Abstract
Racism in television has been a highly discussed and researched topic dating back to the mid-20th century and still exists to this date. The paper aims to discover the progression of the extent to which racism in television is still evident and impactful and explores potential reasons and solutions to it. It analyses previous research papers and information from a range of time frames and formulates relationships based on the inferences made to arrive at a conclusion. The results show that racism, although subtle, remains with more to be desired from measures fighting against it. By comparing previous scholarly suggestions and recent televised examples, the paper deduces a novel solution of removing the consideration of race from producing and viewing. Choosing instead to fight the problem by restructuring our thinking on racial stereotypes.
Literature Review
This study replicates a previous study of how racial minorities are portrayed on prime-time television and its effects on social stereotypes and how it has changed over time. The study analyzed characters based on physical, behavioral, and appearance characteristics to discover patterns that would indicate whether they are positively or negatively portrayed such as lazy/motivated, dumb/smart, articulate/inarticulate etc. If the data collected differed to the data from a previous decade, it would show minority representation on television changed and depending on the differences whether it was positive or negative. The researchers analyzed 8-10pm television shows from 4 television networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX) on both minor and major characters for a week to discover patterns. The source shows that minorities (Latinos and African Americans) are still improperly and underrepresented such as being depicted more despicable and immoral while if any positives, they were portrayed on extreme ends of the spectrum. The study indicates that major racial differences have decreased but overall minority representation has largely not changed continuing to depict them stereotypically and poorly.
The paper introduces an inquiry on the effects of increased inclusion of African Americans in television and whether this change has been mitigated by racist elements within this inclusion. The author further specifies his inquiry on this topic in advertisements and conducts research on 6 themes within prime-time television commercials to find out more on African American’s problematic image. The author uses the 6 variables of screen time such as screen presence, cultural values, families etc. and discuss whether the way African Americans are portrayed are effective and lead to an improved image.
The results show that in fact subtle racist elements, such as a difference in socio-economic power through attire differences, indeed mitigate an increased inclusion. Other elements include drastic camera distance differences and African Americans’ limited activity levels, being portrayed as passive, both minimalizes African American screen presence. It suggests ways of improvement such as implementing a task force to ensure minorities on television are properly represented.
The research aims to answer the question of how exposure of stereotypical portrayals of African Americans to Caucasian people affect the way they think and respond to individual African Americans. They conducted the study by having Caucasian participants view a comedy skit with stereotypical or neutral portrayals of African Americans and present a scenario where a person was assaulted for the participants to deduce the assaulter’s race. The study found that indeed when white people are exposed to portrayals of African Americans, they are more likely to make negative judgments of an African American target person and did not affect judgment of a white person. The research theorized that these portrayals primed or activated a stereotypical representation of the African American category rather than some negative traits. It also suggests that when the person is not a member of the primed racial category but is displayed stereotypically of said category, it does not influence social judgement. This finding suggests that when an abstract representation of a social category is primed, priming is applicable only when the target person belongs to the primed category.
Unveiling an Innovative Approach to Address Racism in Television
Television, having been popularized since the middle of the 20th century, has had a substantial impact on society, culture, and our individual worldviews. It has become a norm for every household to own an electronic device. Recent studies have shown that what is televised has the power to influence perceptions of social groups (Ford,1997). However, television was not as multi-cultural as it is today. Up until the 1970s, minority appearance was an anomaly and if they did appear, it would frequently portray them stereotypically (Encyclopedia, 2024). Although the situation is significantly less extreme compared to the past, critical questions have been raised on the quantity and quality of minority representation and to what extent it is still racially negative. Many studies indicate that minority representation is lacking in amount and quality, with a pattern of subtle racist role and characteristic portrayals (Bristor et al., 1995; Monk-Turner et al., 2010). Our study addresses the question of to what extent racial minorities are negatively portrayed statistically and the potential causes and effects of the direction it is drifting towards. It also discusses the question on the effectiveness of current suggested solutions and prompts an alternate answer to improve racial representation compared to previous study tendencies. Contrary to common belief, television and society’s effect on our psychology and negative results of previous suggestions indicate the problem of minority representation can be solved by changing our approach from subversion to neglection of the racial hierarchy. This doesn’t imply that our approach is to ignore the issue and hope for it to resolve itself, but to mitigate the conception of racial stereotypes in our psychology by matching the assumed characteristics of one race to a person of another.
Racism statistics and the psychosocial influence
Racism on television has taken many forms and levels of severity since the beginning of minority inclusion and statistics show that the problem has been prevalent from the 1990s to the 2010s. (Bristor et al., 1995) explored themes and values which mitigate the minority inclusion on television and the themes can be categorized as psychological, social, cultural, and economical stereotypes that contrast with their Caucasian counterparts. Although data shows that minority representation has improved to around 50% inclusion the quality of the image is still problematic as advertisements portray them as less than or not even humans. It focused on stereotypical abilities and roles such as their exceptional athleticism to be basketball players or low to middle class workers who are often seen to be happily serving white people. Most minority representation being in the background either hidden or socio-economically blending into the crowd sends the message that they have a “place” in society and should stay there (Bristol et al., 1995). The study shows that we have been desensitized to subpar representation and a stereotypical image has been normalized and formed in our minds. A recent replicate study from 2010 that compares data with the 2000 study shows that although there have been shifts in the areas in which minorities are portrayed stereotypically, it remains that they are still portrayed as less intelligent, less respected, and more ridiculed (Monk-Turner et al., 2010). A potential reason for why stereotypical minority representation remain persistent despite social reforms could be the existence of an underlying psychological and social structure as proposed by (Staples & Jones, 1985). Throughout humanity, different societies such as racial groups have had disparities in admission to its collective values, but the inequality has been accepted by humans that it stands as it is. Because this promotes an overall minority, the Caucasian, a tool is needed to convince the exploited groups and a name for this is the superstructure. It entails that the ideas of society reflect the ideas of the ruling class (Staples & Jones, 1985). This shows that the unequal ideology is strongly rooted in human nature, an effective response to this is responding to how we can prevent stereotypes portrayed on television to be harmonized in our lives.
The nature of priming and how it can be utilized
Because we are all subconsciously aware of the negative stereotypes of racial groups, if more and more people of different racial groups portray “stereotypes” (or media norms/patterns) of another racial group, it would help alleviate bias or prejudice towards the targeted group by not generalizing characteristics into race or making inferences on other racial groups. The main function of this, as the study states, is to prevent associating stereotypical portrayals of a race with the overall representation and image (Ford, 1995). It would help lessen tying stereotypical portrayals of a racial group to the overall mental representation of that group via priming as there would no longer be an overall trend or pattern regarding a race and what is portrayed. It would not necessarily eliminate racial stereotypes, as they are already formed in our subconscious, but challenging the activation of them on racial groups. Another potential benefit is preventing division among racial groups as the study also shows that people of the same race are more reluctant to internalize stereotypes about their race, bringing awareness through recognition of the harmfulness of generalization on racial groups and puts the focus away from race in media. Doing so also allows for a deeper and multi-dimensional perception and understanding of characters beyond influence of surface level characteristics, reinforcing that people should not be defined and identified by skin color. This approach does not seek to alter the image we have of racial groups as the increased quantity and quality approach seeks to but breaks the chain between what we see on television and how we judge and act to different racial groups. It would take away the power of subtle racism and render television to be what it should be: fictional entertainment that does not create prejudice base on what is portrayed.
Recent televised examples and counter arguments
A modern example of the faulty quantity and quality approach is the recent Disney movie remake Mermaid where the main character is portrayed by a person of racial minority. The movie ended up being a social and economic flop, which is strange because it would seem like a perfect response for more and better minority representation. The movie allegedly barely made a profit if any due to high production costs and gross income significantly fell short compared to other Disney movies such as the Lion King. The movie also prompts negative reviews and social movements against the production of the movie (Reid, 2023). This also ties back to how the television industry, much like other media industries, is based off a low-risk policy to ensure consistent revenue. This means that what is often made is what has been successful and popular among audiences which results in lack of innovation and originality (Kelso, 2008). This denotes that we as the viewer are the demand and decide what is shown. Because we are so normalized to the racial stereotypical image a direct reversal of that would unsurprisingly bring controversy with one racial group unsatisfied no matter what. This also responds to the counter argument that the problem lies with the producers and the hidden influence and support of high-class individuals. (Cantor, 1998) suggests that although producers and writers must first, to please the organization and the mass audience, there exists a group to fight against it. However, this implies that if the group was successful, the audience and organization would be increasingly open to it, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Reinforcing that ultimately, we hold a large influence on what is shown on TV. Another counter argument could be made about the cultural importance of racial groups which are currently neglected. However, if their neglected cultural experiences are portrayed diversely, it would foster open perspectives focused on content rather than skin tone. Valuing them because they are worth doing so, not due to obligation or race-related reasons.
Conclusion
To summarize, using a range of evidence from the 1990s to the present, it indicates that the issue of racism on television has improved slightly if at all and different measures are pivotal to combat the issue. The nature of the industry and psychosocial evidence supports that a solution of reconstructing our psychological perspective is needed rather than one that tries to directly reverse the unequal ideology that has been established. Having different racial groups being portrayed “stereotypically” or with associated traits of another racial group can prevent priming or activating a stereotypical image of racial groups in our lives. However, it is important to note that this will take time and consistent progression to achieve with participation from the audience and network organizations, but substantial benefits can reap from doing so.
References
Staples, R., & Jones, T. (1985). Culture, Ideology and Black Television Images. The Black Scholar, 16(3), 10–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/00064246.1985.11414338
Reid, C. (2023, October 4). Disney sinks $300 million into “over budget” “little mermaid” movie. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinereid/2023/10/02/disney-sinks-300-million-into-over-budget-little-mermaid-movie/
Bristor, J. M., Lee, R. G., & Hunt, M. R. (1995). Race and Ideology: African-American Images in Television Advertising. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 14(1), 48–59. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30000378
Monk-Turner, E., Heiserman, M., Johnson, C., Cotton, V., & Jackson, M. (2010). The Portrayal of Racial Minorities on Prime Time Television: A Replication of the Mastro and Greenberg Study a Decade Later. Studies in Popular Culture, 32(2), 101–114. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23416158
Encyclopedia.com. (2024, August 18)." television in American Society Reference Library. . encyclopedia.com. 15 Aug. 2024. Encyclopedia.com. https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/televisions-impact-american-society-and-culture
Ford, T. E. (1997). Effects of Stereotypical Television Portrayals of African-Americans on Person Perception. Social Psychology Quarterly, 60(3), 266–275. https://doi.org/10.2307/2787086
Kelso, T. (2008). And now no word from our sponsor: How HBO puts the risk back into television. It’s Not TV. And now no word from our sponsor: How HBO puts the risk back into tele (taylorfrancis.com)
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