Equating Race with Poverty, Why Poor and Violent Equals Black and Just Walk on By provide evidence that the media has a negative influence on the way we view each other. This is a result of the articles explanations of the misinterpretations whites have towards minorities stemmed from incorrect media coverage. These articles portray examples of a bias American media along with the effect that it has on the American population. Unjustifiable media racism has led to an unequal society along with a separation of social classes.
“Why Poor and Violent Equals Black” talks about protests occurring in Baltimore, Maryland as a result of the death of a minority who was killed in the back of a police van. Relating to this article the media once again …show more content…
The present day media is highly predictable, the media is a reassurance of American stereotypes. For example, “a survey found that Americans’ median guess at how many of the country’s poor people were black was 50 percent, though at the time the actual figure was 29 percent” (Equating Race with Poverty). As a result of the overrepresentation of black people in media coverage and the heavy reliance on the media for correct stories illustrating only the truth people assume that black people are much more impoverished then they actually are. Also another controversial topic resulting from bias media coverage is the ideals of welfare. Many Americans theorize that welfare should be entirely eliminated, this is an effect of the frequent misinterpretation of a minorities demeanor. Sadly, a minority is frequently thought of as an individual who has gotten what he has put into life; and in the eye of the American public that is nothing. Many believe that welfare is only supporting minorities, and consider minorities to be lazy people who have obtained their status in life by choice. “Poor people are imagined to be black they’re also commonly thought of as lazy. In 2008, only 37.6% of Americans considered black people hardworking” (Equating Race with Poverty). Ironically, relating to welfare minorities aren’t even the largest group of people using the government …show more content…
Brent Staples, a man who was attending college in Chicago, explains an encounter he had with a white woman. Relating to previous paragraphs the overrepresentation of minorities in the media makes them appear in one of two ways violent, or poor. Due to these misunderstood stereotypes, Staples received the short end of the stick; the woman that he was unintentionally following believed that he was a threat. “It was in the echo of that terrified woman’s footfalls that I first began to know the unwieldy inheritance I’d come into the ability to alter public space in ugly ways” (Just Walk on By). The woman had no idea if Staples was a threat or if he was just like her, but resulting from the two ways black people are represented in the media, she was worried so she ran. Staples recounts on the experience reciting that he was upset that she had the inability to distinguish him from a mugger. This is evidence that the media heavily persuades us to believe that an entire race of people are dangerous. Constant media portrayal of dangerous crimes committed by one brand of people have caused the woman to react the way that she did. “Women are particularly vulnerable to street violence, and young black males are drastically overrepresented among the perpetrators of that violence” (Just Walk on By). Furthermore, Staples also looks back on another past experience of working as a journalist in
“Why Poor and Violent Equals Black” talks about protests occurring in Baltimore, Maryland as a result of the death of a minority who was killed in the back of a police van. Relating to this article the media once again …show more content…
The present day media is highly predictable, the media is a reassurance of American stereotypes. For example, “a survey found that Americans’ median guess at how many of the country’s poor people were black was 50 percent, though at the time the actual figure was 29 percent” (Equating Race with Poverty). As a result of the overrepresentation of black people in media coverage and the heavy reliance on the media for correct stories illustrating only the truth people assume that black people are much more impoverished then they actually are. Also another controversial topic resulting from bias media coverage is the ideals of welfare. Many Americans theorize that welfare should be entirely eliminated, this is an effect of the frequent misinterpretation of a minorities demeanor. Sadly, a minority is frequently thought of as an individual who has gotten what he has put into life; and in the eye of the American public that is nothing. Many believe that welfare is only supporting minorities, and consider minorities to be lazy people who have obtained their status in life by choice. “Poor people are imagined to be black they’re also commonly thought of as lazy. In 2008, only 37.6% of Americans considered black people hardworking” (Equating Race with Poverty). Ironically, relating to welfare minorities aren’t even the largest group of people using the government …show more content…
Brent Staples, a man who was attending college in Chicago, explains an encounter he had with a white woman. Relating to previous paragraphs the overrepresentation of minorities in the media makes them appear in one of two ways violent, or poor. Due to these misunderstood stereotypes, Staples received the short end of the stick; the woman that he was unintentionally following believed that he was a threat. “It was in the echo of that terrified woman’s footfalls that I first began to know the unwieldy inheritance I’d come into the ability to alter public space in ugly ways” (Just Walk on By). The woman had no idea if Staples was a threat or if he was just like her, but resulting from the two ways black people are represented in the media, she was worried so she ran. Staples recounts on the experience reciting that he was upset that she had the inability to distinguish him from a mugger. This is evidence that the media heavily persuades us to believe that an entire race of people are dangerous. Constant media portrayal of dangerous crimes committed by one brand of people have caused the woman to react the way that she did. “Women are particularly vulnerable to street violence, and young black males are drastically overrepresented among the perpetrators of that violence” (Just Walk on By). Furthermore, Staples also looks back on another past experience of working as a journalist in