Race Representation in Entertainment

As someone who watches an absurd amount of television and is also enrolled in two different classes that tackle the issues related to race, I have been curious about the ways race is represented in certain form of entertainment whether behind the camera or in front of it. A simple look at some of the current most popular shows on television or the big blockbuster movies shows that there is a large underrepresentation of people of color.

In Brittney Cooper’s Salon article “Hollywood’s post-racial mirage: How pop culture got gentrified”, the author discusses how a “post racial revolution” is occurring in the world of television and that a more colorblind approach is being employed when it comes to casting for major roles. She argues, however, that this post-racial way of operating the television industry is not necessarily the definition of progress that needs to happen. One of the most interesting things to emerge in her article is that TV used to be much more racially diverse in the past, at least in terms of black representation, than it is today. Shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Family Matters, and The Cosby Show (regardless of Bill Cosby’s current sexual assault allegations) were all over mainstream broadcasting stations and were a positive representation of the lives of black people, including the struggles that come with being a member of that racial group. Now, however, black people are being cast in roles that have been gentrified, portraying people who seamlessly fit into a middle class society without traces of racial influences. The character could literally be played by any race because the issues that the role face does not even address them.

Cooper argues that this is not progress. While I think that it is still important to see these people of color playing roles that could be played by any race, it does not get to the heart of the matter. White society is still in power, and those who are not are expected to conform to the lifestyle choices of those who hold the racial authority. Progress would be exactly what Shonda Rhimes is trying to do on her shows (Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away with Murder): show people of color in roles that are powerful, vulnerable, complex, and color-conscious. Following Rhimes' powerful example, racial representation on TV might actually start resembling the realities of the people they are trying to portray.

Brittney Cooper article:  http://www.salon.com/2014/03/25/hollywoods_post_racial_mirage_how_pop_culture_got_gentrified/

The Innocence Project

It is often important that we remind ourselves that the Civil Rights Movement is on going. Racial segregation and slavery have been the law of the land for the majority of America’s existence. Policies as pernicious as separate but equal are bound to leave scars that a long time to heal. One of the effects of racial segregation is the racial prejudice found in our justice system. African Americans, especially men, make up a disproportionately large portion of the United States’ prison population. Additionally, studies have shown that African American men tend to receiver harsher sentences for crimes than whites. The Jim Crow south gives us a wide range of particularly egregious examples of racial discrimination in the justice system. Often whites who would attack civil rights demonstrators or even kill them. These criminals were typically not indicted by local courts. Even if an indictment was issued, southern white juries would refuse to convict “their peers”. However, this was not the only result. Black men, objects of suspicion and fear in the eyes of white southerns, were seen as the logical perpetrators of crimes. Just as white juries would not convict whites based on their shared race. Those same juries were keen to convict blacks. This resulted in a large number of black men landing in prison for crimes they simply did not commit. This is not to say that this is simply a problem for the black community. False convictions affect members of all races and especially the poor. Affluence and the skilled lawyers it can purchase, have helped keep the wealthy out of the criminal justice system upon many an occasion. The poor of all communities lack this advantage that the wealthy possess. However, due to racial segregation and slavery, African American men are stamped with an unjust stigma that leads many members of society to view them as criminals. Contemporary society and the justice system has a chance to begin to partially cleanse our nation of some of many sins it has committed by finding those who were wrongfully imprisoned and freeing them. The most prominent of the efforts to achieve this is known as the Innocence Project. The project seeks to free those wrongfully convicted, primarily through DNA evidence. Physical evidence is often kept long after cases are closed. The Innocence Project attempts to obtain that evidence and test it for the alleged criminal's DNA. Should their genetic material not be found in what was believed the time to be their blood or bodily fluid, the Innocence Project attempts to appeal their convictions. The project has had tremendous success freeing 321 people nationwide. Of those 321 61% are African American. The stigma of racial segregation still exists; however in this instance contemporary society has the ability to help deal with its effects. By recognizing that racial segregation continues to negatively impact our society and criminal justice system we can make a fairer justice system and society for all members of our nation. 

Sources:

http://www.ipoftexas.org/

http://www.innocenceproject.org/news/National-View.php

http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/African_American_Wrongful_Convictions_Today.php

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/25/nyregion/police-and-innocence-project-get-grant-to-find-old-dna-evidence.html

http://www.naacp.org/pages/criminal-justice-fact-sheet

Body Cameras: A Solution to Police Aggression?

The other day President Obama announced an ambitious plan to purchase 50,000 body cameras for police use. The idea is far from a new one. It has been implemented in several communities for many years. The president’s comments were motivated ostensibly by the Ferguson crisis, in which a police officer was not indicted for the shooting of an unarmed black man, Michael Brown. To many this incident is but one in a long series of disproportionate aggressive actions taken by police against black men. The failure to indict Officer Darren Wilson reminds many of the refusal to convict officers for seemingly any offense, such as the brutal beating of Rodney King for which no one was convicted. The president’s plan appears to take the middle ground. The plan should it be implemented, attempts to curb further police violence by placing body cameras on 50,000 police officers. The idea has been a controversial one. However, the benefits far outweigh the risks. Similar cameras have been placed on police officers to great success. Rialto California, a town of 100,000, placed body cameras on many of its police officers. After the cameras were in placed, the town found that the officers wearing cameras used force 60% less frequently than those without cameras. Additionally, complaints were filed against the officers wearing cameras 88% less frequently than those without. What results when officer wear cameras is a safer environment for citizens and an easier job for police officers. The lack of complaints makes police operations more efficient and the presence of an official video record provides clarity when officer procedure is called into question. At times such as this we would do well to remember that the Civil Rights Movement is far from over. Though there is a contentious history of police brutality against a range of individuals, a large portion of those individuals happen to be black men. This is an unfortunate consequence of racial segregation that black men are often seen as hostile figures, especially by law enforcement, even when they have done nothing to provoke such hostility. Perhaps this can been seen as a direct consequence of the vitriolic rhetoric characterizing black men as rapacious animals that need to be restrained. Damage caused by racial segregation will take decades to heal if not longer. However, the least that society can do is attempt to mitigate the damage done to victims of an unjust stereotype. Placing body cameras on police officers would provide a subtle but effective check on police aggression, which would help ensure the safety of the public, especially black men. At the very least, such cameras would provide the public with clarity should another contentious confrontation with a police officer arise. 

Sources: 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/business/wearable-video-cameras-for-police-officers.html?_r=1&

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/02/us/politics/obama-to-toughen-standards-on-police-use-of-military-gear.html

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30281735

The Fallacy of Reverse Racism

Growing up in the South as a white person, I have heard many different accounts of how my like-racial peers have been victims of "reverse racism". They believe that because they are considered to be racist if they say anything against a group of color that people of color can also be racist if they say anything against white people. For a while I believed that they were correct, that racism can go both ways. However, it has recently been brought to my attention that this is absolutely not the case.

Racism is the idea that one racial group holds prejudices toward another in order to reinforce one as being superior and the other as inferior. Because of this definition, there can never be a case of reverse racism in which a white person is being discriminated against because white supremacy is so rampant and ingrained in our society. Regardless of any remarks that a person of color can make toward a white person, there is nothing that can be said that will truly make a white person feel as the inferior because society is constantly telling them that they aren’t. Sure, a person of color can be prejudice towards white people, which may not necessarily always be justified. However, it is nothing compared to the constant ways that white people make different racial groups feel when they make disparaging remarks because there is no history of total racial oppression to accompany it.

Recently in one of my other course, our professor showed us a video on this very topic, in the form of a bit by comedian Aamer Rahmar. (I’ll post the link below.) In this video, he talks about how his white friend accused him (a person of color) of being racist for constantly making fun of white people in his acts. His friend claimed that if he were to do the same thing toward other races he would be labeled as being a racist. Rahmar’s use of comedy to describe how this idea is absurd took the route of time travel in which he convinces an invasion of Europe by non-white nations instead of vice versa, and the use of policy to constantly make sure how that thiis invaded group would be inferior is the only way this can exist. While truly hilarious, it is also very educational in how racism cannot be turned around back on the group in power.

Reverse racism does not exist, so it’s time for white people to stop feeling like the victim of something that is imaginary.


Aamer Rahmar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw_mRaIHb-M

Racial Inequality and Greek Life

How should the Rhodes Community go about seeking real change in the diversity climate on campus? Perhaps it is through education, or perhaps the answer is rooted in the classrooms. However, I believe that the social atmosphere, and Panhellenic and IFC Greek life in particular, is one of the greatest sources of racial tension on campus, and can therefore be an effective place to start implementing change. 

Much of the Rhodes weekend social scene is focused on fraternity and sorority events such as frat parties, greek formals, and Panhellenic philanthropy events. We attend these events and rarely stop to think about the disproportionate number of students of color, and the possible racial implications behind these numbers. 

It would be difficult to find a Pan or IFC member that would willingly to admit to discriminating on the basis of race during rush. This is because there is not a population of people that actively reject students of color into their organizations based on the race or ethnicity, but rather the problem is that students of color rarely even go through the process Pan or IFC rush, and if they do they are surrounded by a sea of white faces. When the lack diversity is brought up as a topic of potential change, it is generally dismissed as a Greek life norm. 

It is easy for Greek representatives to take this approach when they are not actively participating in discrimination, but the "innocent bystander" approach is almost as detrimental as actively denying students of color entry into certain organizations. This is the mentality that promotes districting segregation, that causes white students to sit on one side of the room while students of color sit on the other side, and allows for segregation in the age of colorblindness. 

We are in a period of time where we must actively seek diversity. It is not enough to passively agree with the foundations of diversity. We must actively work to engage outside of our comfort zones in the name of racial integration, so as to pave the path for positive race relations in the future. 

Color Lines: A Look at the Supreme Court’s stance on Affirmative Action

Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 is not a title that most people recognize. While this recent court case has not captured headlines it decision remains exceptionally important. The decision sheds a great deal of light on where the current Supreme Court stands on issues such as affirmative action. Previously in cases such as Grutter v. Bollinger, the Supreme Court acknowledged and allowed race to be used in college admission. The court admitted that this was important to students eduction. Additionally, it was important to our nation that all races be included equally in higher eduction. This case permitted the use of affirmative action in college admission use. Seattle, though it never formally segregated its schools racially, found that its schools were largely drawn along racial lines. That is not to say that the schools were designed to be white or black, but rather school attendance was determined by one’s neighborhood and for the most part blacks and whites lived in different areas. As such, black and white children attended different schools. Seattle saw this as an issue and sought to address this by using a student’s race as a tie-breaker when considering where certain children were to attend school. Some parents sued claiming that this violated the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. The court was left to ponder whether the need for diversity, which it found compelling interest when applied to colleges in Grutter, allowed race to be taken into consideration for elementary schools through high schools. The court by a 5-4 majority struck down the use of affirmative action in schools. The court was split along all to familiar lines with Scalia, Roberts, Alito, Thomas, & Kennedy striking down the standard and Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer upholding it. Justice Roberts, the author of the majority opinion, noted “the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race”. He argued that as Seattle had not previously segregation children there was no need to use race to assign school admission. Justice Thomas in his concurrence went as far as to say that to use race in the manner Seattle attempted to was reminiscent of the arguments made before the court by segregationists in Brown v. Board. Justice Thomas further went on to note that he takes a view that the constitution is color-blind. He argued that the constitution knows no and tolerates no classes among its citizens. In this decision the court overlooked the fact that our society is not color-blind. The court’s opinion is fine in an academic vacuum; however, America is far from a racially egalitarian society. Black men are still prosecuted and incarcerated at a far higher rate than the rest of society. The income and wealth gap between white and black families remains substantial. One cannot legislate so abstractly when inequality is so great. The court has applied a color-blind standard to a national that is still marred by its history of slavery, segregation, and racial oppression. Though Justice Roberts may argue, “the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race” it will take far more than that for our society to overcome centuries of inequality. Seattle took action because the city authorities believed that there was a problem. Despite never legally segregating students they recognized that their city remained racially segregated. They attempted, in the spirit of Brown and the 14th Amendment, to introduce students to each other in an attempt to ameliorate racial prejudice. As W.E.B. DuBois once noted, “the problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color-line”. DuBois would be dismayed though likely not surprised that the color-line remains a problem if not the problem of the 21st century as well. If we must act within the confines of a color-blind constitution in a society that is still haunted by the very tangible presence of segregation then it appears that that color-line might be here for quite some time. 

Sources: 
Bartleby.com, (2014). Du Bois, W. E. B. 1903. The Souls of Black Folk. [online] Available at: http://www.bartleby.com/114/ [Accessed 10 Dec. 2014].

Law.cornell.edu,. 2014. 'PARENTS INVOLVED IN COMMUNITY SCHOOLS V. SEATTLE SCHOOL DIST. NO. 1 | LII / Legal Information Institute'. Accessed December 10 2014. http://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/05-908.

Law.cornell.edu, (2014). GRUTTER v. BOLLINGER | LII / Legal Information Institute. [online] Available at: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/02-241 [Accessed 10 Dec. 2014].

Letters to a Birmingham Jail

In Martin Luther King Jr’s famous letter to white Protestant clergyman in Birmingham, he wrote while he was imprisoned in Birmingham, King defends the direct actions of the Movement. The white clergyman told King to be patient and to not act, basically to let things work themselves out. King knew the danger of indifference. As a Christian, King knew that the God he worshipped and the God these men claimed to worship hated indifference. “So because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!” I don’t think this is much clearer than in Revelation 3:16.

Bryan Loritts, the pastor of Fellowship Bible Church, a multi ethnic church here in Memphis edited a book titled “Letters to a Birmingham Jail”. In the foreword of the book, it addresses the general sentiment of America that racism is no longer an issue. “Our President is black”. “Almost no one believes Jim Crow was right”. “Almost everyone thinks that equal opportunity under the law is a good and proper thing”. Then it addresses the facts. “That the U.S. has by far the highest rates of incarceration in the Western world....it offers less medical and family support for the poor than any other Western nation; it maintains inequalities of wealth on a part with the kleptocracies of the Third World…..The US racial history is not solely responsible for these indices of social pathology but that history has contributed substantially to every one of them”.

In this book, Loritts and 9 other men from various ethnicities and ages write essays to Martin Luther King Jr while he is hypothetically still imprisoned in Birmingham. These men know that the fight against racism in the Church is yet to be won. They are well aware that the most segregated hour in the nation is still Sunday morning. And they believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ requires that Christians be moved to action to pursue justice and reconciliation and thank King for his contributions to the movement and the words he has to say addressing the passivity of white Christians during this time, many words that still ring true today.

As a Christian, I believe that one day in heaven, I will be praising God with those from every tribe, tongue, and nation.  I believe God created diversity and that he is a God of justice. The time is again upon our hands to let our voice be heard and stand up for those that have been oppressed and marginalized. I am the first one to admit that Christians have done a terrible job at this in the past, but along with Bryan Loritts and the 9 other contributors to this book, I believe that there is hope for a better day. And that Christians are not simply called to sit on their hands. We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus, the one that came to right all wrongs.