Covert Racism, Sexism, and Oppression

1. Covert Racism, Sexism, and Oppression Media

2. Teleliteracy Pretest • Provide the next line from the following TV themes. • 1) “Come listen to a story/’bout a man named Jed…..” • 2) “Green Acres is the place to be…” • 3) “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood/ a beautiful day for a neighbor…” • 4) “Hey, hey we’re the Monkees/And people say we monkey around….”

3. Definitions • Overt - Definitions: 1. unconcealed: done openly and without any attempt at concealment ... 2. open and intentional • Covert - Definitions: secret: not intended to be known, seen, or found out ... noun (plural coverts) Info taken from Encarta

4. MY EMAIL TO ROD PETERSON: I just wanted to say that I was offended by your sportscaster on the 5:30-6 PM newscast on Sunday, 8/10/08. He began with the recap of the US VS. China Olympic basketball game and referred to the Chinese team as the U.S.'s first "eggroll on their plate". I realize that this may have been his attempt at humor, but coming from a station that covers the Asian Heritage Festival of Des Moines, and will cover other Olympic events with various other Asian countries, this comment plays right into the stereotype of the Asian culture - something that a news reporter should be unbiased to and above. It seems highly unlikely that the reporter will refer to other countries that the US will compete against as "another burrito, or baklava, or ravioli" when recapping the games. This statement was small-minded and highly inappropriate for a news station. Channel 13 just lost a viewer of their news, and I will be sure to advise my friends to do the same.

5. LiatPaul, I received your email referencing my colleague’s remark on the air the other night, and, though it’s not my official place to do so, I felt like responding.  I took the time to read your email, so I’d ask you to do the same for me. With all due respect, I think you are being too sensitive, here.  Referencing eggrolls when speaking of China is akin to referencing hamburgers when discussing Americans, or, as you say, referencing ravioli when discussing Italians.  It’s the context that’s important, and I think it’s clear that there was no malice in Chris’s context.  Have we really reached the point where any reference to a common product of a nation becomes a negative stereotyping of any and all people of that nation?  Can you really assume that someone using the term “eggroll” in reference to China is making a negative connotation, and, in expanding that connotation to all Asians (as you do) and assuming their likewise offense, aren’t you in fact being stereotypical?  When Yao Ming is referred to as “The Great Wall”, wouldn’t that be stereotypical, too, and thus worthy of your criticism?

6. Censoring language is a very half-assed method of changing thought.  It places blame on the wrong entity and does nothing to change the actual condition.  What’s more, it reveals in inner lining of insecurity, fear and hostility that does far more to exacerbate the situation than language itself. I understand the connotations under terms like “chinaman”, “gook” and others of the sort, and it’s a good thing that we’ve taught ourselves to move away from them.  But to go up in arms about the affable association of an appetizer which is in no way linked to poverty, oppression, or violence is pushing the envelope of political correctness too far.  Andy Fales

7. Television and Covert Discrim. • A survey by the NAACP's Beverly Hills/Hollywood chapter found that of 839 writers currently working on primetime shows, just 55 are black, 11 Latino, three Asian-American and none Native American, meaning minorities make up just 7 percent of primetime network writers. Info taken from www.fair.org

8. Television and Discrim. Cont. • According to the Screen Actors Guild, the number of primetime parts for blacks and Latinos declined in 1998, with blacks filling around 12 percent, and Latinos just 3 percent. Asian-Americans represented a little more than 1 percent of parts on primetime shows. A 1998 Directors Guild of America report showed that minority (and women) directors (in TV and film) worked fewer days in 1997 than the year before, despite an increase in work for directors overall (L.A. Daily News, 7/17/98).

9. Discrimination, for example, also takes the form of segregation. • The vast majority (83 percent) of the 55 African-American primetime writers worked on shows with primarily black casts. • "White writers, however, routinely make the crossover to write on shows with predominantly minority casts," as the Los Angeles Times observed (10/27/99). • CBS has 144 writers; the two that are black both worked on Cosby.

10. Black, Latino, Asian-American and Native American actors cite the frustration of being considered only for "specifically ethnic" roles, the countless opportunities they miss because of someone's parochial idea of what a "neighbor" or a "bank teller" should look like (see, e.g., Hollywood Reporter, 9/14/1999). • On the flip side, minority writers say they can only get started in the business by avoiding issues relating to ethnicity: "If you do a spec script for a white show with white characters, at least you'll get a foot in," writer Daryl Nickens told the Chicago Tribune (8/8/93).

11. ‘Caucasian savior' complex • The Hollywood-inspired belief that only white people can save brown ones. • Examples: The Last Samuri, Dances with Wolves, etc. Info taken from mixedreviews.net

12. Sports teams…………..

13. Why is this offensive? • The American Indian community for 50 years has worked to banish images and names like Cleveland's chief wahoo, Washington redskins, Kansas City chiefs, Atlanta braves. • They work to remind people of consciousness of the use of the symbols resemblance to other historic, racist images of the past. • Chief wahoo offends Indian people the same way that little black sambo offended African Americans and the frito bandito offended the Latino community and should have offended all of us. It assaults the principle of justice. Info taken from: http://www.aimovement.org/ncrsm/

14. NASW Condemns the use of Native American Mascots • In September of 2007 the NASW Board of Directors voted to approve a statement that condemns the use of Native American icons and calls for the discontinuation of the use of Native American nicknames, logos, and mascots in sport settings. • Chair Betty Garcia wrote, “at issue are the denigrating ways that American Indian images are utilized that promote negative stereotyping of indigenous First Nation people.”

15. The Indians or Warriors is this an insult or a tribute? • “I don’t call it a mascot. That’s demeaning. I would rather call it a symbol of all the athletes in our history who have strived and been successful” said Don Rodawig, a retired physician who has lived in Spirit Lake since 1931. • “If I were saying something that was offensive to any other group and I were asked to stop, I would stop.” said John Blackhawk of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.

16. Continued… • According to the Iowa Dept of Education there is no rule against having an American Indian nickname or mascot, but the department counsels schools to be respectful in their portrayals. • There are at least 8 schools with Indian nicknames in Iowa; Braves, Indians, Savages, Warriors. • Info taken from the Des Moines Register, March 7, 2006

17. What if our team mascot was a Bishop?

18. We could sell grape juice at the concession stand with Ritz crackers. • We could paint crosses on our foreheads for the football games. • A non-Catholic man could be dressed in one of those robes and ride out on the field at a football game and throw a flaming crucifix into the turf to get the game started. • Nuns could be cheerleaders in nice short black skirts. • Hymns could be modified for the pep fests and the words could be changed to promote school spirit. • We could swing rosaries for crowd comraderie. • We could make the sign of the cross after we score. • We could have a silhouette of a bishop with blood dripping down his chin on our jerseys. This will instill fear in our opponents. • We could have buttons that say we crucify our opponents.The goal posts on the football field could be crucifixes. Information taken from: http://www.aimovement.org/ncrsm

19. Where is the covert racism in the story the “Grinch That Stole Christmas”?

20. Movies – Views from Paul Kivel • Paul discusses the example of how films use visual image • The Lion King – Throughout the movie • Images of white being good and dark or black being bad. • Lightness is associated with good , darkness with evil. • Everything from the lightness or lions’ kingdom versus the murky land of the hyenas, reflects the racial andmoral hierarchy of the film. • Language of the characters: the lions talk in middle-class “white” English and the hyenas in a more street dialect. • These racial, color-coded values can be found consistently in Disney movies going back to Sleeping Beauty and Dumbo (remember the crows) and introduce young children to our racial hierarchy in a way that seems natural.

21. Marketing – info taken from Minority Nurse, Fall 2007 • A number of studies have shown that tobacco companies have aggressively targeted African-Americans in their marketing. • 90% of tobacco billboards are located in African-American communities. • Ebony, Jet, and Essence received higher revenues from cigarette advertisements than did other magazines.

22. How Does Marketing Affect People? • Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been the leading cause of death for all racial and ethnic groups in the United States. • African-Americans have the highest mortality rate from heart-related diseases than any other racial/ethnic group. Information taken from Minority Nurse, Fall 2007

23. Sexism in the media • How are women portrayed? • How are young girls portrayed versus young boys? • Barbie vs. Bratz • Halloween costumes

24. Other forms of media • Movies • Television shows and commercials • Radio (music, ads, commentary, etc.) • Video games (Saints Row, Grand Theft Auto) • Books, newspaper, magazines • Marketing in stores, toys, etc. • What else????