We have talked a lot, recently, about stereotypes and biases people have when they think of different races. The movie we watched showed how even though we may not look similar, we share almost all of our DNA genetic codes. Also, we went over the topic of racial tokenism; generalizations we make based on race. It was brought up in class that television is a part of the reason why we make these unfair associations. I didn't even realize that this was true when I was watching tv, but now I am noticing it more and more.
During class, I was thinking about tv shows that I watch and if this racial tokenism held true for any of them. The office has one black character, Stanley, who works in the office. The others work in the warehouse. In South Park, there is one kid at the school who is black, and his name is Token Black. In Weeds, the only African-Americans are the ones living in bad neighborhoods with drive-by shootings. Why are characters always depicted this way on television?
I personally feel that the television companies don't do this because they are racist, they do this instead to maximize their viewer base. I'm not saying that all white television viewers are racists, but if all the kids in South Park were black, or if Michael Scott was black, then i feel that white viewers would not be able to connect as much with the shows. This would make white Americans less likely to view these shows. It's not that the viewers are afraid of their shows being "taken over" bu African-Americans, but i think the average white viewer is more comfortable with stereotypical blacks being in their stereotypical places.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I guess they leave those kinds of shows to Tyler Perry.
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