What Is Race?
"Race refers to a person’s physical characteristics such as bone structure, skin, hair, and eye color. The term race refers to the concept of dividing people into populations or groups on the basis of various sets of physical characteristics (which usually result from genetic ancestry). Race presumes shared biological or genetic traits, whether actual or asserted. In the early 19th century, racial differences were ascribed significance in areas of intelligence, health, and personality, however there is no evidence validating these ideas." |
Brief History of Racial Representation in American Media
When discussing the history of racial representation in American, two distinct qualities need to be discussed; quantity and quality. To show how race representation has changed over time, evaluating the amount of representation and the quality and accuracy of that representation is key. Over time blacks have achieved a lot of progress when it comes to being represented in the prime time media, and the ways that they are represented has now been been diversified. They are now represented on many more genres and channels than in the 1970- 80s where the majority of black people were only seen in sitcoms. Latinos on the other hand have seen little change in terms of how many are represented in the media. The quality of their portrayal has improved; a lot of the egregious stereotypes, having to do with lack of intelligence, violence, and lower class status, have declined exponentially. But current media often reflects the political and social climate of the country and with the rising animosity and misconceptions of the Latino community, it can be predicted that they might see another wave of unfavorable portrayal. For a lot of other groups, including Asians, Native Americans, Arabs, and Pacific Islanders, there has been an increase and improvement in the way they are portrayed, but they are still massively underrepresented in relation to their population size. When they are represented, stereotypes and one-dimensional characterizations is still very prominent.
Lack of Racial Diversity in the Media
Within a vast majority of the media we consume, there is a lack of representation amongst the people who are forefront on our screens. We have definitely come a long way in terms of showcasing a variety of people, but still have a long way to go. Approximately 40% of the population consists of minorities, however their presence in movies, television shows, and other forms of media is pretty minimal. "Minorities remain underrepresented nearly six to one in broadcast scripted leads and nearly two to one among cable scripted leads. The numbers for series creators is even worse. Minorities are underrepresented at greater than six to one among the creators of broadcast shows, greater than three to one among the creators of cable scripted shows, and greater than seven to one for creators of digital platform and syndicated shows." If people of color are not the visionaries, or at least significant contributing members of new shows, movies, newspapers, and magazines, then their stories are not going to be showed as often as white people's.
Lack of racial representation in the media is a serious issue for a number of reasons. For one, not seeing characters that look like oneself in the media, lowers people's expectations of what they can achieve. However, "when we see ourselves and our triumphs and tribulations projected in mainstream culture, we see our own worth and, in turn, our ambitions become plans that manifest into our reality". Constantly seeing white characters who are successful and multi-faceted is good, but it can cause people of color to feel like they are not capable of such things. Shows such as "How to Get Away With Murder", "Orange is the New Black", and "Dear White People" try to showcase characters of color of who are multi dimensional. Another reason that lack of racial representation is detrimental to the American society as a whole is because it not only hurts people of color, but the large Caucasian population is also affected. They are presented with little knowledge and depictions of other racial groups, lessening their understanding and empathy towards people who are not like them.
Lack of racial representation in the media is a serious issue for a number of reasons. For one, not seeing characters that look like oneself in the media, lowers people's expectations of what they can achieve. However, "when we see ourselves and our triumphs and tribulations projected in mainstream culture, we see our own worth and, in turn, our ambitions become plans that manifest into our reality". Constantly seeing white characters who are successful and multi-faceted is good, but it can cause people of color to feel like they are not capable of such things. Shows such as "How to Get Away With Murder", "Orange is the New Black", and "Dear White People" try to showcase characters of color of who are multi dimensional. Another reason that lack of racial representation is detrimental to the American society as a whole is because it not only hurts people of color, but the large Caucasian population is also affected. They are presented with little knowledge and depictions of other racial groups, lessening their understanding and empathy towards people who are not like them.
DuVernay Test
Many shows that we've enjoyed watching throughout our childhood, adolescence, and even our adulthood are surprisingly lacking diversity. The DuVernay Test, created by the director of Selma, Ava DuVernay, is used to access how racially diverse shows, movies, books, and all forms of media are with the following questions:
1. Does it have two or more (named) nonwhite characters?
2. Are they portrayed by nonwhite actors?
3. Do they have a storyline?
4. Does their storyline do more than advance the storyline of white characters?
Out of a sample group from the iSchool Media Literacy students, who consumed a total of 120 pieces of media in a weekend, only 37 pieces passed the DuVernay test. This equates to around 30% of all the media consumed by 24 individuals, having at least some racial diversity. It’s startling to see that most of the media consumed by teenagers who live in New York City, one of the most racially diverse places in the world, is not diverse. This sheds light on the larger issue of each states individual racial demographics having a large affect on who is represented and who is not. While these test results are pretty solid, they present a few flaws within the DuVernay test. To address these issues, we propose an alternative test that our group created.
1. Does it have two or more (named) nonwhite characters?
2. Are they portrayed by nonwhite actors?
3. Do they have a storyline?
4. Does their storyline do more than advance the storyline of white characters?
Out of a sample group from the iSchool Media Literacy students, who consumed a total of 120 pieces of media in a weekend, only 37 pieces passed the DuVernay test. This equates to around 30% of all the media consumed by 24 individuals, having at least some racial diversity. It’s startling to see that most of the media consumed by teenagers who live in New York City, one of the most racially diverse places in the world, is not diverse. This sheds light on the larger issue of each states individual racial demographics having a large affect on who is represented and who is not. While these test results are pretty solid, they present a few flaws within the DuVernay test. To address these issues, we propose an alternative test that our group created.
MCSS Test
Because we feel like the DuVernay test lacks important details such as how long these two non-white characters should have screen time, we have created our own test known as the MCSS Test. It consists of the following questions:
1. Are there more than 2½ (biracial) named characters who identify as non-white? 2. Are they on screen for more than 2 minutes? 3. Do(es) the non-white character(s) have their own story line relative to the plot, not just to further a white character’s storyline? 4. Can they be replaced by a white person with no effect on the story line? If we were to reevaluate the data from the previous sample, considering our new components, we would find that the amount of media pieces that past the diversity test is lower. The new criteria of more minorities, a minimum screen time of 2 minutes, and the question of whether or not a character could be changed from a person of color to a white person without any affect, would potentially cut out a lot of the media pieces that passed the DuVernay test. On paper our test requirements don't seem very hard to achieve, yet it is pretty hard to find media that passes, which goes to show just how bad diversity is lacking in the American media. Based on these inferences our modified version of the DuVernay Test is more thorough and presents a more accurate representation of media diversity. |
How People Are Misrepresented
The lack of non-white people in the media leads to a very common incorrect portrayal of people of color, known as misrepresentation. Ways people are misrepresented in the media are through stereotypes, simplistic characters and non white people playing people of color.
These stereotypes or character tropes have been prevalent since the earliest days of American media. It's easier for the creators of Television shows, movies, and even advertisements to stick to these basic depictions, rather than actually working to create complex characters. Asian-Americans is are often portrayed as intellectual, nerdy, or a martial arts masters. The African-American population is often portrayed as comedians, thugs, or people in need of a handout. Latinos are drug dealers, handymen, or they are hypersexualized. Native Americans are often portrayed as overtly spiritual.
"Seeing a character who looks like one's self can have a limiting effect if that character is restricted to behaving only in certain ways, which don’t reflect the breadth of their life’s experience. If you are a black, Asian or Latino person who sees an “inauthentic” or “one-dimensional” version of yourself, Ramón explained, you “may wonder if that is all that is expected of you in society.”
These stereotypes or character tropes have been prevalent since the earliest days of American media. It's easier for the creators of Television shows, movies, and even advertisements to stick to these basic depictions, rather than actually working to create complex characters. Asian-Americans is are often portrayed as intellectual, nerdy, or a martial arts masters. The African-American population is often portrayed as comedians, thugs, or people in need of a handout. Latinos are drug dealers, handymen, or they are hypersexualized. Native Americans are often portrayed as overtly spiritual.
"Seeing a character who looks like one's self can have a limiting effect if that character is restricted to behaving only in certain ways, which don’t reflect the breadth of their life’s experience. If you are a black, Asian or Latino person who sees an “inauthentic” or “one-dimensional” version of yourself, Ramón explained, you “may wonder if that is all that is expected of you in society.”