This article by Stuart Hall explores racist ideologies and how the media is responsible for them. The media spews out negative stereotypes without really trying. Hall wrote of black people and Native American people. Black people are portrayed as violent criminals (the evening news is always filled with stories of black robbers, drug dealers, etc), or slaves, or mammies. Movies featuring Native Americans shows them to be spiritual, and yet barbaric. These negative stereotypes were created long ago, but they still emerge today.
The prisons of today are filled with black people. Native Americans are known to have serious problems with alcohol and suicide. Slavery and the seizing of Native American land are commonly known causes of the problems both races still face. But how much can the media be blamed? It still has few positive stories to show the public. Can anything be done to reverse the damage? If so, what could be done?
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