The majority of American news outlets and police officers exhibit racial bias in their work.
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Two weeks ago my news and event company, Techbook Online, and our international broadcast partner, The Dr. Vibe Show, produced our third episode of Black and Bold Voices™, a quarterly, online town hall that features black men around the world and the issue that unite them.
Our collaborative podcasting project, like Techbook Online’s celebration of black male mentors, which resulted in a groundbreaking, worldwide, online publication, grew out of a commitment of mine to improve media coverage and public perception of black men and boys.
When most individuals think of black people, black men and boys in particular, they don’t immediately envision doctors, thought-leaders, scientist, CEOs, mentors, lawyers and judges. Instead, they picture a race of people indulging in either criminal activity or no activity at all.
The stereotype of blacks as the patriarch of disorganized crime, and simultaneously the doers of nothing newsworthy at all, was established by the white capitalists society with the help of media, and that relationship of white power and white press has indoctrinated police officers with the belief that black faces are guilty, while diminishing the spirit and self-esteem of those residing in black bodies.
I’d be nice if the aforementioned was just my opinion, then self-righteous racist and uninformed trolls could tear a hole in my argument. But everything I’ve mentioned is not only a matter of fact, but the subject of multiple studies, one which was actually released this month.
Media Matters for America from August 18 to December 31, 2014, analyzed four local news stations in the New York City media market and found that they over-represented African-Americans in stories about criminal activity.
According to the report, black people made up 75 percent of criminals discussed on local channels, despite making up only 51 percent of the arrest rate.
ColorofChange.org summarized the report in a 38 page presentation and, in short, they said local news stations are representing 3 out of every 4 criminals as Black (75%), when the NYPD’s actual Black arrest rate is only 2 out of 4 people (51%).
ColorofChange.org, according to Think Progress, added that the “four channels failed to contextualize the crimes that were reported, making no mention of discriminatory policing that targets African American communities or systemic factors that contribute to crime, such as unemployment.”
The latter portion of the advocacy organization’s statement, referring to systemic causes, mimics sentiments found in a May 2013 messaging memo released by the Opportunity Agenda, which in 2011 examined perceptions of and by black men and boys and found that media over-represents black males in depictions of violence, crime and poverty, and that depictions of the systemic barriers facing members of this group are largely absent.
The memo also noted that:
“Distorted media depictions can lead to negative attitudes towards African-American males, such as increased public support for punitive approaches and tolerance for racial disparities. Inaccurate depictions can also affect African-American males’ self-perceptions and lead to diminished self-esteem.”
These facts, which are slowly finding its way into mainstream discussions of the present-day, are not new facts at all. Brother Malcolm X, who many rejected because he was perceived as too radical, was filmed saying:
“Once the white public is convinced that most of the Negro community is a criminal element, than this automatically paves the way for the police to move into the Negro community, exercising Gestapo tactics, stopping any black man on the sidewalk, whether he is guilty or whether he is innocent; whether he is well-dressed, whether he’s poorly dressed; whether he is educated or whether he is dumb; whether he is a Christian or whether he’s a Muslim; as long as he is black and a part of the Negro community, than the white public thinks the white policeman is justified in going in there and trampling on that man’s civil rights and human rights.”
Brother Malcolm X’s comments may have been attributed to his opinion at the time of delivery, but the present-day, with all of its studies and real-time examples of racial bias, has proved that the news and police are indeed ruining the lives of African-Americans.
So now, the question on everyone’s mind should be: “How do you hold the media and police accountable for its blatant racial bias?”
Holding police accountable, legally, will be complex. Though most police departments have simple command structures, the power dynamic is sometimes absolute and often ambiguous, which makes a citizen’s pushback against the system multi-faceted and multi-dimensional.
However, tackling the media can be done by complaining to the Federal Communications Commission, publicly condemning problematic content, boycotting media channels, launching a campaign to persuade advertisers to pull their dollars, and starting your own media outlet that produces exemplary coverage.
Racial bias by media isn’t new, but technology is, and when used progressively and proactively it can begin to mitigate these issues by providing a level playing field to battle against inaccurate depictions.
As long as I remain at the helm of Techbook Online, I stand committed to use my powers to speak and fight against both unnecessary police violence and racial bias in the news media.
These issues are big, these issues are systemic and these issues are not confined to a particular city. But, with great intention, and even greater execution of a cognitive surplus, together we can write an end to the world’s toughest problems.
Thanks for reading. Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® & I’m Drumming for JUSTICE!™