The Lack of African American TV Shows

The norms of American television during its early long time yield always been focused on the so-called social naturalness owing to the fact that shows sport always been dominated by the whites.This opening of racial subjugation was eventually refuted since white and b wish characters after the eighties do get the same amount exposure on TV shows. Considering the height of racial discrimination in the United States, the lack of African American TV shows is not surprising though African American celebrities have the same acting skills as non-African Americans.The shows allotted for African-Americans, predisposed or not, have been limited to situation comedies (sitcoms) and stand-up comics to exemplify that these marginalized sector then does get the equality of quantity of said TV acts.To cite in history, in that respect was the Amos N Andy Show which commenced in 1928 as a thirty-year radio receiver show and broad absorbed on television in 1951 which only lasted for two days be cause of the massive protests by the black community. It was the l whizz TV show with an all-black cast during the period. There was also The Beulah Show, The Nat King Cole, All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Whats Happening, Thats My Mama, and Sanford and Son.The era of The Roots, The Cosby Show, Different Strokes, Webster, Gimme A Break, and the A-Team also came. Many contemporaneous TV shows featuring African Americans followed thereafter including NBCs Hidden Hills, FOXs The Bernie Mac Show and Cedric the Entertainer Presents, ABCs My Wife and Kids, CBSs robbery Homicide Division and Hack.The former network WB also aired black-oriented shows as The Hughleys, The Steve Harvey Show and The Jamie Foxx Show. To enhance racial diversity, WB also featured ER, Smallville, Gilmore Girls, Friends and The western hemisphere Wing. Meanwhile, UPN introduced The Parkers, One on One, Girlfriends, and Half and Half. fifty-fifty the popular reality TV shows Survivor and Big Broth er even incorporated black contestants in them.According to Screen Actors Guild (SAG) in 1991, schedules for prime time shows are nevertheless segregated in that African American dominated shows were isolated serene and in some networks like FOX and NBC, the blacks were still underrepresented, such the call ghettoization of African American TV shows.Studies by SAG further revealed that there are two types of programming first, resourceful programming wherein some shows include a racially diverse cast and missed opportunity in which no effort is made at all to broaden their horizons in terms of casting.An example of the first type is The Practice where it gave importance to African American casts, placing them in major roles with long screen times. As have been mentioned earlier, African Americans did not have much opportunity in bid and more serious roles.Shows like Sex and the City and HBOs hexad Feet Under put blacks in very minor, insignificant characters. Oftentimes, blacks are associated with macrocosmness criminals, villains, gangs, troublemakers, street people, mobs, sidekicks or subordinates in TV performances. These racial stereotyping is not accommodative in terms of reconciling the diversified grows of blacks and whites living in one nation.It cannot be denied that television is one of the most influential media of information ventilation in the world today. Amidst globalization, television plays a great role in shaping the minds and perspectives of people about things happening in their immediate environment. The squaring shoot of cultural, racial and sexual distinctions should be minded(p) priority if indeed the intent of unification and eliminating discrimination is to be realized.The lack of African American TV shows is an illustration as to the inequality of racial representation in media. Even if African Americans constitute only a marginalized portion of the population, they should be given equal TV exposure to indicate that racia l chauvinism has been mulish and eliminated. If whites are shown to overshadow the blacks on TV, the audience get out get the vagary that impartiality still exists even in the entertainment industry.It should be accentuate that television serves as an important cultural medium. Through this instrument, people run across about cultures of the different races.Whether genuine or not, what is shown on TV pull up stakes be the image that the audience lead grasp regarding that particular culture. This is the curtilage why extra care and caution must be considered when word-painting cultures on TV shows since they shape the representation of that ethnicity.As mentioned earlier, African Americans often have negative persona in many TV shows. Because of this, the audience will tend to generalize that African Americans are indeed those kinds of people. This brings about a complex societal problem with regards to peoples attitudes towards African Americans.In conclusion, the lack of A frican American TV shows is not merely a interrogative of the quantity of shows broadcasted on television but it is also a apparent motion of the quality of shows that are being aired globally.Cultural sensitivity is an important gene in that African American characters should not be limited to being slapstick comedians and humorists, but their roles must exemplify what the true black culture is in order to educate people about their beliefs and ideologies. It is only by dint of a wider and deeper understanding of other ethnicities can we solve the problem of racial prejudice.Therefore, it is quantity coupled with quality of African American TV shows that will make the imparting of the black society more meaningful and inferential to be able to correct the mistaken identities of African Americans. By increase the number of quality African American TV shows, deliverance is inside reach.ReferencesAmos N Andy Show. (n.d.). The Museum of Broadcast Communications. Retrieved February 18, 2008, from http//www.museum.tv/archives/etv/A/htmlA/amosnandy/amosnandy.htmEaston, B. M. (n.d.). African-Americans on TV A Retrogressive Renaissance. Retrieved February 18, 2008, from http//www.purrmag.com/Purr12/blacksontv.htmlKumbier, A. (n.d.). The TV Ghetto. Retrieved February 18, 2008, from http//www.poppolitics.com/articles/2002/09/09/The-TV-GhettoRacism, Ethnicity and tv set. (n.d.). The Museum of Broadcast Communications. Retrieved February 18, 2008, from http//www.museum.tv/archives/etv/R/htmlR/racismethni/racismethni.htmThe African-American Television Audience. (n.d.). Nielsen Media Research, Inc. Retrieved February 18, 2008, from http//www.nielsenmedia.com/ethnicmeasure/african-american/indexAA.html