The Impact of African-American Sitcoms on America's Culture
Since its start, the television industry has been criticized for perpetuating myths and stereotypes about African-Americans through characterizations, story lines, and plots. The situation comedy has been the area that has seemed to draw the most criticism, analysis, and disapproval for stereotyping. From Sanford and Son and The Jefferson’s in the 1970s to The Cosby Show (1984) and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the 1990s, sitcoms featuring black casts and characters have always been controversial. However, their significance upon our American culture cannot be disregarded. During the 1950s and 1960s, 97% of the families were Caucasian. In the first five years of the 1990s, nearly 14% of the television families were African-American (Bryant 2001). These statistics obviously show the substantial impact our American culture has had on African-American television families.
Sanford and Son was set in the early 1970s. They were a very low class, low-income family that was very disjointed. The father, Sanford, spent most of his time drunk and putting his son down. There were few, if any, family values emphasized. The only positive message conveyed was that the son and dad loved each other.
One of the next popular African-American shows to appear was The Jefferson’s. It was about a nouveau riche African-American couple, George and Louise Jefferson. Jefferson was a successful businessman, millionaire and owned seven dry cleaning stores. They lived in a ritzy penthouse on the East Side. In fact, the theme song referred to the fact that they “were movin’ on up!” They lived their lives filled with money and success. It was the first television program that...
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...way to a safer place where he could be raised properly. This sitcom emphasized positive African-American stereotypes, such as honesty, love, strong family values, and success. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air also demonstrated that the problems money can bring were not confined to one race.
Starting with Sanford and Sons through the progression of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, it is evident that the changes transpiring in society are slowly entering the television industry. What would have been acceptable in the 1970s would be totally unacceptable in this day. No longer is an African-American father in a sitcom shown as a worthless, rude individual. The father figure is now shown more as a responsible, loving, and moral person with more realistic faults. Color now seems, through evolution, to be taken out of the equation for the African-American television families.
Jaber , Kamel S. Abu . "The Millet System in the Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Empire." The Muslim World 57, no. 3 (1967): 212-223. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.14781913.1967.tb01260.x/abstract?globalMessage=0 (accessed April 28, 2011).
Besides, in cultivation theory, George Gerbner proposes that heavy users of media treat the content of media as a primary source to perceive the world and assert what they see in media is very similar to the reality (Bryant, Thompson and Finklea, 2013), so there is a high possibility that audience will bring the perception of stereotyped portrayals of African-American from media into the real world. Based on the above unhealthy situations, this paper is going to illustrate how the racial stereotypes in media negatively affect people’s perception, attitude and behavior toward African American in the reality....
14?Narli, Nilufer. ?The Rise of the Islamist Movement in Turkey.? Middle East Review of International
Doctors are well respected within the realm of American society and are perceived with the highest regard as a profession. According to Gallup’s Honesty and Ethics in Profession polls, 67% of respondents believe that “the honesty and ethical standards” of medical doctors were “very high.” Furthermore, 88% of respondents polled by Harris Polls considered doctors to either “hold some” or a “great deal of prestige”. Consequently, these overwhelmingly positive views of the medical profession insinuate a myth of infallibility that envelops the physicians and the science they practice. Atul Gawande, in Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science, provides an extensive view of the medical profession from both sides of the operating table
Spielvogel, Jackson J. "The Muslim Empires: The Ottoman Empire.” Glencoe World History. New York, NY: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2005. p.484-489. Print.
Racism and discrimination continue to be a prevalent problem in American society. Although minorities have made significant strides toward autonomy and equality, the images in media, specifically television, continue to misrepresent and manipulate the public opinion of blacks. It is no longer a blatant practice upheld by the law and celebrated with hangings and beatings, but instead it is a subtle practice that is perceived in the entertainment and media industries. Whether it’s appearing in disparaging roles or being negatively portrayed in newscasts, blacks continue to be the victims of an industry that relies on old ideas to appeal to the majority. The viscous cycle that is the unconscious racism of the media continues to not only be detrimental to the white consumers, who base what they know about blacks by what is represented in television, but also the black consumers, who grow up with a false sense of identity.
For as long as I could remember plenty of races are being stereotyped, but African Americans are one of the most frequent racial groups stereotyped against. African Americans have been portrayed on television and other forms of media unfairly and unrealistically. Movies and TV shows have played a major role in stereotyping African Americans, mostly reflecting them as being less intelligent, more vulgar, poor, uneducated, and more violent than other ethnic groups. African Americans have been perceived to be someone they are not in the media, history, and in everyday life. Although some stereotype portrayals made about Africans Americans may have some truth to them many on the other hand are harmful and inaccurate. Africans Americans are mainly in the spotlight of the news, when involved in crimes. When an African American becomes successful they are glorified, and seen as the person who made it and got out the “hood”, as if all black people are poor and living in rundown neighborhoods. Television networks depict whites as the perfect family with no problems and blacks with a household with only one parent and a long list of problems. Many African Americans believed that in order to be successful in the media industry they had to portray themselves as being idiotic and lazy. African Americans are mainly portrayed in the media as a pleasing aspect. Rather than focusing on the positive and good side to African Americans, the media would rather on the negatives. One of the main reasons why it is so easy to target an African American is because; it is so much harder to point the finger at a more dominant power ethnic group, Caucasians. I think this alone tells us a lot about where our society is and that racism still does exist.
...uptcy which forced the establishment of the Ottoman Public Debt Administration in 1881. This administration would later become the framework of the International Monetary Fund still existing today.
Women would often die days later after having an abortion done at a clinic due to improper procedures performed in the abortion process ( Agresti, N.P). In a clinic abortion, the most common type of abortion performed during the first trimester of the pregnancy is called an “aspiration abortion” (In-Clinic Abortion Procedures at a Glance, N.P). During this procedure, the fetus’s heart needs to stop and would be done by an injection. Afterwards, the fetus is removed through the cervix with a vacuum and the rest is scraped with a curette. This can be unruly to witness as the tissues are discarded afterwards. In addition to aborting the child, the woman would have feelings of regret and they have the tendency to commit suicide more than a woman if she was suffering from post-mortem depression. The court case of “Roe vs Wade” legalizes abortion allowing more rights for the women but pro-life supporters argue that it counters the argument that all living things have their natural right protected. This right does not extend to the fetus and that is what pro-life supporters want to change. Abortion should not be legal as it violates the natural right of the unborn, can be considered murder and meddles with the morals and values of
Caplan, A., & Arp, R. (2014). The deliberately induced abortion of a human pregnancy is not justifiable. Contemporary debates in bioethics (pp. 122). Oxford, West Sussex: Wiley.
In the new millennium, the concepts of racial diversity in multiculturalism have become part of the fabric of American discourse. Consequently, the television industry faces an increased pressure from advocacy groups to better reflect the nation’s demographic reality. Many observers of American popular culture believe that multicultural television fare presented when children are most likely to be viewing this critical to advancing acceptance of racial and ethnic diversity in the United States. (Wilson, Gutierrez & Chao) Being a show designed for younger audiences, Everybody Hates Chris is able to address racial stereotypes to young audiences and possibly impact the way younge...
Almost all the households were mama-papa-kiddies: the nuclear family. (The exceptions were My Three Sons and Bonanza: Steve Douglas [Fred MacMurray] and Ben Cartwright were widowers.) There were no prior marriages, no children from prior relationships, no threat or even thought of divorce, and the closest thing we saw to physical abuse was Ralph Kramden's, "One of these days, Alice, one of these days . . . to the moon!" There were no infidelities, no drinking problems, no drugs (not even prescription tranquilizers), no racism (How could there be? With the exception of Hop Sing and Ricky Ricardo, there was only one race; even the Hispanic gardener on Father Knows Best was named Frank Smith). There was no dropping out of school, no political discussion (much less political differences), no unemployment (except for Ozzie's early retirement), no severe economic problem (except for a crop failure on Lassie, when they had to sell all the livestock, including Lassie; but just before being carted off, Lassie pawed the ground and struck oil, and everything was okay again. Except for Lassie, who looked as though the Exxon Valdez had dumped its forward holding tanks on her).
The premise of the Honeymooners center on the life of a domestic couple and their everyday actions of trying to achieve happiness in post war America. Sterrit proclaims that the Honeymooners were set in atypical environment; he would on to say that the Kramden did not look the part in mirroring at the time the current household and contrast it with shows that would portrayed the common household at the time such as Father Know Best. Quoted he said that “Ralph and Alice are less typical than they appear at first glance, and less typical than they would probably like to be at a time when conformity and consensus are strong American Values” (16). I do agree that the Honeymooners setting did not mirrored the state of a household, but to an extent, the Kramdens were not financially in the upper echelon that could afford the comfortabilities of the High Class or Middle Class. They however were the depiction of the lower class, individuals that would struggle to make end meets and were comfortable with having a home than the commodities. Money played a role in the settings of the Kramdens, if the Kramdens were to say have been more financially successful than they were, the whole show would have been different, perhaps not a...
There are many adverse effects of abortion on the mother, whether they are physical or psychological. If pregnant women knew about all of the side effects, they would possibly reconsider having an abortion. If the ethics of abortion does not enter a woman’s mind, maybe the side effects of it will. If they do not care about their unborn child, they may care about themselves. If every woman considering an abortion knew what would happen afterward, they would possibly be deterred from their decision.
Although abortion has been the center of frequent arguments, the question remains if the child endures the pain during the abortion procedure. Much of this research has been practiced by neurologists, p...