Race / Ethnic Issues

Katrina Coverage Brown-Out

by Laura Miller — September 21, 2005 - 1:55pm

"Mainstream media and most liberal-minded Americans are blaming the Bush administration's failure to manage Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath on racism, that word that has been itching under our skin for decades. The focus is on 'racism,' though, with a very specific, definition: white versus black. This analysis is good as far as it goes -- unless, of course, your skin is brown," Marissa Kantor reports on TheRevealer.org.

Main Source: 
The Revealer, September 19, 2005

Jim Crow Propaganda

by Sheldon Rampton — September 21, 2005 - 12:27am
  • Topics: Propaganda, Race / Ethnic Issues

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    The term "Jim Crow" was originally taken from a character performed in blackface by Thomas Rice, a pre-Civil War white actor who dressed in rags to portray a shabbily dressed, rural black man.

    Last week I was invited to give a talk about free speech at Ferris State University in Michigan. Much to my pleasure, I discovered that one of the professors at Ferris is an old colleague, Dennis Ruzicka, who was a fellow reporter 20 years ago when we both worked for a small-town, daily newspaper in Wisconsin.

     

    After the talk, Dennis showed me around the campus. One of our most fascinating stops was the "Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia" that has been assembled by sociology professor David Pilgrim. The Jim Crow Museum contains more than 2,000 racist artifacts, dating from pre-Civil War days to the present: cartoons, Sambo masks, Coon toys, Picaninny ashtrays, Ku Klux Klan literature, postcards with Black children portrayed as "alligator bait."

    "All racial groups have been caricatured in this country, but none have been caricatured as often or in as many ways as have black Americans," Pilgrim writes. "Blacks have been portrayed in popular culture as pitiable exotics, cannibalistic savages, hypersexual deviants, childlike buffoons, obedient servants, self-loathing victims, and menaces to society. These anti-black depictions were routinely manifested in or on material objects: ashtrays, drinking glasses, banks, games, fishing lures, detergent boxes, and other everyday items. These objects, with racist representations, both reflected and shaped attitudes towards African Americans. Robbin Henderson, director of the Berkeley Art Center, said, 'derogatory imagery enables people to absorb stereotypes; which in turn allows them to ignore and condone injustice, discrimination, segregation, and racism.' She was right. Racist imagery is propaganda and that propaganda was used to support Jim Crow laws and customs."

    Missing: News Coverage of Communities of Color

    by Diane Farsetta — August 18, 2005 - 12:23pm

    "A survey released in July by the Radio-Television News Directors Association and Ball State University found that about 21 percent of journalists working in local TV were minorities, virtually unchanged from the year before. ... A study released in June by the John and James L. Knight Foundation found that 73 percent of the nation's 200 largest newspapers employ fewer minorities than they did at some year between 1990 and 2004," writes Eric Deggans. "Why does this matter?

    Main Source: 
    St. Petersburg Times, August 18, 2005

    The Color TV of Fear

    by Diane Farsetta — May 24, 2005 - 4:14pm

    "Obsessive coverage of urban crime by local television stations, UCLA law professor Jerry Kang argued in the Harvard Law Review ... is one of the engines driving lingering racism in the United States.

    Main Source: 
    Boston Globe, May 22, 2005

    Scoundrels Denying Refuge

    by Diane Farsetta — April 20, 2005 - 2:22pm

    "Despite conducting a high-profile campaign calling for tough controls on immigration," the British Conservative Party is "using a company employing low-paid foreigners to distribute campaign literature," reports The Independent.

    Main Source: 
    The Independent, April 20, 2005

    The CORE of Biotech PR

    by Laura Miller — April 5, 2005 - 11:18pm

    U.S. agribusiness giant Monsanto recently announced it was raising its earnings expectations. "Monsanto's genetically engineered seed sales are booming - a 20 per cent increase last quarter - and the company expects the growth to continue as it expands outside the U.S.," AP reported. One reason may be Monsanto's extensive use of PR.

    Main Source: 
    Freezerbox, March 14, 2005

    Xenophobic Purple People Meters

    by Diane Farsetta — April 5, 2005 - 11:18am

    U.S. Republican pollster Frank Luntz traveled to Britain, "to examine the mood of the voters." According to 30 "swing voters" using "people meters," George Bush may be Tony Blair's biggest liability. Luntz wrote, "We showed them the first few moments of the recent White House press conference where President Bush and Mr.

    Main Source: 
    Times Online, April 4, 2005

    For Ethnic Press, Access Is Separate, Unequal

    by Diane Farsetta — March 21, 2005 - 3:03pm

    Government agencies "often don't return phone calls or provide relevant information" to the ethnic press, according to a survey by the Independent Press Association-New York. The association is a network of 115 "immigrant, African-American, and community newspapers." The most unhelpful federal agencies were the Department of Homeland Security, the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Affairs, and the Department of Labor.

    Main Source: 
    Associated Press, March 18, 2005

    Marketers of Death

    by Diane Farsetta — March 2, 2005 - 6:09pm

    "The U.S. Army is adjusting its marketing pitch to minorities as the war in Iraq hurts recruiting efforts among Hispanics and, especially, African-Americans," reports Advertising Age.

    Main Source: 
    Advertising Age, February 28, 2005

    Armstrong Williams In Context

    by Sheldon Rampton — February 7, 2005 - 11:54am

    "Massively financed by, first private, and now public dollars, the campaign to create the perception of an alternative, conservative Black 'leadership' is on the march in all regions of the nation," writes the Black Commentator in an article titled "Bribes + Vouchers = Black Bush Supporters." The article shows how "black leaders" who recently posted for a photo op with Bush were the recipients of millions of dollars in funding from right-wing foundations as well as from government pr

    Main Source: 
    The Black Commentator, February 3, 2005
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