Marger chapter 3

After reading this chapter's section on "The Mass Media and Stereotypes," I was reminded of a discussion we had in my Civil Rights class 2 semesters ago about Hurricane Katrina and its racial ties. The media covered every inch of the storm, its destruction, the survivors, the damage, and the static flood waters; however, the only person who ever brought up race in the whole situation was Kanye West, who was then laughed off by most White Americans as just another music personality trying to be political. But the facts were, as we learned in my class, that approximately 25% of New Orleans' Black population was without a car, leaving them to rely on city transportation. When the levies gave in and the flood waters took over, those people had no way to get out. The public transportation systems provided little to no assistance for those stranded on rooftops and other areas of higher elevation. With nowhere to go, and their houses flooded, leaving no supplies, they were forced to find what they could to eat. We looked at a couple different articles in that class that discussed this situation. Two different photographs and their captions stood out. This article from the Huffington Post includes the two photographs and captions: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/van-jones/black-people-loot-food-wh_b_6614.html. The words "looting" and "finding" when used to describe the actions of African-Americans and Whites, respectively, reflect the way in which the media reinforces the stereotypes that encourage prejudice and discrimination, as well as provide further protection for White privilege. Marger wrote, "The stereotypical linkage of crime and violence with African Americans is similarly bolstered by television news...." These captions prove that our society is in no way a colorblind one, and prejudice and stereotype are very much contemporary issues that need to be acknowledged and eradicated before anyone can say that the struggle for civil rights is over.