Contemporary depictions of race

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Contemporary depictions of race

• What role in modern society?

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Continuing differences

• The economic fortunes of African Americans
  continue to fall far below those of Caucasian
  Americans despite the removal of formal, legal
  barriers to black advancement

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Theories of race relations

• Sociobiological theories
• Tribal sharing of genetic code
• Racial superiority theories
• Social Darwinism
• Political economy theories
• Divide and conquer by upper class
• Construction of race and inequality to justify
  slavery, unequal treatment
• Cultural theories
• Race is mostly a cultural construct that is
  powerful because of its resonance with religion,
  folkways, and familial and clan beliefs and
  loyalties

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Do depictions matter?

• The evidence points to a relationship among
  whites between exposure to stereotypic racial
  depictions and stereotyping
• However, the relationship between minority
  exposure to depictions and lowered self-esteem is
  mixed. When parents co-watch the exposure can
  enhance self-esteem. Effects on Latino/Hispanic
  children are unclear.

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Contemporary depictions of race, ethnicity

• Certain groups continue to be underrepresented
• Latino/Hispanic groups
• Native American/Aleut
• Overt racism, stereotyping is unacceptable to
  most audiences, members of media professions
• With the possible exception of Arabs

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• More subtle differences in treatment of minority
  and majority characters may still be in place,
  however
• Black male leads dont kiss white women (or any
  women, for that matter)
• Continued overrepresentation of minority/ethnic
  law enforcement
• Depiction of subcultures tied to characters
• Overly uniform

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Changes in societal attitudes

• Clearly, social attitudes have become more
  liberal in terms of race and ethnicity
• Your generation is far more accepting of
  interracial contact of all sorts than earlier
  generations
• Less stereotypical view of racial and ethnic
  minorities
• not clear in regard to Arabs, a few others

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However,

• There is an alarming rise in the number and size
  of race hatred groups
• Extremism on the rise
• Views about racism itself are changing
• General belief that racism is not the source of
  continued social disadvantage experienced by
  African Americans
• Burnout in regards to discussion of race
• Satirical treatment of racism rather than silence
  or direct confrontation

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Concerns over representation

• There is a greater concern among both Caucasian
  and African Americans about representation of
  African Americans in rap and hip-hop than in
  mainstream television, film, or other forms of
  music

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Race may be declining as a focus of identity

• Identity is crucial to behavior and personal
  satisfaction
• Constructing a personal identity is one of the
  most compelling and difficult tasks children and
  adolescents undertake
• It may be that popular culture plays a critical
  role in identity development

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