Media: Time to Change It's Ways

How does something that people have tried to change for decades, still have so many flaws?      (AFS final project)

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Conclusion

Before taking this class, I was completely blinded by the amount of racism that still goes on today. Now knowing what I know about the issue, I think that I was blind to this because I grew up in a home that didn’t accept racism and I was taught that everyone is equal. Therefore, I wouldn't have thought anything less. This class opened my eyes to the issues I now realize that my voice can make a difference.

I took this class because I wanted to make myself uncomfortable. My lacrosse coach here at Stony Brook says “you have to make yourself uncomfortable in order to eventually, get comfortable.” I relate this quote back to my everyday life because I think it is really true. I am a quiet person and never really open up to others when it comes to my thoughts/ ideas. I was nervous to take this class because I knew that it would be a time of discussion, which I wasn't really into. Although, I knew it was necessary in order to gain a sense of what the real world will be like. I was also nervous because I haven't gone through what a lot of my peers have gone through. I didn’t want to speak up and share my thoughts because, I simply don't understand as much as they do but now I know that that’s okay. I was able to learn so much about what they had to say, experienced and what they are doing to change the world.

After taking this class, I now will choose to use my voice for good and to spark change in this world. I’ve learned so much and can apply the knowledge that I’ve gained when talking to the white community. I really feel that a lot of people are blind to the racism that is still going on in society because it has become a “norm.” Media especially has brainwashed everyone into believing whatever it is they want us to believe. This class has only strengthened my want to change society's view on the black community and I now feel that I have the tools to do so.

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So wrong in so many ways. This is blackface, a form of “theatrical make-up used predominantly by non-black performers to represent a caricature of a black person.” 

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Empowering quote from Gabrielle Union. A lot has been accomplished and a lot can be celebrated, but it cannot stop here.

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LL Kool Dre on Twitter

“The Justice System on the left, the Injustice System on the right. #WhitePrivlege #BlackTwitter #BlackLivesMatter”

Justice? Sounds like Injustice to me.

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Excerpt from 2nd Though Paper- White Male Dominance

White Male Dominance in the Media  

“They did so fully aware that mass media was a system of knowledge and power producing and maintaining white supremacy” (The Oppositional Gaze, 117).  As we learned in class and from reading previous readings posted, the media is controlled mostly by white males. The fact of the matter is that the men who are running these media companies are putting out and producing what they want people to believe. They were able to maintain white supremacy by doing so.       

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“Identifying with neither the phallocentric gaze nor the construction of white-womanhood as lack, critical black female spectators construct a theory of looking relations where cinematic visual delight is the pleasure of interrogation” (hooks 316)  “ The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators”

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What Happened In the Tunnel- Question

After researching more and being asked what factors kept hollywood from integrating its ranks faster,  the main reason was financial issues. Unlike white filmmakers, black filmmakers didn't have the power nor the tools to gain investments in order to create these films. They were also unable to find a a quality film distribution company, one that was successful enough to get their films shown to a large audience.

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What Happened In the Tunnel

The film What Happened In the Tunnel, does a great job of showing the attitudes about race during the 20th century. During this time films were becoming more and more popular and minorities were have a hard time getting involved with them. Films that were being produced by white directors almost always had black stereotypes in them. The main theme in the movie is how whites feared the mixing of the black and white race. 

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The Cosby Show was created in 1984 and the man behind it all was Bill Cosby. NBC producers felt that the show needed to “be more recognizable for the minds of white T.V. producers.” Although, Cosby felt that Americans needed to change their views about black families so the show went on! This quote can relate back to the thousands of African American leaders who felt that they followed their heart and did what they needed to in order to gain one more inch towards equality. Things like this are necessary and definitely envious.

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Very powerful picture. The media is in the hands of society, we CAN and WILL change the effects it has on representation of African Americans and minorities.

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A deeper in-sight at the role of media in promoting racism.

I found this article to be very eye opening. For people that don't know how the media really effects stereotyping this article can help explain it perfectly. One great quote I took from it was “We identified stereotyping as one of the main contributing factor to racism and have provided evidence to support the theory that media promotes racism by influencing the audience’s stereotype on different groups of people. This post will provide an insight on the role of media in contributing to the growing racism trend and the various theories that are involved. ” It talks about the Media Representation Theory which is something everyone should learn about.

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Check out my 2nd Thought Paper. This one focuses on the impact that the media has on society today. I really enjoyed this paper because it really shows how the media is one of the main causes of society’s ills. People are obsessed and lost in technology that the media consumes their intelligence and makes them believe anything. The media continues to contribute to the maintenance of inequalities. 

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This picture really stood out to me. Mainly because of the black man in the suit and how it has a question mark next to it. Although, the other 3 men seem to be seen as normal. But when a black man in a suit is shown, people are confused. WHY??

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Enjoy!

This is my first thought paper which I wrote after reading Stuart Hall’s Work of Representation. He focuses on how representation, meaning and language have tampered the views that society has on African Americans, especially in the media. In this paper I chose to focus on the representation aspect and the 3 main approaches that he talked about in the reading. 

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Introduction: Welcome!

Throughout history, the topic of racism has created an ongoing debate over whether or not society has fully accepted minorities. There are several things that have only dug this debate into a deeper hole and have spread the incorrect information as well as the stereotypes attached to African Americans.  The main reason for all of this is the media. Media has been around for many years and due to the increase in technology, it has only become more popular throughout the world. Mainstream media has an effect on every aspect of society and has impacted the debate over racism a great deal.

Welcome to my blog, my goal is for viewers to get a better understanding of the issue that is continuing to occur in society today. After taking AFS363 I have begun to look back on the amount of knowledge that I have gained and that I’ll take with me into the real world. It shed a light on the amount of racism going on in the world that some of us are often blind to. The weekly debates and presentations of other students helped me understand the change that we need to make in society.

 Many have chosen to ignore the fact that racism still exists, but what is even worse than that is that some truly believe that it has been abolished. The attitude and the opinions towards black Americans needs to change and I hope that this blog can bring about some of the debates and the questions being asked today. I think that all of the posts that I have included should be discussed around the world and that we should not be hiding from the fact that racism still exists and that the media is only worsening it.

I have chosen to include some of my own work into my Tumblr page. Including thought papers and questions that I have answered in the past. I will also include pictures, memes, questions and famous quotes. I hope that each one of them shares a bit of knowledge to those reading who may not have known the damages the media is causing. I also hope that it brings about some questions and some debates that people may not want to talk about, but must.