Media racialization was purposely used in the past to enforce the differences between white Americans and African Americans. Although racism was very common in the media, institutions, home, and even schools, the civil rights movement helped diminish the problem and create a sense of equality for everyone in the United States. Nevertheless, racism continues to be prevalent in the media present day causing greater challenges for the African American community. The sociologists Marci Bounds Littlefield wrote an article named “The Media as a System of Racialization” in which she proposes to challenge the media as a system of racialization, as a method of social justice and change.
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Littlefield researched the mass media and studied historical representations of racial discrimination. She informs the readers that the media has been portraying negative images of African American for many decades. She talks about how the film The Birth of a Nation (1915) was created as a stereotypical representation of African Americans which relegated their persona. This film caused viewers to believe that African American women and men were criminals, inferior to any other race, savages, and their purpose was to remain as servitude. Littlefield also researched and studied current representations of racism in the media. She acknowledges that racism in the media is still prevalent in today's society. Littlefield discusses about how the video “Tip Drill” carries an identical representation of the original African American characterization. The original characterization of African American women described them as lustful and sexual beings that were impudent, this became a justification for the rape and violence African American women faced in the 19th century. The “Tip Drill” film shows an African American woman who sells her body for money, a man then slides his credit card through the woman's buttocks, portraying him buying the woman. This film created a scandal for the African American community because it was enforcing a prehistoric belief;
Littlefield researched the mass media and studied historical representations of racial discrimination. She informs the readers that the media has been portraying negative images of African American for many decades. She talks about how the film The Birth of a Nation (1915) was created as a stereotypical representation of African Americans which relegated their persona. This film caused viewers to believe that African American women and men were criminals, inferior to any other race, savages, and their purpose was to remain as servitude. Littlefield also researched and studied current representations of racism in the media. She acknowledges that racism in the media is still prevalent in today's society. Littlefield discusses about how the video “Tip Drill” carries an identical representation of the original African American characterization. The original characterization of African American women described them as lustful and sexual beings that were impudent, this became a justification for the rape and violence African American women faced in the 19th century. The “Tip Drill” film shows an African American woman who sells her body for money, a man then slides his credit card through the woman's buttocks, portraying him buying the woman. This film created a scandal for the African American community because it was enforcing a prehistoric belief;