Media Influence On African Americans

For white upper class individuals like myself, there are not tremendous opportunities to be exposed to African Americans, and if we are, it may be through selected portrayals by the media or by others with inaccurate deceptions. For these individuals, it is not necessarily their fault they are being thrown into these conditions and as a result possess a lack of understanding the lives of other individuals who may be different from them. In Weddington, there are children being raised with limited interaction with African Americans, and the interaction they are getting through adults or the media may be inaccurate in describing how African Americans truly are as people. Instead of having the next generation be one of acceptance and interaction, it has the chance of being sheltered and unaware of the struggles of other groups, making it difficult to solve any future issues to make communities stronger and more connected. In retrospect, …show more content…
I know I am not alone in this type of environment, and I am grateful I attend a university that has opened opportunities and dialogues previously unavailable to me. Yet I know white students who have not been exposed to African Americans throughout their lives, and hold attitudes and prejudices from their childhood or even new relationships they have developed through various social organizations. In addition, there is an on-going controversy surrounding the placement of Silent Sam, a statue on campus honoring the alumni who lost their lives in the Civil War fighting on behalf of the Confederacy, which has led to a plethora of debates on campus. Some students see the statue as representing American history and should be kept as a reminder of what our nation has been through, while other students see it as a symbol of racism and would either