Many individuals in the United States believe that we live in a post-racial world and that racism and discrimination are part of the past. They believe that everyone coexists in a world where segregation and inequalities no longer exist based on race (Dyer 2004). This, I don’t consider it to be true. Currently, many inequalities based on race are still present and a minority of the population in this case, rich white men, still control many aspects of life such as politics, education, and the media. In this essay, I will specifically focus on how the media is still in the hands of white rich men causing the media to lack diversity. Using a functionalist point of view I recommend a solution to this problem, that the media should gradually
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The media is supposed to reflect the interest of its audiences and public opinion, however, by not being diverse enough, the set of stories that are shared and displayed for the public are very …show more content…
For instance, in Dumbo (Armstrong and Ferguson 1941) there are crows portrayed as stereotypically black characters and as promoters of segregation. The crow’s leader’s name is Jim Crow, making a reference to the repressive laws that maintained segregation in the southern United States. There’s also a stereotyped language given to these crows noticeable in the song “When I See An Elephant fly” as well as many others. This flock can be described as unpredictable, unreliable, cunning, good-natured and comedic, yet at the beginning of the movie they are a little rude and irritable. These words are the ones used to describe slave like figures in the media (Hall 1995). Furthermore, the crow’s body language and the way they pose and dance is similar to the original minstrel tradition. Even though this film was produced before segregation ended, this film hasn’t being taken out of circulation and still promotes the same messages it did in 1941 even when modifications have been made. In a more recent Disney film, in The Princess and The Frog (Clements and Musker 2009) Disney attempts to be more inclusive, by creating the first African American Princess in their movies. However, Princess Tiana’s husband is not the same race as she is, meanwhile the rest of the Princesses have Princes that are the same race as them. The making of Prince Naveen as racially
The media is supposed to reflect the interest of its audiences and public opinion, however, by not being diverse enough, the set of stories that are shared and displayed for the public are very …show more content…
For instance, in Dumbo (Armstrong and Ferguson 1941) there are crows portrayed as stereotypically black characters and as promoters of segregation. The crow’s leader’s name is Jim Crow, making a reference to the repressive laws that maintained segregation in the southern United States. There’s also a stereotyped language given to these crows noticeable in the song “When I See An Elephant fly” as well as many others. This flock can be described as unpredictable, unreliable, cunning, good-natured and comedic, yet at the beginning of the movie they are a little rude and irritable. These words are the ones used to describe slave like figures in the media (Hall 1995). Furthermore, the crow’s body language and the way they pose and dance is similar to the original minstrel tradition. Even though this film was produced before segregation ended, this film hasn’t being taken out of circulation and still promotes the same messages it did in 1941 even when modifications have been made. In a more recent Disney film, in The Princess and The Frog (Clements and Musker 2009) Disney attempts to be more inclusive, by creating the first African American Princess in their movies. However, Princess Tiana’s husband is not the same race as she is, meanwhile the rest of the Princesses have Princes that are the same race as them. The making of Prince Naveen as racially