Media Portrayal of Blacks in an Ever-Changing Society

Media Portrayal of Blacks in an Ever-Changing Society One hindrance that has plagued mankind since the dawn of time is the way we as human beings deal with differences among our cultures, societies, and color. Although the American society has taken great steps in combating this chauvinistic concept, prejudicial views of black culture are still prevalent among even the most open-minded individuals. They are engrained in our minds in some form or another, and many times are subconscious. Tolerance is the 21st century answer to this issue, but that was not always the case, even in the media, an establishment intended to entertain the public as a whole. This paper will discuss the following question: why is priming still used to stereotype black culture in American media when we live in a time where egalitarian norms have made it unfavorable to appear prejudiced? In essence, I want to understand why the media still portrays blacks to fit their historical stereotypes, even though we live in a colorblind nation. It is an important question because this stereotyping contradicts the values and beliefs of the majority of American citizens and the way we want to advance as an open-minded society.
History of Stereotyping
To begin answering this question, we must first look at the history of how black stereotypes were used in the media, beginning with entertainment. Nineteenth and early twentieth century plays featured black characters, played by white actors, and usually took the part of a few major stereotypes: the caretaker, or black woman who took care of household chores of whites, the incompetent buffoon who had difficulty assimilating in a white society because of his stupidity, and the aggressive and disorderly black who disrupted the peaceful white society (Dixon). More often than not, these stereotypes fit the culture of the south rather than the north, simply because of geographic and economic factors. Even in literature, blacks were portrayed as dimwitted,