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Diversity and the Media
Media move in on our minds like vultures trying to brainwash their next victim. It is very concerning the power they have in the way in which they want us to view all that is going on around us (Milan 307). We must not take their word for it but instead do some research into the news on our own since often the news is brought to us depending on the opinions of the news person or even the station they represent. This paper explores how biracial representation in media distorts biracial identity.
Social media has portrayed stereotypes of different ethnicities and cultures throughout the decades. In the film “Racial Stereotypes in the Media,” it shows extreme stereotypes on the television back in the late 1900s like Jim Crow and blackface. However, the media has changed a lot, such as seeing biracial couples on the television and minority actors speaking English without an accent (Milan 310) as well as more ethnicities are seen in shows and movies.
Racial Stereotypes in the Media
However, we believe racial stereotypes in the media still exist today. My parents and grandparents were exposed to a lot of stereotypical media when they came to Canada in 1997 and, especially with English as a second language, sometimes believe in these stereotypes, such as seeing violent African American individuals on the news. Recently, they have been seeing a lot of Caucasian hate crimes and essentially told me to ignore any racist or hate comments at Guelph (Rivera). However, my beliefs are different from theirs because of different upbringing in a different environment than theirs and without any barriers between the media. The difference between us is that being around groups of minorities has let me shutdown, believing that stereotypes are reality compared to my parents growing up in a dominantly Asian country such as China. The wrong representations of different ethnic backgrounds and social groups do affect me subconsciously, such as equating types of crimes to different ethnicities when I hear them on the news such as mass shootings or terrorism to white people, immigration fraud, or corruption to Asians, gang violence to African Americans.
Racial stereotypes can be because of ethnocentrism. On the other hand, stereotypes do not always equate to identity, and sometimes it can be used by people to try to understand a culture. However, the most efficient and respectful way to understand is from the source itself. When in doubt, do research.
Rereading Walker’s analysis on “Water” about how McBride always thoughts of himself as black because his mother pretended to be African American and combining with her question if America is a home for everyone, perhaps Walker has been implying that America welcomes diversity as long as there is a line between the races and cultures. The implication makes me think of the phrase “separate but equal.” America is known for its diversity in races and cultures. However, based on the readings we have done, perhaps America is “diverse and divided.” As in while all races and cultures co-exist together, they must stay apart from one another. The readings in Mixed: An Anthology of Short Fiction on the Multiracial Experience have shown that biracial individuals are torn between who they are and where they belong – their cultural identity. America welcomes diversity and encourages racial harmony in society but demands separation between cultures. Perhaps America wants to prevent the merging of cultures through regulating the cultural identity of biracial individuals – individuals can only choose one of the cultures (Rivera). Thus the idea “diverse and divided” hints at discrimination for every racial identity still carries a different set of disadvantages and privileges.
Diverse and divided illustration
Furthermore, perhaps the idea encourages identity, for if the cultures integrate and merge, individuals would be discouraged from being racist as there is no clear distinction between cultures. Maybe we were grasping at straws, but then my idea of “diverse and divided” would serve as counter-evidence for hidden assumptions in which racism in America has ended. America encourages a sense of identity by enforcing “diverse but divided” among individuals.
As the semester progressed, we astounded to realize how important identity is. To be honest, we were ignorant of identity, for we did not realize how identity influences individuals’ life and society as a whole. My ignorance of identity serves as evidence for the privileges we have been given based on my racial identity. We thought identity has no impact as long as individuals work hard. Now, we have learned that my privileges are access to education, opportunity, and social networking.
Furthermore, we are pleased to learn that, through all the readings, multiple biracial authors are representing millennia’s various attitudes on the relation of culture and self-identity to tear down the social construct standards on identity (Milan 315). To fight back the idea “diverse and divided,” Peter Davies and Matt Johnson, particularly, the authors have been extending the concept that biracial cultural identity can be perceived as the integration of cultures; thus, biracial individuals’ identity is viewed as whole instead of a conflict between cultures. In Minotaur by Davies, when the Minotaur decides to use his head to break down the wall represents biracial individuals are making choices for themselves rather than following socially constructed standards on identity.
Furthermore, we would not have spent much time analyzing the readings if we did not do the assignment. The assignments are designed to encourage me to think of how cultural identity is presented in the readings and how the authors demonstrate the concepts of identity through the plots and character. My favorite assignment is the literary analysis essay, as it demands me to do research and reflect deeply on the readings. Furthermore, the essay has given me a chance to combine my knowledge of identity theory to understand the man character’s progression of cultural identity in Footnote by Carmit Delman.
The class discussion plays a major role in exposing other classmates and me to various perspectives on race, ethnicity, and cultural identity. We learn to respect each others’ views while building and presenting our perspective based on textual pieces of evidence instead of just stating opinions. The discussion encourages me to become an independent critical thinker and be aware of how information influences my perspective and thoughts – the “why” and “how” of my thoughts. The Discussion Leading assignment helps we practice my critical thinking skills as we learn to be aware of what we do not know, what we are confused on, and be open-minded to others’ perspective (Root).
The class is difficult, but also rewarding. All we have learned in the class will be carried over to the next ones and life itself. While we are no longer ignorant of the significance of cultural identity, we understand we still have a lot to learn about the impact of identity on individuals and society. Most importantly, the class has taught me to be aware of how identity influences others and myself and pulled me out of my mental stupor.
Although many believe that many of the past “mistakes” regarding race have been eradicated, racial discrimination, inequality, and oppression still exist. Some go so far as to try to live by the color-blind mentality, which suggests that there is no race. It can be argued that race is a social construct, but there is no doubt that racism exists even today. Mixed marriages are still considered taboo, especially between blacks and whites. Lin argues that marriage is the most segregated area of the family (327). The vast majority of whites still claim to disapprove of marriages between blacks and whites. Five percent of all Americans marry outside their race, and the number of births in the biracial has grown 26% faster than in all others (Lin 326). Black / white couples interracial marriage is approximately 363,000 in 2000.
The media is a social structure that has penetrated many aspects of American life, including their race (Root). The media perpetuate current beliefs about race and racial identity. According to the article, thousands of people signed up for Instagram and Facebook to celebrate the beauty of multiracial children. But not everyone is convinced that they have the purest intentions. According to interviews with parents who have interracial children, their journey was not easy.
One point we found intriguing in the article was that Michelle believes that the world is starting to understand that something beautiful comes from two different worlds (Griffin 139). we agree with this statement, given that there has been a drastic increase in the number of biracial babies. People seem to understand that the solution to the racism issue is to have interracial babies and to intermarry. We believe if most people understand the importance of intermarriage, the issue of identity can be solved in the future.
The other interesting point we found in the article was that it was difficult for all individuals to accommodate the issue of biracial babies. We agree with this claim as the issue of racism hasn’t been addressed yet. The tweets shown in the article suggest that it’s not always easy to be biracial or in an interracial relationship (Griffin 146). The difficulty is in trying to separate any effects of cultural differences from social impacts. Therefore, it is likely that the changes will take time before they happen.
Racism today isn’t out there as forceful as it was in the times of the Klu Klux Klan era, but it is still hugely alive (Laing). Today it presents itself in ways such as bias, and often it is missed except by those that are the victims of the identity. An experiment was conducted with a black man and a white man. A scene is depicted as one of them in possession of a knife while the other one had no weapon. The picture was removed, and individuals were requested to say which one held the weapon. Most individuals, African Americans, and Caucasians hugely agreed that is was the African American man holding the weapon, yet it was the Caucasian man with the knife. Another test was performed displaying the partiality found within the hiring sources within corporations (Seung 19). The study revealed that corporations are more prone to calling in individuals with “white” sounding names. Not surprising though that when asked, the hiring managers denied making decisions based on racial partiality. We doubt they were dishonest, and they just failed to see that they were partial to one race over another. Another part of the study discovered that even once released from prison, and Caucasian individuals had better results when looking for work than African Americans do. It is very disheartening to see what people of color deal with within our world.
The commentary goes on to explain that though racism has changed outwardly, the way we communicate personally about it hasn’t. Many individuals do not view their selves as racist, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t. Often it is missed that inwardly we have certain biases about people of color. These thought processes do not make us horrible people, but instead, we are human and do not always think and act as we should. The day we come into the world, we begin to form views and opinions about people and things. Much of it evolves from watching our parents and later our peers and their reactions to certain situations (Seung 27). The most challenging part of the “new” type of identity is it is more discreet and harder to point out; therefore, it goes unnoticed and is not challenged, and change doesn’t happen.
There are indications of racial diversity in the written discussion about causations and African Americans. It covers the bleak reality about the destitution and biased behavior that African Americans live with daily. An important thing they pointed out, though, is the bias goes both ways. The African American community holds a grudge against the white people too. Racial discrimination is present in both races. The nature of diversity amongst each class may not be about the social standing of each as much as the characteristics of them.
The desire is superior to one another is present between the races. Dissension is happening in between the societal structures and impacting those on the outside of these groups as well (Clark 794). In the commentary, Caucasians are embodied as holding special stature over the African Americans and perceived as the superior race. The article “Race without Racism” claims the white people get top-quality employment, great academic choices, and as a result, are living a more quality lifestyle. On the other hand, African Americans who desire the same options often do not get the chance. When supremacy and control enter the picture generally, the outcome is a power struggle and disagreements. However, conflict is not all bad because it is out of conflictual situations that transformation can be born. “The world as a whole is in a state of constant tension creating conditions of conflict and change,” a good point expounded on by Caruso (Caruso 20170).
Diversity and identity
In my opinion, the piece of writing lines up with Park’s race relations cycle and the standard issue of identity. Park has segmented the cycle into four sections that take place between 2 diverse individual groups, which are not just the African American and the Caucasians but instead any two dissimilar groups. Number one is when the interaction takes place between two dissimilar groups, which results in rivalry, the result being conflicted as both groups compete for control, one over the other. Next, this determining factor leads to adjustments being made to which the “lessor” group is lowered to subservience, and rules are put into place that creates a peaceful adjustment between the two groups. The last part of the cycle involves acclimatization, whereas the lesser group is absorbed into, the more influential assemblage socially and geographically. The race relations cycle is in place to create an environment of understanding where change can take place between groups to create peace instead of utilizing aggression to achieve holding down the black race. Park makes the valid point, “Every society, every nation, every civilization has been a kind of melting pot and thus contributed to the intermingling of races by which new races and new cultures eventually emerge” (Caruso 20170). Good changes had taken place since the times when slavery was relevant, but bias is still a large issue in our world. Park states that this is just the way it is in society and how the world sees color. I feel that the assimilation phase is ongoing, as seen in the couples coming together to form families and biracial children being born. At the church I attend, I notice more biracial children there than those of causation or African American background. Therefore, it leads me to believe the processes are still in progress and had not been completely achieved at this time. Hopefully, as biracial families enter the picture, it will dilute the issue occurring between this race or that race, and we will become one race living in peace together on a planet with so much to offer all of us.
Merton’s four sections of prejudice and discrimination can be broken down into two parts, the bigots and the liberals. There are two dissimilar groupings in the bigot type, and one is labeled as the “active” bigot who is a group that is biased and doesn’t hide that fact, they can be observed discriminating outwardly. The second grouping is labeled as the “fair-weather liberal,” and is not biased, yet they discriminate because of the gravity to do so placed on them by the world. The timid bigots and the fair-weather liberals are the most predominant and widespread groups. The article focus seems to weigh heavily on the timid bigot category. There was a knife test performed and discussed in the article. The article describes these timid bigots as individuals who quietly discriminate, but their biased thinking is portrayed within the way they think. The fair-weather liberal has displayed discrimination throughout the hiring process. They may not think of themselves as prejudice, but their discrimination is evident in the choices they make, and those choices may be due to the way society portrays people.
However, I wanted to delve a little deeper into the issue of color discrimination, so I found an article that described research done called “Measuring Employment Discrimination through Controlled Experiments.” During this experiment, resumes were sent out to companies that contained mostly white-sounding names like Molly and Jake and black names such as Shanice and Tyrone to conclude if the hiring manager forms a biased opinion when choosing those to interview. This research concluded that for a potential Caucasian employee to get one bite on their resume, they needed to send out ten resumes. In contrast, an African American applicant would need to send out fifteen (Bell). The review concluded that color discrimination is less likely found in larger corporations than smaller ones (Bell). However, one issue we see within this research is that the exact ethnic group type was left out of the equation. Therefore, the study is only looking at the scenario based on certain names considered typical to the white and black community though we suppose the names used were obvious.
To me, I come away feeling that many things come into play with the position a media outlet takes on any given subject. An African American man completed the article I chose; thus, it may have been his own biased opinion, but the data seems to support his conclusion about the issues. It seems to me that for a writer to exclude their convictions about a topic would be hard to put aside while writing an article. The topic and the author’s personal experiences and how I also think it can depend greatly on what they are writing about and how closely the writer is related to any given subject has a lot to do with what is portrayed in the article.
Conclusion
One’s race continues to be an object of disagreement in many areas of living in the world. This would include all nationalities but seems to be more of an issue between the white individuals and the black ones. I like others, do not consider myself to be racists. Still, we are more aware that we need to view our thought processes through a magnifying glass to make sure we do handle me in a biased way, holding up one race as superior over another. Chief Justice Roberts’s words resound deeply and are brilliant “The only way to stop discrimination based on race is to stop discriminating based on race.”
Work Cited
Bell, Erin Halcyon. White mothers of Black biracial children: mixed race as the new Mulatto. Diss. Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016.
Caruso, Eugene M., Nicole L. Mead, and Emily Balcetis. “Political partisanship influences perception of biracial candidates’ skin tone.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106.48 (2009): 20168-20173.
Clark, Lynn Schofield. “US adolescent religious identity, the media, and the “funky” side of religion.” Journal of Communication 52.4 (2002): 794-811.
Griffin, Rachel Alicia. “I AM an angry Black woman: Black feminist autoethnography, voice, and resistance.” Women’s Studies in Communication 35.2 (2012): 138-157.
Laing, Brian Yoshio, and Gin Yong Pang. “Case Studies of Acceptance Versus Rejection of Racial Identity “Both of my ethnicities are not a big deal to me… My identity is not based on my race or people speaking the same language or my background.”[Susan, biracial student] Introduction Late adolescence and early adulthood is a time of self-exploration for many individuals.” (2000).
Lin, Liu Yi, et al. “Association between social media use and depression among US young adults.” Depression and anxiety 33.4 (2016): 323-331.
Milan, Stephanie, and Margaret K. Kelley. “Biracial youth and families in therapy: Issues and interventions.” Journal of Marital and Family Therapy 26.3 (2000): 305-315.
Rivera, Carolyn Padilla. Delving Into the Depths of the Chicano Psyche: Incorporating Myth and the Biracial Identity Model. Pacifica Graduate Institute, 2013.
Root, Maria PP, ed. Racially mixed people in America. Sage Publications, 1992.
Seung, Chang K., et al. “Economic impacts of water reallocation: A CGE analysis for walker river basin of Nevada and California.” Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy 28.1100-2016-89752 (1998): 13-34.