Talk:Representation of African Americans in media

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Stereotypes

I have just removed a paragraph from the Stereotypes section. It appeared to me to be basically a person's own opinions (someone who has made no edits to WP before or since) dressed up with a couple of 'sources' without links to text. I have found two items that appear to be the sources (they have the same titles) and they bear no resemblance to what was in the article. They could be useful in writing something different though. The URL are:

• http://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/links/VCU.htm
• http://reachingblackconsumers.com/2011/09/portrayal-of-blacks-in-the-media/

- YSSYguy (talk) 03:18, 15 February 2015 (UTC)

 Adding to the stereotypes section, There should be more examples of stereotypes portrayed of African Americans in media. The only stereotype mentioned is "Television has been cited for broadcasting material that displays an overrepresentation of African Americans as lawbreaker's." what about all the other stereotypes? especially those of not only African American men but African American women.  

Jalijah Aubry (talk) 16:18, 17 November 2016 (UTC)

The article states that the representation of African Americans in media has been a major concern in mainstream American culture, and is a component of media bias in the United States. I would consider this to be an original argument and one’s own opinion since it is not backed by any sources. The following quote from Wikipedia is talking about a very long time ago and does not portray how African Americans are now represented in the media. Clearly a lot has changed since the 1950’s to 1980’s. "Research on the portrayal of African Americans in prime-time television from 1955 to 1986 found that only 6 percent of the characters were African-Americans, while 89 percent of the TV population was white.” The debate of ownership diversity affecting content diversity also contributes to the idea that in order for African Americans to be well represented in the media, there needs to be African-American ownership in the media. After reading this sentence I think the language may be a little too complex. The following link is to a UCLA newsroom article stating, “Despite calls for more diversity on prime-time network television, African Americans continued to be over represented and concentrated in situation comedies while other ethnic groups remained underrepresented, according to a new UCLA study.” The article on the site below contradicts what Wikipedia states. http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/African-Americans-Remain-Overrepresented-3250 Megan Kudlik (talk) 00:50, 21 July 2017 (UTC)

Statistics

"Research on the portrayal of African Americans in prime-time television from 1955 to 1986 found that only 6 percent of the characters were African-Americans, while 89 percent of the TV population was white. Among these African-American characters, 49 percent lacked a high school diploma and 47 percent were low in economic status". I have no idea whether these figures are correct. However how do they correlate to TV viewership? Don't they in fact reflect the demographics over that period?Royalcourtier (talk) 06:02, 22 March 2015 (UTC)

Sambo an Indian

How is Little Black Sambo an example of the misrepresentation of African Americans, when the character is Indian?Royalcourtier (talk) 05:57, 22 March 2015 (UTC)

POV

Isn't the statement that "the debate of ownership diversity affecting content diversity also contributes to the idea that in order for African Americans to be well represented in the media, there needs to be African-American ownership in the media" rather POV (and badly written)? It seems to go well beyond an encyclopedic approach, to being advocacy. It may also be controversial, since it could equally be argued that the film industry will continue to over-represent Jews for so long as it is largely owned by Jews. That surely would be a controversial submission to make!Royalcourtier (talk) 06:01, 22 March 2015 (UTC)

Section: "Examples of misrepresentation of African Americans"

Recommend moving this material to a larger article on the subject of African-American stereotypes, and reframing this around how stereotypes emerge with specific features - or shared features - within and across media. This move would help integrate the material better into the present article. Currently feels tangential. Aolivex (talk) 18:13, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

Recommend deletion or reframing

I noticed this page was made for a class. Although some of the material is valuable, much of it overlaps with existing pages, for example on African American stereotypes in the media. However, this page could be made better - and saved - but reframing it around African-American participation in the media industry, which would be valuable addition. Aolivex (talk) 18:17, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

Bibliography

Hello everyone, I am new to the wikipedia editing process. This is just a short list of 5-7 sources that relate to the topic of the article.

• Abernathy-Lear, Gloria. "African Americans' Criticisms Concerning African American Representation On Daytime Serials." Journalism Quarterly 71.4 (1994): 830-839. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 7 Nov. 2016.

• Gray, Herman. "Recodings: Possibilities And Limitations In Commercial Television Representations Of African American Culture." Quarterly Review Of Film & Video 13.1-3 (1991): 117-130. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 7 Nov. 2016.

• Harris, Tina M. "Interrogating The Representation Of African American Female Identity In The Films Waiting To Exhale And Set It Off." African American Communication & Identities: Essential Readings. 189-196. n.p.: 2004. Communication & Mass Media Complete

• Licata, Jane W., and Abhijit Biswas. "Representation, Roles, And Occupational Status Of Black Models In Television Advertisements." Journalism Quarterly 70.4 (1993): 868-882. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 7 Nov. 2016.

I think this proof of how there was a low attention to detail in the research of the subject. As there are so many levels to the oppressive nature of our media, to not even look for examples in other forms of media from our past is unacceptable. If we are looking at the African American portrayal in media there should be a look at how it has developed over the years. Sources are also about non-credible sources inspired by events that have happened (meaning there is bound to be a primary source.) Films can fabricate things giving this a demerit in terms of credibility in my opinion. [-Giancarlo Guerrero COM220 Media Literacy Summer 2 2018] — Preceding unsigned comment added by GiancarloXDXD (talk • contribs) 19:37, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

• Sanders, Meghan S., and Srividya Ramasubramanian. "An Examination Of African Americans' Stereotyped Perceptions Of Fictional Media Characters." Howard Journal Of Communications 23.1 (2012): 17-39. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 7 Nov. 2016.

• Snyder, Rita, James E. Freeman, and Suzanne E. Condray. "Magazine Readership Profiles And Depictions Of African Americans In Magazine Advertisements." Howard Journal Of Communications 6.1/2 (1995): 1-11. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 7 Nov. 2

• Williams, Megan E. "The Crisis Cover Girl: Lena Horne, The Naacp, And Representations Of African American Femininity, 1941-1945." American Periodicals 16.2 (2006): 200-218. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 7 Nov. 2016.

Jalijah Aubry (talk) 21:06, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

Improving References

I saw that some of the references in the "Examples of Misrepresentation" section did not work, the pages were unavailable or deleted. Credible and reliable sources should be added to those terms.
173.244.12.60 (talk) 15:35, 17 November 2016 (UTC)Jalijah Aubry (talk) 16:19, 17 November 2016 (UTC)

Film Poster suggestion

The film poster of "Straight Outta Compton" should be removed and replaced with an image that will have more relevance to the main concepts of the article. The poster can be misleading seeing that the title of that film is not mentioned in the article. The poster can also deem to be targeted towards the representation of solely African American males. Jalijah Aubry (talk) 16:29, 17 November 2016 (UTC)

History

 I noticed that there is a lack of background information on the climax of representation within the African American culture in the media. The time frames that are included in the article bounce around, there should be a chronological order to the events and examples so that viewers will not get lost or confused. Was there ever a time when the representation of African Americans decreased after it escalated ? What was the societal impact of representing more African Americans in the media ? who opened these doors of opportunity for African Americans to become exposed in the popular culture of the media ? Jalijah Aubry (talk) 16:38, 17 November 2016 (UTC)

Article Draft

  Article Draft : The representation of African Americans in media has remained the same for a while, almost since the representation of African Americans in television ads exceeded in 1991. Mass media plays a key role in shaping the perceptions of various social and cultural groups[1]. Viewers easily fall under the bias of misrepresentation and stereotypes in media. It has been shown that even positive stereotypes of African Americans in media can have an affect of prejudice on consumers. The roles of African Americans in media has been limited due to the underrepresentation of independent blacks. On typical cable channels the amount of ads shown with African Americans is few, but on channels such as B.E.T.[2] where the viewership is mostly that of African Americans, all of the ads consist of healthy, stable, independent and enthusiastic African Americans who are goal oriented. Media platforms such as magazines are solely based on grasping the attention of potential buyers. Models represented in western American magazines are European favored due to the consumership of mostly caucasians. The representation of certain cultural groups is followed by the demographic groups that show the most interest.  Jalijah Aubry (talk) 18:11, 29 November 2016 (UTC)
     

Note : Im not really sure which specific direction to take my article contribution into. I was thinking of focusing on the representation of African American women in media but i feel like that would be irrelevant to the moral topic of the article. Jalijah Aubry (talk) 18:10, 29 November 2016 (UTC)

   The representation of African Americans in media has remained the same for a while, almost since the representation of African Americans in television ads exceeded in 1991. It has been shown that even positive stereotypes of African Americans in media can have an effect of prejudice on consumers. The roles of African Americans in media has evolved over time. On typical cable channels the amount of ads shown with African Americans has become neutral, but on channels such as B.E.T. where the viewership is mostly that of African Americans, all of the ads consist of healthy, stable, independent and enthusiastic African Americans who are goal oriented. African Americans now have bigger roles in media such as that of reporters, business owners and artists. African America women have made an uprising in mainstream media as confident and strong individuals. Several organizations have been based on the empowerment of African American women in media. 
 The representation of African American women in media has also made an increase since beauty expectations have changed. Cultural appropriation has somewhat changed the beauty standards of media. Fashion styles have taken on the cultural dynamics of many countries. 

--Jalijah Aubry (talk) 03:57, 12 December 2016 (UTC)

Most of his section just restates what was discussed in other sections such as 'representation of African American women'. There needs to be new content explaining the subtle ways african americans are portrayed in media today. There should also be a section on African American men wince there is . one for women. Here is a book on African American studies that has a chapter on the representation of black men.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12111-003-1006-5 Suadan (talk) 02:11, 24 July 2018 (UTC)

References

Overall Article Critique and Suggestions

S0316294 (talk) 21:13, 15 November 2018 (UTC) Jannae Young The unrated article I was assigned is titled “Representation of African Americans in the media” and I am providing suggestions for improvement. The article features eight main categories and eight subcategories within them. It seems like almost every fact is indeed referenced with an appropriate and reliable reference. I can see this through the use of inline citations and footnotes. I also clicked on various links in the citation section and they are still active and relevant. There is a mixture of books, articles, movies, and websites that the editor draws from. But toward the end of the article, there are a lot of footnotes that say “citation needed” or incomplete short citation”.

The information that is used in the article comes from many different platforms of media such as book quotes, articles, movies, television shows, and radio shows. But a lot of the sources are biased because they date back to a time of segregation, blackface on television and even slavery. Though the bias doesn’t come across as much in the article. It is mostly factual but it takes on the persona of an African American and their point of view. I’m not quite sure if that could be considered bias or empathetic to the topic. Especially when discussing how African American women are represented in the media.

There are no heavily bias statements but there was a statement that wasn’t supported. The article states “Al Jolson, a Lithuanian-born vaudeville comedian, and blackface "Mammy" singer, lived "The American Dream".[9] In a Caucasian comedy, Jolson played a ‘fumbling idiot’ stereotypical African-American.” and where it says “fumbling idiot” there are no footnotes. I didn’t know if they are quoting the comedy itself and its description

Although they try to stay unbiased and the article is about the representation of African Americans in the media, I thought they would lack the perspective of Caucasian people. But there is a part in that says that one blackface performer disapproved of another blackface performers display of African American culture.

All of the information in the article is in date and since they talk a lot about the representation in the past, they date back to many different eras.

Article should be titled "History of Representation of African Americans in Media"

Ttulinsky (talk) 03:48, 4 November 2021 (UTC) Agree with above comment. Even the more recent items are mostly from the 1970-2000. Ironically, one of the few statements about the present is "Blacks were overrepresented among actors in broadcast scripted shows in 2015-16, claiming 17 percent of the roles."[3].

Sports

Sports are a piece of life that many people hold near and dear to their heart. In sports that are featured in media such as on ESPN and some other sports channels, representation of African American men and women is important. In the past, segregation played a part in the representation of the community. “In baseball, there were established ‘Negro’ leagues for non-white players (while these leagues were predominantly African-American, there were also several Latin-Americans playing in the leagues, as well) through the early 1950s” (Keifer, Mitchell). In her article, Andrea Eagleman talks about the history of the representation. “Research shows that racial and ethnic minority athletes and international athletes have long been portrayed in stereotypical roles in the mass media since the 1880s when Black players were stereotyped…”(Eagleman, Andrea).

Keifer, M. (2015, February 11). Racial Segregation in American Sports. Retrieved November 19, 2018, from https://sportsconflict.org/racial-segregation-american-sports/

Eagleman, A. M. (2011). Stereotypes of Race and Nationality: A Qualitative Analysis of Sport Magazine Coverage of MLB Players. Journal of Sport Management, 25(2), 156–168. Retrieved from http://corvette.salemstate.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,cpid&custid=ssc&db=s3h&AN=60263127&site=eds-live&scope=site 

Goodwill, J. R., Anyiwo, N., Williams, E.-D. G., Johnson, N. C., Mattis, J. S., & Watkins, D. C. (2018). Media representations of popular culture figures and the construction of Black masculinities. Psychology of Men & Masculinity. https://doi.org/10.1037/men0000164

Kane, D., & Tiell, B. (2017). Application of Normative Ethics to Explain Colin Kaepernick’s Silent Protest in the NFL. Sport Journal, 1. Retrieved from http://corvette.salemstate.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,cpid&custid=ssc&db=s3h&AN=124402533&site=eds-live&scope=site

S0316294 (talk) 20:41, 21 November 2018 (UTC) Jannae Young

I think your post is really well written and thought out. Your sources seem credible and it was easy and clear to understand. You also really captured the importance of sports in the culture going back historically. JaleesaM (talk) 14:51, 27 November 2018 (UTC)

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Wiki Education assignment: African American Studies

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