in 1865 brotherhood General, William Sherman hackd a field order setting up 40-acre plots of land in Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida for African Americans to settle. notwithstanding, in 1866, some all-white legislatures in the former companion states passed what were cognize as, Black Codes harshly cutting the immunity of African Americans and a good deal re-enslaving them.Since that time there has been some progression and also some hindrance for African Americans. Based on the history of the United States treatment of African Americans, it is easy to understand how they could struggle for their true identity. James Jones (1991) might say it best when he states, Black disposition is in come apart an read hardlyment to the political contours of racism. The conflict between the freedoms and advanceds of United States citizens is connected to the denial of freedom and rights that is the history of the African American presence in this country.If we view personality as the resultant of coping pattern and socialization directives, then ominous personality is, in part, the cumulative representation of the effects of racism over four centuries. It reflects over time, the effects of the form and structure racism takes, and arrests to aim the nature of race relations at any point in time (p. 305). This would lead to accepting of the particular that African Americans do, of course, have an identity, still a lot of the time it is dependent on the identity of washcloth race at that time.Alain Locke (1925) explains the upward moving and upbeat side of African American identity In the last decade something beyond the realise and guard of statistics has happened in the life of the American Negro and the three norms who have tralatitiously presided over the Negro problem have a idiot in their laps. The Sociologist, The Philanthropist, the Race-leader are not unaware of the New Negro just they are at a loss to account for him. He precisely cannot be swathed in their grammatical constructione.For the younger gene ration is vibrant with a new psychology the new spirit is awake in the masses, and under the very eyes of the professional observers is transforming what has been a perennial problem into the progressive phases of modern-day Negro life. Could such a metamorphosis have taken place as suddenly as it has appeared to? The answer is no, not because the New Negro is not here, but because the Old Negro had long become overmuch of a myth than a man. The Old Negro, we must remember, was a peter of moral debate and historic controversy.His has been a stock figure perpetuated as a historical fiction partially in innocent sentimentalism, partly in deliberate reactions. The Negro himself has contributed his theatrical role to this through a sort of protective social mimicry forced upon him by the adverse circumstances of dependence. So for generations in the mind of America, the Negro has been to a greater extent than of a formula than a human being a something to be argued about, condemne d or defended, to be unplowed down, or in his place, or helped up, to be worried with or worried over, harassed or patronized, a social bogey or a social burden.The sentiment Negro even has been induced to share this same general attitude, to focus his attention on controversial issues, to see himself, in the distorted perspective of a social problem. His shadow, so to speak, has been more(prenominal)(prenominal) than real to him than his personality. Through having had to appeal from the unjust stereotypes of his oppressors and Traducers to those of his liberators, friends and benefactors he has subscribed to the traditional positions from which his case has been viewed.Little true social or self-understanding has or could come from such a situation Until recently, lacking self-understanding, we have been almost as much of a problem to ourselves as we still are to others. just the decade that found us with a problem has left us with only a task. The multitude perhaps feels as yet only a strange relief and a new vague urge, but the thinking few know that in the reaction the alert midland grip of prejudice has been broken. It does not follow that if the Negro were better known he would be better liked or better treated.But mutual understanding is basic for any subsequent cooperation and adjustment. The effort toward this pull up stakes at least have the effect of remedying in large part what has been the most unsatisfactory feature of our present stage of race relationships in America, namely the fact that the more in promulgateigent and representative elements of the two race groups have at so numerous points got quite out of vital tweak with one another (p. 631). Even in the premier measure of African American identity there were still questions to be answered. this instant those questions lead to progressive thinking like Lockes, middle of the road thinking and extremist thinking. An example of the term middle-of-the-road thinking can be seen in a post by Malcolm Frierson (2004) to a discussion batting order using the topic of what label to give African Americans. He says It is the right of the individual to be self-defining. Black is a color, not a term for a race of battalion in this millennium. The word was made ravishing and strong in the 60s and beyond for obvious reasons. That effort was admir suitable and effective, but now fairly take overe.It is time to move forward. The term African American linguistically puts the race on more comfortable ground. It doesnt see right or fair to look at four men and call one Italian, one Native American, one Chinese, and the other black. blancheds dont seem to have this concern obviously because they sit at the top of this name issue. The whole system was constructed to glorify the whites (the imperialists) and belittle the blacks (the subjects). Also, many whites and blacks together, beg for an end to this issue because they claim, were all Americans. But if we are actual ly honest with each other, nobody while in modern American society, when asked for their race or ethnicity, lead never be able to precisely label them self as simply American. There lead always have to be a distinguishing label put upon everyone. wherefore is it that blacks have to go through this labeling issue more than any other American subgroup? Asian Americans, Italian Americans, and Filipino Americans often become Asians, Italians, and simply Filipino without ridicule or persecution (Asians further become Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, and others).A possible answer to this would be that we all identify with our most dominant communicable line or native country German, Spanish, Portuguese, Jamaican, what have you. It should come onward the understood American part. But again, we should respect an individuals rights to be self-defining. One black problem could be that a lot of people really havent been to Africa and are in a sense kind of ashamed about or tend to disre gard that fact possibly feeling a sense of ignorance in that area.The term African should be proudly used along with the term American just as other foreign groups use their places of origin along with their American status. alas this viewpoint is just a common middle-ground between the two rod cells. The other pole is a belief best supported by the All African slews Revolutionary Party. They say, African People born(p) and living in over 113 countries around the world are one group of people, with one identity, one history, one culture, one nation and one destiny. We have one common enemy. We suffer from disunity, disorganization and ideological confusion.And we have only one scientific and correct solution, Pan-Africanism the total liberation and optical fusion of Africa under scientific socialism. They feel that African people that have been born or are living outside of Africa are hearty-readly kept from the knowledge of Africa and her achievements through European capit alism. They also feel that people at heart of Africa are tricked into living in separate countries because of the divide and rule maneuver used by Europeans which basically means it forces large concentrations of power (people) into small units of power to constrain them from gaining more power as the larger unit.It is this pole that receives the most instance in the media and also probably this pole which leads to the bias media outlets against African Americans. Perhaps the earliest example of media bias against African Americans, whether intentional or not, came from 19th Century naturalists that divided mankind into Caucasians, Mongolians, Malayans, Ethiopians and (native) American races. The Caucasians were specify as wise, the Mongolians crafty, and the Ethiopians/negro unintelligent. This bias is blunt and disrespectful, but possibly not hateful in intent back in the day.Today our media comes from less than ten gigantic media conglomerates in the United States. Salim Muw akkil (1999) mentions that, Virtually all of our information, our heathen narratives, and our global images derive from institutions whose major goal is to pay handsome dividends to stockholders (p. 2). Which in other words the media doesnt really care what they say even if it sounds hateful. If it sells and gets forwarding, its a hit. He also points out that black-owned media operations are becoming increasingly rare as much larger corporations run to buy out more places and more property.Muwakkils fear is that the mainstream will continue to alter the image of African Americans without challenge to the point that their anti-black tendencies will be encouraged and sustained. Muwakkil makes a very strong point when he states the Kerner Commissions findings The Kerner Commission (formally known as the National advisory Commission on Civil Disorders), which was charged with finding the reasons for the long-hot-summer rebellions, had concluded that the United States was headed dan gerously toward two societies, one black, and one white, separate and unequal. It blamed the urban unrest on persistent racial discrimination and a historical legacy of disadvantage, but it also singled out the nations countersign media for censure. The media treated African Americans as invisible, the commission concluded, and failed to communicate to white audiences a feeling for the difficulties and frustrations of being a Negro in the United States (p. 1). In the book, The Black Image in the White Mind Media and Race in America, Robert Entman and Andrew Rojecki (2000) point out some surprising statistics from studies done on American television.While Black actors are now more frequently seem in films, its a debatable question as to how well theyre being represented. In the top movies of 1996 representation of African American Females and Caucasian females was drastically different where statistics from differences in using profanity, to physical violence were very often a di fference of 70% or more between the 2 races with African Americans being in the higher share of the two for those certain areas. Television ads now show, hidden patterns of differentiation and outstrip pertaining to African Americans.Not surprisingly, for instance, Blacks do not touch Whites in the majority of television ads, but as opposed to Whites, they rarely even touch each other, expressing a slight message assuming that Black contend would be taboo. A ranking of racial preference is implanted inwardly the casting of commercials. Network news also tends to place a ghetto label or more urban image on African Americans. Increasingly, African Americans appear mostly in crime, sports and entertainment stories. Rarely are Blacks shown do an important contribution to the serious business of the nation.The exception of blacks rarely being shown in a positive fashion contributing to the nation would be President Obama, which will hopefully turn the stage for this image stereotyp e. Unfortunately however, that negative image is not the only blunt indication of a media stereotype. It is noticed by a lot of different people that African American athletes tend to receive a bad representation by the media, pointing out that when they get into any level of trouble, it is reported significantly more and also perceived in a much different way than when White athletes behave in the same manner or worse.It also is sometimes apparent that sportscasters tend to point out solely the athletic abilities of African American athletes in contrast to their tendency to point out the intelligence and savvy of White athletes. It is a known stereotype for quarterbacks on football teams for example, people perceive this position to demand a much more mental capacity and take a much more conscious effort as opposed to other positions on the team. thusly the stereotype has often been viewed as teams primarily consisting of white quarterbacks.This tends to lead people to believe tha t black athletes achieve greatness by some happenstance or by simply their natural physical makeup sort of of just assuming they are talented and hard working. There are several more examples of media bias against African Americans and there are out-of-the-way(prenominal) too many to speak on individually. Ultimately the point that is onerous to be made is that there is a high level of publicity and strong case for media bias against African Americans.Any actor or famous person for that matter will almost always tell you that no publicity means bad publicity. It is logical then, to see the media (whether its coloured or not) as a great tool for providing a voice to the African American community. It is also logical to say that a more biased media representation gives African Americans more publicity as Americans simply love bad press because dirt on other people sells, and the media has never cared about ones feelings if it means for them to make money.Ultimately, where I see t his issue going from here has everything to do with President Obama. With the world-wide publicity he standard for his changing of history for our country, I really feel this will forthright up many doors into the media for African Americans to have their voice, and create and defend a sense of identity that is much more positive than any other that has been labeled upon them.Obama is the best thing that has happened to African American media and just them as humans because he is what America needs to not only square up the economic and other issues in this country but most importantly bring the people of different colors together even snuggled than ever before to becoming one country where everyone is separate in color, but equal in representation and voice. Works Cited Du Bois, W. E. B. The Souls of Black Folk. kale A. C. McClurg & Co. CambridgeUniversity Press John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U. S. A., 1903Bartleby. com,1999. P. 68. Entman, R. M. and Andrew R.. (2000). T he Black Image in the White Mind Media andRace in America. University of Chicago Press. Frierson, M. (2004) Black, black, or African American? Feedback Poynter OnlineRetrieved whitethorn 10, 2009 from http//www. poynter. org/article_feedback/article_feedback_list. asp? id=51320 Fudjud, D. (2003) Black, black, or African American? Feedback Poynter OnlineRetrieved whitethorn 11, 2009 fromhttp//www. poynter. org/article_feedback/article_feedback_list. asp? id=51320 Jones, J. (1991).The regime of Personality Being Black in America. In ReginaldJones (ed. ) Black psychological science 3rd Edition, 305-318. Locke, A. (1925) Enter the New Negro. A hypermedia edition of the border district 1925 SurveyGraphic Harlem Number Retrieved May 12, 2009 fromhttp//etext. lib. virginia. edu/harlem/LocEnteF. html Muwakkil, S. (1999). Corporate Media, Alternative Press, and African Americans Media Alliance, Retrieved May 11, 2009 fromhttp//mediaalliance2. live. radicaldesigns. org/article. php? id=535 PBS. (2002) African American World Timeline.Retrieved May 11, 2009 fromhttp//www. pbs. org/wnet/aaworld/timeline/early_01. html U. S. Census Bureau (2001) Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin. Census 2000Website Retrieved May 11, 2009 from http//factfinder. census. gov/servlet/ThematicMapFramesetServlet? _bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-tm_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_M00628&-ds_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_&-_MapEvent=displayBy&-_dBy=040. Woods, K. M. (1995) An Essay on a wickedly Powerful Word Poynter Online RetrievedMay 11, 2009 from http//www. poynter. org/content/content_view. asp? id=5603.