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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dd6ry91BIs

here we have the article discuss a video that had recently went viral of a toddler blaming a black man for eating the snack cakes in order to stay out of trouble. though it my seem harmful, the child should not automatically associate the idea of theft and deception with black people. this child was obviously taught the behavior, which is where most of our problems lie

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here we have the article discuss a video that had recently went viral of a toddler blaming a black man for eating the snack cakes in order to stay out of trouble. though it my seem harmful, the child should not automatically associate the idea of theft and deception with black people. this child was obviously taught the behavior, which is where most of our problems lie

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this is the sign of a popular restaurant in myrtle beach, south carolina. i’m unsure of the age the establishment, but i’m pretty sure it has seen the types of backlash given for such depictions and yet they have decided to keep the name and the caricature. 

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conclusion

The progression of the depiction of blacks in mass media has not been successful, in my opinion. Of course, there are the small victories such as wonderful productions with a black cast and amazing black leaders, but the battle is nowhere near won. Coupled with the amazing achievements, there is the current defamation of character of prominent black figures. Not only that, there is also the mass slaughter of blacks by the police. The media coverage viewed by everyone constantly has these stories on rotation further populating the American mind with disgust for black people. Why respect them when even their elite can’t act right? Why respect them when none of them can act right? They’re mindless criminals, so who cares? This is groundwork their laying for black portrayal. I hear more news stories about black murders and criminality than I do of the great shows and accomplishments of current blacks. The mainstream media is continuing to recycle the ideology that blacks are on the lowest tier of society. Just because it isn’t the illustrations of super black characters or monkeys, doesn’t mean black people aren’t greatly affected by such narratives. The media was able to find a way to use real life photos and events to express their deepest belief that blacks don’t deserve equality. The media is never going to be an ally when it comes to enhancing the image of black people. It is an outlet for them to depict their true thoughts, since blatant racism is frowned upon. With such conclusions, the question of whether it will ever get better, comes to mind. Personally, I believe that it will not until the entire media system is collapsed. The power of media companies are in the hands of rich white men, a group of people who do not care about black people. Once the power is stripped from these giant mega companies and people show that they truly want the proper representation before investing their time into the new, they’ll dynamic will shift. But until then, we’re stuck with the constant defamation of black character in this era of mass media. 

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another example by the white media. our favorite short comedian, kevin hart. though his jokes don’t age well, he is good at what he does. he recently had to step down from hosting the oscars due to the resurgence of old anti-gay tweets. disclaimer: I DO NOT SUPPORT HOMOPHOPIA. i just find it funny how other comedians such as amy schumer are allowed to get away with their old homophobic ways. 

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theee colin kapernick. a man who sto(kneeled)od for something and lost everything. it takes courage. the reason i bring him into this discussion is because he did everything white people scream about having the freedom to do, protest, and was ostracized for it. again, i could ask why but we know why.

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thought paper caveat

bell hooks wrote a piece called the Oppositional Gaze, originally a feminist theory, where she discusses how the power of representation lies within the black woman. She goes on to describe how we have the power to control what is portrayed by choosing what and how we “gaze” upon certain things. We hold the ability to choose what is beneficial to us in the media. I totally agree with his thought. People often complain about the lack of representation and/or negative representation in the current news feeds. The only way to get the major outlets to change is to hit them where it really hurts, their pockets. The minute blacks decide to stop giving the energy to sources that don’t care about their interests is the day they’ll decide to find a better angle to appease the masses. Though social media has been effective in spreading awareness and facilitating discussion, it will not tackle the main issue. At the moment, black criminals and white models are what sells. The moment we take away the value is the moment the media sources will realize we’re their biggest profit margin and fix their media coverage to cater to us. And if they feel they don’t need the views of blacks, then start your own pages. In the age of technology and information, anyone could make their own channel or streaming page in order to provide the content they would prefer to see. 

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so back to our regular scheduled programming. in present day media, the black image appears to be the scary criminal. when reported, black crimes always show the unflattering mugshot, regardless of the severity of the crime. white people on the other hand get the typical cookie cutter yearbook photo even though they just committed murder. this helps to further the narrative that blacks are less deserving than white people. why aren’t black suspects afforded the same respect?

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A year full of amazing Black women part 1.

#BlackGirlMagic #BlackExcellence

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Ava DuVernay (First black woman to direct a film nominated for a Best Picture Oscar)

Oprah Winfrey (First woman to own and produce her own talk show)

Mo’ne Davis (First girl to pitch a shutout and win a game in a Little League World Series) for Time Magazine

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we can’t forget to mention the first black first family. thought no president is perfect, obama’s term brought extra positive representation of blacks in mass media. despite all the push back he managed to remain calm, mature and civilized, more than his counterparts over in capital hill. thank you obama for showing young black kids across the nation that anything is possible. 

Malia’s side-eye game is strong…😬

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i’m sure we’re tired of the minstrels, so here’s so recent black excellence. of course black panther gets a shoutout because it broke box office records and even helped to improve the image of black people world wide. 

Character posters for film, Black Panther (2018)

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thought paper caveat

 In 1997 Stuart Hall wrote his piece on Representation, Meaning & Language. Here he discussed how it all works and contributes to societal ideas on certain images and depictions. One part of the piece is when he talks about signs/symbols. He explains that signs are used by all languages in order to translate our own personal thoughts into words, images, etc. This is interesting considering that white people worked so hard over the years to use symbols of negativity to refer to blacks. This must mean that they have deeply rooted ill will towards the black population. They have made it their soul goal to get the world to share the same ideas for blacks, which has worked. Personally I believe that such energy could be placed elsewhere, such as helping out the great demographic of whites who are out and about wreaking more havoc than all poc’s put together. One could also wonder whether such negative depictions derive from personal insecurities.If you think about it, white media work extra hard to ruin the black image when blacks start accruing many small victories at once. So, these negative symbols display the thoughts of how the want black people to act. They know that deep down, blacks are just as great if not better than them, so they need to be in control of the depictions of such a threat.

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prada had recently released, and quickly recalled, this keychain. the reason for the recall was due to public backlash because the high end accessory blatantly resembles the terrible minstrel caricature. 

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since conversation about blackface in japan is springing up again and summa y’all want to act brand new as if this is isolated and never happens let’s talk about the original mascot of Calpis, used from the 1920s until the fucking 1980s. Lemme also link one of my old videos about an experience with blackface drag in 新宿二丁目。