"[3] Since local news media is a primary source of information for many people, it plays a vital role in policy debates regarding civil rights, the public's general knowledge of minority communities, as well as a broader and more comprehensive worldview.
[citation needed] Little Black Sambo is an 1899 children's book where the protagonist, a South Indian boy, encounters four hungry tigers.
Walls of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church wrote an article sharply denouncing Amos 'n' Andy, singling out the lower-class characterizations and the "crude, repetitious, and moronic" dialogue.
[9] The Pittsburgh Courier was the nation's second largest African-American newspaper at the time, and publisher Robert Vann expanded Walls's criticism into a full-fledged crusade during a six-month period in 1931.
[10] Al Jolson, a Lithuanian-born vaudeville comedian and blackface "Mammy" singer played a "fumbling idiot" stereotypical African American in a comedy.
[11] Negative portrayals of black men on TV, the internet, newspaper articles, and video games can be linked, in part, to lower life expectancies.
According to Sue Jewell, an urban sociology researcher at the Ohio State University from 1982 to 2011,[13] there are typically three main archetypes of African-American women in media – the Mammy, the Sapphire, and the Jezebel.
In this form of media, Black women's bodies have been historically hyper-sexualized through images of exotic dancers dressed in a provocative way.
In an attempt to oppose those who perpetuate the misrepresentation of Black women, students at Spelman College cancelled a bone-marrow drive in the spring of 2004.
[20] African-American women have used the hip-hop genre to increase their representation and reconstruct what their identity means to them, taking the power into their own hands.
[20] Famous female African-American rappers include Queen Latifah, Lauryn Hill, Salt NPeppa, Lil’ Kim, Missy Elliott, Nicky Minaj, and Cardi B.
[21] African American women have to change the appearance of their hair in order to fit European standards of beauty, from a young age.
[22] Reality television shows such as Bad Girls Club, The Real Housewives of Atlanta, and Love & Hip Hop have received criticism and been discussed for their portrayal of Black women, many of whom are depicted as Sapphires, Mammies, and Jezebels.
[25][26] The LGBT media monitoring organization GLAAD publishes annual reports on representation in film and television, the "Studio Responsibility Index (SRI)" and "Where We Are On TV (WWAT)", respectively.
have further stated that black characters are typically incorporated within "hegemonic white worlds void of any hint of African American traditions, social struggle, racial conflicts, and cultural difference.
[35] The character of Keith Charles, a gay black man, in Six Feet Under has been cited as an example of this in a 2013 Sexuality and Culture article by Jay Poole.
He argued that Keith is portrayed as overly masculine, aggressive, and powerful which reinforces stereotypical characteristics of African-American men.
This is in comparison to his partner, David Fisher, a white gay man, who is portrayed as more feminine as he is in charge of household duties.
[36] Lafayette Reynolds of True Blood has also been seen as a black LGBT stereotype, as his character is portrayed as a flamboyant "swishy queen" with an athletic, muscular build and can be very aggressive.
Writer Michael Chavez also argues that Sophia plays into the stereotypical hyperfeminization of trans women in the media through her role of the hairdresser in the prison salon and knowledge of hair, fashion, and makeup.
Professor Narissra M. Punyanunt-Carter, from the department of Communications Studies at Texas Tech, found many facts in her research paper, The Perceived Realism of African American Portrayals on Television, "After reviewing numerous television shows, Seggar and Wheeler (1973) found that African Americans on these programs were generally depicted in service or blue-collar occupations, such as a house cleaner or a postal worker".
She said, "Fujioka's study illustrated that when firsthand knowledge is not present, television images have a huge effect on viewers' perceptions.
In addition, this study found cultural differences in responses to positive images of Blacks among Japanese and American students.
In 1971, three years after the Federal Communications Commission adopted rules to foster more diverse programming, only nine percent of full-time employees in radio and television were visible minorities.
[45] The numbers dwindle still further at the upper levels of media management: during the 2013–2014 season only 5.5 percent of executive-level television producers were people of color.
In response to this commission, the FCC initiated a race-neutral regulatory policy to increase the likelihood that African Americans would be employed with a broadcaster.
[citation needed] The case of Metro Broadcasting v. FCC in 1990 challenged the constitutionality of two minority preference policies of the Federal Communications Commission.
[57] The FCC's minority preference policies were constitutional because they provided appropriate remedies for discrimination victims and were aimed at the advancement of legitimate congressional objectives for program diversity.
The FCC's minority preference policies were closely related to, and substantially advanced, Congress's legitimate interest in affording the public a diverse array of programming options.
The availability of program diversity serves the entire viewing and listening public, not just minorities, and is therefore consistent with First Amendment values.