In a Western, the “good guy” never wears a black hat. Ever notice that?
In the media, whites who are arrested are “the accused” and misguided and remorseful. We see their high school yearbook photograph from their senior year. We learn favorite meals, their childhood nicknames, and their swim times.
Blacks who are arrested are criminals and thugs and “bad dudes.” We see their booking photos. We learn about every time they were ever suspended, that time they got caught shoplifting at age 10, and the last time they jaywalked. Worse, if they are shot while in custody or during arrest, they “deserved it.”
In essence, people of color are guilty until proven innocent.
Why is that? Is it the result of cultural propaganda? Do the black and white hats of the TV Western play a role in that propaganda or does that stereotype exist because of it?
What do we do about it? How to we reject the media representation of white as good and black as bad?
How does it affect men, especially men of color? What does it say to boys as they group up exposed to such stereotypes?
How does it affect society as a whole? What do we lose when we marginalize these people?
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