Spring Break
Students confront negative black stereotypes' in media
LINDSAY OBERST
Issue date: 1/16/08 Section: Variety
Tiffany "New York" Pollard may have conquered Flava Flav and gotten her own show, but she still doesn't represent black culture as a whole, some students believe.
When: Thursday, 6 to 9 p.m.
Where: SLC, room 101
Now the Freshman Advisory Board of the Black Affairs Council wants to address what one member, Bridgette Burton, a theater major from Stone Mountain, calls "the next big thing" African-Americans must deal with.
The organization will hold a forum, "America's Next Top Scandal: The Media's Depiction of Black Culture," at 6 p.m. Thursday in room 101 of the Student Learning Center.
The name of the forum plays on reality TV because the media's - and especially television's - presentation of African-Americans causes negative stereotypes to form, Burton said.
While discussing possible ideas to fill the group's education requirement, discussion of VH1, MTV, BET and the media's coverage of Hurricane Katrina continued to come up, Burton said.
"We all agreed that the media wasn't giving a good representation of how African-American culture really is," she said.
She said she often watched reality shows and laughed at them.
But, she said, her behavior was not OK, and now is the time for college students to develop and grow as adults and to realize that imitating or supporting negative TV behavior is wrong.
"Reality TV shows like 'I Love New York' present the wrong idea about blacks," Burton said.
Three main points developed by the board members will be addressed at the forum.
The first issue, "the media defining a black man's hustle," confronts that the majority of black males in the media are athletes and hip-hop stars, depriving other worthy professions of recognition.
The second issue is "a black woman's values: the great compromise."
"Women, including Asians and Latin women, have to compromise to become recognized by the media," Burton said.
"The media's burning of the family tree" illustrates the last issue, concerning a recent shift in the family structure of TV shows.
"TV shows like 'The Cosby Show' used to present stable families," Burton said. "But now single parents and adoptions are what everybody watches."
Anyone with an interest, despite year or race, is invited to participate, said Yasmin Yonis, an international affairs and newspapers major from Lawrenceville and Freshman Advisory Board project leader.
Yonis wants to create awareness through discussion and interaction.
"I hope this forum gives people a platform to speak about a subject they would usually not have the opportunity to do so otherwise," Yonis said.
"African-Americans are not just those shown constantly in the media."
'AMERICA'S NEXT TOP SCANDAL: THE MEDIA'S DEPICTION OF BLACK CULTURE'
A forum by the Freshman Advisory Board of the Black Affairs CouncilWhen: Thursday, 6 to 9 p.m.
Where: SLC, room 101
Now the Freshman Advisory Board of the Black Affairs Council wants to address what one member, Bridgette Burton, a theater major from Stone Mountain, calls "the next big thing" African-Americans must deal with.
The organization will hold a forum, "America's Next Top Scandal: The Media's Depiction of Black Culture," at 6 p.m. Thursday in room 101 of the Student Learning Center.
The name of the forum plays on reality TV because the media's - and especially television's - presentation of African-Americans causes negative stereotypes to form, Burton said.
While discussing possible ideas to fill the group's education requirement, discussion of VH1, MTV, BET and the media's coverage of Hurricane Katrina continued to come up, Burton said.
"We all agreed that the media wasn't giving a good representation of how African-American culture really is," she said.
She said she often watched reality shows and laughed at them.
But, she said, her behavior was not OK, and now is the time for college students to develop and grow as adults and to realize that imitating or supporting negative TV behavior is wrong.
"Reality TV shows like 'I Love New York' present the wrong idea about blacks," Burton said.
Three main points developed by the board members will be addressed at the forum.
The first issue, "the media defining a black man's hustle," confronts that the majority of black males in the media are athletes and hip-hop stars, depriving other worthy professions of recognition.
The second issue is "a black woman's values: the great compromise."
"Women, including Asians and Latin women, have to compromise to become recognized by the media," Burton said.
"The media's burning of the family tree" illustrates the last issue, concerning a recent shift in the family structure of TV shows.
"TV shows like 'The Cosby Show' used to present stable families," Burton said. "But now single parents and adoptions are what everybody watches."
Anyone with an interest, despite year or race, is invited to participate, said Yasmin Yonis, an international affairs and newspapers major from Lawrenceville and Freshman Advisory Board project leader.
Yonis wants to create awareness through discussion and interaction.
"I hope this forum gives people a platform to speak about a subject they would usually not have the opportunity to do so otherwise," Yonis said.
"African-Americans are not just those shown constantly in the media."
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