Black Man Standing :: essays research papers fc

Black Man Standing: The Media’s Portrayal of African-American Men Documentation Style: MLA Name and Description of Target Audience: Readers of the Chicago Tribune Guest Editorial Section Forum/Genre Paper Would Take in Target Publication: Guest Editorial in the Chicago Tribune Brief Description of Assignment and Instructor Expectations for Critical Thinking: 4 page paper with a 2 source minimum, evaluating media in the terms of values it reinforces or resists, and the consequences this has on specific subgroups or cultures. The media has a powerful influence in the everyday thoughts and lives of Americans. Most Americans wake up in the morning and turn on the TV to see what’s going on in the world as they get ready for work; pick up a newspaper and read it with breakfast; turn on the radio and listen to it in their car on the way to work or school; or we do a combination of the three. The people in charge of the media are also in charge, to a great degree, of how we perceive our world. We can sort through our own thoughts and make our own opinions, but we get our information from the media, and the media decides what to show us in the first place. We look to the media to tell us what is important, what we need to know. We also look to the media for our entertainment. It’s important for us to realize all the roles that media has in our lives and to what extent we are influenced by it, because the media is also responsible for our cultural stereotypes and values.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One major example that I will focus on here is the way that black males are represented. Black men are consistently being portrayed by the media to fit into narrow, stereotypical roles. They are being shown to be less complex, and two dimensional as opposed to the broader range of Caucasian roles and depictions that the media exemplifies. I think this is of great consequence to society, because it effects not only how society perceives black men, but also how black males perceive themselves, and how they think they are supposed to act and be.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Black men are shown less often in the media, especially on primetime TV, but when they are shown you can almost always fit them into one of three categories; 1.) Comedian, 2.) Angry/Jaded, or 3.) Gangster/Thug. Do we as the viewers ever ask ourselves why black males seem to be getting so embarrassingly over-typecast?