Earl

Earl Shields Professor Hobbs Children & Media 03-25-11   Race and TV: Pg 147- 152 After reading the //Television, Race, and Representation// portion in chapter 5 of Sarah Banet-Weiser’s book **Kids Rule**, one could see the constant battle for fair representation surrounding television shows. During the 80’s characters were mainly middle class white people, with little to no non-white characters represented on the show. The fair representation on TV of race and politics, for non-whites, has been a struggle to obtain. Analysts and scholars, such as Aniko Bodroghkozy and Herman Gray, have discussed various matters concerning the history of how non- white, specifically African American; characters are depicted unfairly on these shows. The passage also explains //Sesame Street’s// attempt to socially integrate the children on the show, but blinding children from the real world racial disputes going on of the television screen. Shows, such as the //Cosby Show// and //Living Color//, have been created in order to incorporate other races and social classes; but the question remains whether these characters are depicting fair characteristics of the people they are representing? //Sesame Street//, in the attempt to create a virtual classroom for all children, neglected to portray the reality of racial and political conflict surrounding their young audience. I doing so //Sesame Street// challenged the whiteness that structured television. The young audience watching the show, or participating in the show are expected to be racially color blind. This effect was utilized in order for //Sesame Street// to maintain its appropriation in the eyes of all race and social class groups, during a time when the dispute over representation was uprising. Other organizations, such as Disney and Nickelodeon, chose to do so in a different manner; which in many people’s eyes was unfair as far as representation is concerned. Organizations, such as Disney, represented non-white people with non- human characters. Animals and aliens were used in order to create a color blind effect for their viewers; but in many ways it misrepresented other races by demonizing them, considering that they are not human. For example, the beloved movie //The Lion King//, with James Earl Jones as the voice of the father lion, became one of the first cartoon movies a black man was depicted in by Disney. Though it was a slight change to the whiteness structure, African Americans were still being represented as barbaric animals and non-human beings. Other organizations created shows, during this time, for African Americans to be represented. Though they were not represented as animals and aliens in all movies and TV shows, they were still not a fair representation of how non-white groups wished to be represented. //The Cosby show//, now viewing on Nickelodeon, was one of the shows created in order to represent African Americans on television. The shows creation was specifically to add a little blackness to television, by creating a successful black family, with the father as the famous comedian Bill Cosby. The show had a lot of good quality and clean messages. The show did not down grade or belittle African Americans. It most certainly did not dehumanize anyone. Though the show did not dehumanize blacks, it flawed when it came to the fair representation of the African American people. //The Cosby Show// depicted a black middle class family who is said to have been acting white. That was not fair representation in the eyes of a few.