The Witch Hunt against young black males: A look into black mens status in society
Naomi Johnson
Ms. Hamm
English 3 Honors Period 2
18 October 2013
When it comes to the countless arrests, searches, and take downs of young black men and black male groups, the fear that the hunters think motivate them is the fear of being robbed or attacked by black males or these young black males attacking others. However, the actual “fear” that motivates these hunters is racial profiling and discrimination against black men/people in general. Our everyday media plays a big factor in this aspect. The way our media portrays black men is warped with stereotypes and typecasts, forcing into our heads petty ideals that most black men are overly aggressive, sexual, athletic or that they have little to no emotion. The hunters grow up on this corrupt media, therefore when its time to protect people (when it comes to the hunters being cops) its already embedded into there heads that black men are “the most likely to rob, attack, or become violent”, and these flawed ideals heavily influence their decisions. Now black men are already rarely shown in television and in everyday media as a whole. But if you’re an avid television watcher, you will often see one in movies or TV shows as a gang leader, villain, antagonist, or someone that holds a violent position. If you’re lucky, you might even see the occasional simple sidekick or friend to a white protagonist (Not that this is entirely bad, considering it is way better than the ones listed above.). The way black young men are portrayed in media have been the same for generations, to the point where they are even portrayed the exact same way in movies geared towards a black audience: Strong, muscular, stern, violent, angry, vain, or even simpleminded. We and the hunters were all raised and grown in a society that constantly portrayed black young men this way-so it honestly should not be a surprise for the hunters to begin to develop profiling thoughts. They have been raised in a profiling world. When it comes to
Ms. Hamm
English 3 Honors Period 2
18 October 2013
When it comes to the countless arrests, searches, and take downs of young black men and black male groups, the fear that the hunters think motivate them is the fear of being robbed or attacked by black males or these young black males attacking others. However, the actual “fear” that motivates these hunters is racial profiling and discrimination against black men/people in general. Our everyday media plays a big factor in this aspect. The way our media portrays black men is warped with stereotypes and typecasts, forcing into our heads petty ideals that most black men are overly aggressive, sexual, athletic or that they have little to no emotion. The hunters grow up on this corrupt media, therefore when its time to protect people (when it comes to the hunters being cops) its already embedded into there heads that black men are “the most likely to rob, attack, or become violent”, and these flawed ideals heavily influence their decisions. Now black men are already rarely shown in television and in everyday media as a whole. But if you’re an avid television watcher, you will often see one in movies or TV shows as a gang leader, villain, antagonist, or someone that holds a violent position. If you’re lucky, you might even see the occasional simple sidekick or friend to a white protagonist (Not that this is entirely bad, considering it is way better than the ones listed above.). The way black young men are portrayed in media have been the same for generations, to the point where they are even portrayed the exact same way in movies geared towards a black audience: Strong, muscular, stern, violent, angry, vain, or even simpleminded. We and the hunters were all raised and grown in a society that constantly portrayed black young men this way-so it honestly should not be a surprise for the hunters to begin to develop profiling thoughts. They have been raised in a profiling world. When it comes to