‘“Blackness” stands for all victims of white oppression’.

To what extent is the media and its representations to blame for the negative attitudes in Britain towards black People

Black people have been the subject of controversy for many decades, even centuries; Since the days of slavery, and the ill treatment which they received on the slave-ships and plantations. Even though the treatments occurred a long time ago, it is still a historical event that portrays a negative label which lingers over the black culture. According to sociologists such as Stallworth (1994) , black men and women in the U.S have brought this upon themselves in the ways in which they conduct themselves on the streets, and draw attention to themselves. In contrast to this, however theorists such as Stuart Hall talk about the misrepresentations black people go through via the media and that the dominant negative representations which are constructed by the hegemonic elite and are not the production of black people themselves. This also demonstrates (according to the hypodermic model) the impact of the media on society, and on their overall views; arguing that some or most black people are innocent and do not fit the negative, racist representations that address or interrelate them. This essay will discuss the ways that black people are represented in the media, and whether or not the representations are accurate.

Throughout history, black people have been represented as ‘other’: the anomalies of society; consistently in a bad light and rarely ever spoken highly of. Only recently has there been a breakthrough with having a black president in the USA for the first time, but even so, how does that make a positive impact on British society? In the recent past, the media would repeatedly use the image of a black mugger in order to inflict ‘moral panic’ upon society. In Matthew Wood's words: "In the 1970s the image of the black mugger became a target of those wishing to instil concern in the minds of the public, a panic which was to lead to a great deal of prejudice and racism at every level of society and a fear which, to a large extent, remains today" . This relates to the issue of misrepresentation and Marxism, and how it often serves the interests of the powerful.

Yet, according to some, "Black people have largely portrayed as part of the mainstream middle class, which does not accurately reflect the lives of many blacks who find themselves excluded from such a life in advanced capitalist societies" . This could be connoted as a further stereotype, as it is common knowledge that the working class black male (according to stereotypes) is more likely to cause controversy or dispute. This can be seen in relation to my case study of the Trident Soft Gum ad , which shows a grown black man, to be speaking in broken English. Although he is shown situated on a stage, and clearly portrayed to be an entertainer, he still has a majority white audience shown to be looking in bewilderment at him as he talks and over-exaggerates the greatness of the gum.
"Advertising has traditionally relied on the use of stereotypes to put across information in a format that is quick and easy for the viewer or reader to understand" ; therefore, this behaviour could be connoted as 'white controlled', as it clearly isn't a positive representation of black people and even less so a representation which a black person would make of themselves. However, in saying that, it was the controversy of the advertisement which brought the gum its success; 'Cadbury's entry into chewing gum with Trident has resurrected the market and even restored Wrigley's fortunes' . Could it be that we are so desensitised to the negative imagery of black people that we simply accept it, embrace it, and ridicule it by using it as way of promotion and spreading laughs at another’s expense? To conclude, it is relevant that the ways which black people are presented in the media, could be reason as to how and why moral panic is aroused surrounding them, as there is a constant flow of negativity which lingers.

In relation, further historical texts such as The Minstrels , address just how black people were badly represented and mimicked. The Minstrels as a brief synopsis was a very popular text broadcasted on the BBC during the 60’s and 70’s. It made an excess (on average) of 18 000 000 views per show, was shown 6 477 times on stage in the space of 12 years , making it still to this day the most watched stage show of all time, but yet it featured white people playing black people with painted faces. This is historical evidence of the abuse black people have suffered in the media, and it goes to show just how widely accepted the show and the abuse actually was. Furthermore, as the broadcaster was the BBC, it would have been expected that they may have had a little more compassion and heart when addressing such issues, but instead shown t have blatant disregard for the importance of a person’s skin colour. Taking this all into account, we can assess that the ways which the media portrayed black people in the media near horrifying. On a positive note however, the show was taken off air in 1978 after the introduction of the Race discrimination act in 1976, which disallowed any mimicking or negative representation of any race to be broadcasted in any malicious way. This was a breakthrough, but still, people are suffering.

In continuation, there are many horror movies which tend to have the black man who dies first, or simply doesn’t live until the end of the movie. This has people asking whether it’s a subliminal hidden message, as there are very few films which have the black guy as the hero or simply living to see the end of the movie. Lemont Felton makes a quote stating; "Sometimes it seems as if the character of colour dies simply for being a character of colour" . If this is the case, why is there a race discrimination act? It seems that movie makers are trying hard to reflect the reality of a black man’s life, forgetting the fact that it is not only negative black men in this world, an example being President Obama; clearly a huge black icon and role model for people of all races. Or even Sir Trevor McDonald who was the first black news reporter for ITN in 1973. This could suggest that the media may be misrepresenting black people because there is a lack of black workers within the workforce.

"Not enough black people in top media jobs" is a quote made by Lenny Henry in the Guardian newspaper. There is nothing else to be said about the quote. It suggests that there are simply not enough black workers behind the scenes of T.V productions, BBC and Eastenders being the main culprits. The ways that black people are represented in soaps is worrying, almost making one look twice at the T.V, wondering if they really come across that way. Take the Truman family for example. A wife, who has been in an abusive relationship, has two kids to separate baby dads. She is never seen to be in a stable relationship; the current one being with a black priest who has already killed 2 people. She is mother and fatherless, not ever knowing her dad when she was younger. Although having a child successfully attending Oxford University, she has an older daughter that acts more Caucasian than those who are of that race. This is not a positive representation of black people, although it is a very sly representation, not visible to those who are passive viewers. It could also reiterate the quote in the sense that black people are scarce in the media production, as this is not a representation which would be broadcasted by a workforce with a black being, as it is invalid.

In contradiction, it has been said that the misrepresentation, and negative imagery of black people is caused by and a result of the actions taken by black people. It is still predominantly black people, who are in the negative media for issues such as knife and gun crime, but this is all the fault of those who are doing it and who are affected by it. As a result, black people are represented badly as hooded thugs etc. The ways black people portray themselves through music is also another controversial argument which arises. "Many men feel that the most compelling advertising representations of masculinity are ones that produce real levels of anxiety and inadequacy, even if male-culture, with its emphasis on 'strong' silences or loud camaraderie, makes it difficult to talk about or express such feelings" This is clearly shown in rap music. Take Cassidy for example, a world known rap artist, occasionally even dubbed the best ever. He has such negative lyrics that it is almost inevitable that there would be a negative representation of black people at some part. ‘But I still keep the A.K and the razor with me- I ball hard so other ballers is afraid to stick me- ‘cause if I get fouled ill probably shot the teck- And you can be the next nigga ill shoot to death’ - A lyric taken from his song ‘Body Bags’. Although it was a huge success in the US, it seems like it is a hard task for black people to rap about positive subjects which will uplift the spirits of the listener, so instead they address the listener directly threatening to ‘shank’ them, which can ultimately result in the listener being more fuelled with hatred and resentment in the world. It is also in addition to this, Hip-Hop which has much influence over people that it influences the actions they take part in on road, and handle situations; an example being involved in ‘beef’. Beef has to be fuelled before it escalates to this point, and rap music is known to be the fuel. Taking this all into account, we can assess that black people haven’t been the best at positively representing themselves, so why should the media reflect a non-existent positive image of them? ‘In today's terms, it is the conviction that, 40 years after the Civil Rights Act, conditions for blacks have not substantially changed’

In addition, author Dennis Rome also agrees that black people tend to negatively represent themselves through the media, and as this is a statement made by a black professor, it makes the reality of the situation even more depressing. “Contemporary media, he says, particularly through extreme gangster rap music, reality crime shows and newscasts, have essentially defined crime and given it a black face, despite statistics that paint a different picture. For example, he cites statistics that point to higher cocaine use among whites than blacks, an impression one does not get while watching the evening news or the reality show COPS” . This in itself is enough to show that perhaps it is not actually the media who are negatively representing black people and that it is in fact an issue brought around by the people themselves. In his book, he uses a quote made by Stallworth stating “Young black men and women both continue to follow patterns of slavery times. They become the monsters" . This shows the view of black people leading each other into dismay. The imagery of the chains, and everybody helplessly following each other into the same path could raise awareness of the extent of just how negatively influential each negative black person is to the next, and the next generation. They say that crime is on the increase, so how would it be in decades to come? People need to understand that the negative issues which they promote, and the speed at which it is followed is frightening, and if the time taken to write a negative lyric were invested in writing a positive influential one, the speed were which negativity is followed may be slowed down.

To evaluate, it is evident that the ways black people have been treated in history and used in order to make example to others, could be reason as to why they rebel and as a result end up a moral panic. Sociologists such as Louis Althusser argue that the media is like an ‘Ideological state apparatus’ , which could relate to the importance of the media and emphasizes the power which it holds over its viewers. It also further connotes the exact range of influence which it may possess over passive audiences. This can be deemed evident when studying the Evening Standard article on the amount of stabbings to take place in one year. Instead of using an exact number, the paper smartly uses a rounded number of 100, which can inflict a moral panic upon its readers. Overall, it can be said that the media is responsible for the negativity surrounding black people, as the media from music to moving image consistently refer to negative movements. There are very few positive rappers for example, and those that are, aren’t promoted enough to reach the landscape which negative rappers are; example being the differences between 50Cent, and Talib Kweli (both the same age, 50Cent however starting later but gaining the most success from more degrading and violent lyrics). This suggests that black people are pushed further towards negativity, as the positivity tends to be masked.


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