Free Essay Example on Media Reporting and Racism

Introduction

Racial discrimination has been a major concern in different parts of the world, like the United States. Questions have been raised regarding the question of media influences in the communities. Various books of literature have demonstrated the media impacts of African American portrayal regarding real and hypothetical scenarios of shooting victims of the African descent Stamps (125). It is evident that media influences a large population in the United States, as it is in the rest of the world. Therefore, there have been questions regarding how media propagates racism in their reporting, whether people learn racism, or learn how to perpetuate racism. Such illustrations can be depicted in the book "A Raisin in the Sun."

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Color Living

"A Raisin in the Sun" is a story that portrays a few weeks within the life of Youngers, who is a person of color living within the US in the 50s (Hansberry 17). The play illustrates the battles of a black family as they try to cope with the realities of Chicago's life. Through the story, it is evident that African American families are subjected to untold misery, devastating effects of poverty as well as oppression. Therefore, this essay tends to analyze the implications of racism in the United States, the struggles of the people of color, and the impact of media reporting, as illustrated in various contemporary issues and the play "A Raisin in the Sun."

In the play "A Raisin in the Sun," frustrations of poverty and oppression are evident (Hansberry 50). The people of color have anger and hostility that tend to erode the family structure foundations. The erosion is evident and tends to exhibit itself within the strained relations between Walter Lee and his wife Ruth when they argue about the disposition of the money that comes from the insurance of Walter's father. Lee tends to be convinced that the business venture will be his ticket out of the ghetto life. In this regard, one of the themes that are displayed in the text is the value of dreams. The book is primarily about dreams, where the main characters struggle to deal with oppressive circumstances that rule their lives (Hansberry 46).

Conjecture

The title of the play tends to reference the conjecture that Hughes famously posed in poems where he wrote about the forgotten dreams. Similarly, bias, discrimination, and disempowerment concerning race have been longstanding issues that have several aspects of mainstream media like TV news, advertising, and even entertainment. During the early days, the majority of the population that worked in the main media outlets were predominantly white. Additionally, as in most of the other non-menial employment in the US, the perceptions of the population were displayed in the media.

In the present world, I have noted that the manner in which the content is formed, selected, and even presented to the public domain is heavily subjected to diverse opinions regarding the display of the black lives. The recent campaign of black lives matter is an example of a media display regarding the plight of African Americans in the US. While the issue of George Floyd sparked a lot of media coverage, it is evident that the hashtag and the grass-root organizations, and the collective of activities has not been quite pronounced in the recent past. This illustrates the critical theme of the need to fight racial discrimination shown in the play "A Raisin in the Sun," that has been prominent in a majority of the US societies by Human Rights advocates (Hansberry 45).

In the play, the character of Lindner makes the theme of racial discrimination to be prominent. The Youngers tend to respond to the perception with deviance as well as strength. In this regard, it is evident that the only powerful way to deal with racial discrimination is to stand and reassert one's dignity within the face of the law as opposed to letting it go unchecked. However, studies have shown that media tends to collectively offer a distorted representation of the black lives and the realities of African Americans in the US.

Crime Reporting

Crime reporting in the broadcast media has always been a controversial topic since its conception due to the conflicts of racial bias. Many stories like the shooting of Breonna Taylor that was selected for reporting has demonstrated criticism from the racial groups and the manner in which they are targeted. With such considerations in mind, it can easily be seen of the consequences that media presents itself on the biased reporting, thereby illustrating a biased content. According to Stamps, the media portrayal of crime and the response in the world to the portrayals tend to play a vital role in the creation and sustenance of stereotypes of Black men as they are depicted as dangerous criminals (p.212). I tend to think that the media is more black targeted than whites when reporting crimes, thereby showing a biased representation of crime in the US. In most cases, there are more visual and even informational content for black criminals compared to the white ones, coupled with highlights of white victimization.

The play "A Raisin in the Sun" illustrates the plight of black people in a white-dominated society that leaves them to grow their dreams in the plight of black subjugations where on the family becomes their help. As Youngers struggled to grow socially and economically, the values of the family facilitated their development. However, the stereotype of the African American families is evident, which creates the individual and the family's overarching dreams. There are profound negative associations of black people with crimes. It should be noted that while there are many aspects of black lives' experiences that miss from the reporting, the portrayal in the collective media shows a lot of exaggeration. Studies have shown that black lives are overrepresented from violent crimes in news coverage. Additionally, African Americans tend to be disproportionally represented in news stories about poverty, which tend to reinforce the stereotype of street life and the possibility of crime.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the current media coverage is still biased racially, with numerous exaggerations of black crimes, and missing stories of black discrimination. Racial discrimination is a major theme in the play "A Raisin in the Sun." The play demonstrates how black people have to endure violence, social and economic challenges that require the aggression of the victims and their coming together to fight for their social dignity. The study showed that media images have a significant impact on the perceptions when the viewers have fewer experiences in the real world. This tends to impact how black people view themselves based on where they have been placed by society. To change the current notion, there is a need to change the media perceptions and portrayal of biasness.

Works Cited

Hansberry, Lorraine. A raisin in the sun. New York: Vintage Books/Random House, 1984.

Stamps, David. Race and Media: A Critical Essay Acknowledging the Current State of Race-Related Media Effects Research and Directions for Future Exploration. Howard Journal of Communications, vol. 31, no.2. (2020): pp. 121-136. https://doi.org/10.1080/10646175.2020.1714513