Media and Race in America: Race at the Movies

In chapter 11, Race at the Movies, Entman and Rojecki covered various hits of Hollywood movies that portrayed some racial context concerning blacks. The African Americans are considered as individuals who should not mix and interact freely with the whites. On this note, as provided in the movies, the African Americans are distanced and excluded from the whites in the American societies. This chapter, like the previous ones, reveals that race and racial segregation has arisen to be a significant issue of concern in America. The Hollywood movies, therefore, portray America to present a society which is among those leading in race-based treatment. One of such movies which are covered in this chapter is A Time to Kill which ha succeeded in showing the negative perspectives of the blacks among the whites in the American societies. According to Entman and Rojecki (2007), the videos serve as a potential aspect of media A Time to Kill a which are used as a significant tool to show the current racial status in America.

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The movies provide that there is a prevalent emotional and integration distance between the characters of the White and Black individuals on the screens. This tends to demonstrate what the blacks face in the American Societies in the hands of the whites which cover the majority of the population and superiority. As a form of reaction to the ongoing contents of the movies, the blacks tend to appeal as they argue that the videos rather use the traditional cultures to portray them negatively (Entman and Rojecki 2007). The whites appear to attach them with historical traditions which they no longer practice in the American societies some of which had not even existed among them. Jee-Lyn, Jennifer, and Mienah (2015) added that the movies have also revealed that there is no considerable love across the two significant races, the blacks, and the whites, in America. However, to hide the hatred between the two racial groups, the media tends to show some level of false friendship between the races.

The movie, A Time to Kill, has been used to provide what could be evaluated to a provided repository of the complex images. This film reveals that the blacks have had a negative experience as a result of the racial behaviors of the racist movements in America. Barnes, Jeb, and Parker (2018) argued that such a film is appropriate in evoking the empathy associated with the suffering of the blacks due to racism. The heroic and the suffering aspects of the film aspects of the film have been occupied by activities of the white and not the black actors. It is evident from the movie and other related videos on the screen that the blacks are seeking help due to the suffering that seems to be unending. However, it is as well clear that there is none who is willing to intervene effectively. On this note, suggested that the whites have portrayed the blacks as a racial group who have experience racism are seeking to help out of the same.

The lacks are portrayed as criminals in the minds of the white racists. This happens even if the African American in question is just trying to solve a significant problem. Entman and Rojecki (2007) have covered some aspects of race in the film whereby two racists who are white attacks a black girl and the attack appears to have been based on racism ground. The intervention of black men who kill the criminals is totally treated to be a crime and they are subsequently convicted in the court of law. It, therefore, follows that racism in the American Societies occurs at all the sectors (Jee-Lyn Gand Mienah, 2015). The leaders and the administrators are also part of the racist movement whereby the blacks might not be considered in the society any soon. It is ironical that even the legal institution itself has failed to apply the requirements of the law appropriately but rather bases the judgment on racial grounds. This can be used to conclude that blacks seek for help or sympathy among the African Americans can never be regarded in America based on the existing racism.

The American society, influenced by the acceptance of racism among the superior race has ensured that protests organized by the blacks are disregarded in America. The African Americans have expressed their dislike for the kinds of the mistreatments based on the issue of racial segregation in America. Barnes, Jeb, and Parker (2018) argued that the blacks at some point tend to demonstrate in reaction to the oppressive phenomena. The chapter shows that they were associated with criminal offenses and would face the law. The racist on this note tends to believe that the blacks are always wrong even if they are trying to demonstrate against their rights. Barnes, Jeb, and Parker (2018) have mentioned a situation whereby the blacks were arrested for having expressed their discontent with how their fellow blacks were being mistreated by the whites.

The whites tend to receive a relatively humane treatment in the same community in which the population of the blacks makes a significant percentage. It is, therefore, a different case for the whites whose cases of whatever form are taken care of by the white administrators and law enforcers (Entman, Robert and Andrew 2007). When the whites demonstrated against the killing of the criminals, the Killers were arrested just because of their race. It, therefore, follows that racism is a serious issue of concern in America. Jee-Lyn, Jennifer, and Mienah (2015) added that the media itself proves to be significant in showing that there exists a high level of oppression targeted towards the African Americans in the given society. The media is also biased since the content and the subsequent analysis of the recorded and acted films also portrays the blacks wrongly based on race and also shows that they are inferior to their white counterparts.

The African Americans have strived to demonstrate the black pride however the reaction of the more superior races appear to discourage their struggle to ensure that cultural diversity is accepted in "white" societies. However, it appears that the societies made of the whites as a majority like the American society have promoted the existence of distance between the whites and the African Americans. As a result, the perception of the whites of the blacks has therefore changed; they consider the African Americans as blacks and the activities associated with are always looked down upon by the whites. The aspect of the "black image in the white mind" has ensured that racial segregation is unending in the racial communities.

References

Barnes, Jeb, and Parker Hevron. 2018. "Framed? Judicialization And The Risk Of Negative Episodic Media Coverage." Law & Social Inquiry.

Entman, Robert M, and Andrew Rojecki. 2007. The Black Image In The White Mind. Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press.

Jee-Lyn Garcia, Jennifer, and Mienah Zulfacar Sharif. 2015. "Black Lives Matter: A Commentary On Racism And Public Health." American Journal of Public Health105(8):e27-e30.