It would be a flat out lie to say that race is not portrayed in the media, it is not done on purpose but yet it is still there. When watching commercials, sporting events or the evening news it is very apparent. I feel however that in some situations race is so common on certain topics that we as viewers are used to seeing it and we have become oblivious to the situation. On the other hand, I also feel that it race is portrayed more in certain situation, it almost varies from topic to topic
I am a sports freak, I can watch any sport at anytime, and when I think of the best athletes in the world in major sports I tend to think of African-American athletes. In the basketball world I immediately think of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Michael Jordan. In golf I think of Tiger Woods, in the NFL I think of Randy Moss or my all time favorite player Emmit Smith. All of these athletes are African-American, but seeing them perform and hearing them being talked about on television and radio I do not even think about their race, I see them as the best players in their sport.
Then on the other hand you have our last presidential election. Barack Obama is our nation's first African-American president. When watching the inauguration many people made a point to make sure that he was our first black president like if we could not already tell. It seemed that people were making a very big deal about President Obama's race then his actual political views. This was a momentous occasion, but why did the media and many people decide to make it just about race?
http://www.gregpalast.com/vote-for-him-because-hes-black/
Comparing this to sports, Tiger Woods will most likely go down as the best golfer to ever live and that's it. Not Tiger Woods was the best African-American golfer to ever live; he is the best overall period. Woods is the only African-American player on the PGA Tour and no one makes a big deal about that. I feel that in the end the media seems to make race a bigger issue on certain topics than others. I would almost them rather make race a part of every story or just leave it alone completely. I know that is a big statement to make and not a very realistic one at that, but I feel that making someone's race a part of a story when there are so many other angles and views that can be taken it almost seems like they are settling when they can do so much more. Race has always been in the media and will always will be. It shapes our views and stereotypes rather if we notice it or are completely oblivious to it, it will always be present in media.
http://www.racewire.org/archives/2007/04/why_tiger_woods_is_the_only_bl.html
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I believe that the best athletes are African-American. I agree with what you said about if Steve Nash were the best then it would be voiced, but it just so happens that he is not. I don't believe that it is because of their race that people think of them to be the best. I think it is because they are very strong, fast, work hard, and they have some of the best athleticism in today's sports because of their work ethics and passion for sports. It's fair for the media to portray Emmitt Smith, Michael Jordan, and Tiger Woods as some of the best athletes because they are. They deserve the recognition that they get because they are great athletes. If Steve Nash performed at their level, he would get the same kind of recognition, but I don't feel that he does.
ReplyDeleteWhat about sports?
ReplyDeleteI recently read an excerpt from a book called Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We’re Afraid to Talk About It. The author, John Entine, presents both sides of the story of the perception of black athletes as the dominant athlete. One side of the argument wants to disregard science’s search for an explanation of the genetics of the superior black athlete. This side argues that the search is demeaning and diminishes the role of the black athlete’s work ethic. Entine writes that some see these studies as inherently racist looking at what makes us different instead of discovering how we are alike. The other side of the argument says that we cannot ignore or hide from science even if it might make us uncomfortable. He writes that athletics offers a great place for science to study because it is so diverse and athletes earn their way by producing, not by being born into it.
ReplyDeleteYou raise an interesting point in saying that you wish commentators would either mention race every time or never, and I think I agree. It’s like the discussion we had in class today about whether people who are describing someone else use color as a descriptor. If it is needed to make the conversation more efficient then there should be no problems. Granted, what the following people have accomplished is groundbreaking, but we all know that Tiger Woods is mixed race and that President Obama is mixed race and Hilary Clinton and Sarah Palin are females. So we don’t need to be informed of it. But back to the athletics, I think science wants to know whether Tiger is the best player ever because he is half black or if Tiger is the best player in the world who happens to be half black.