Something I've been thinking about, and one part of the issue we haven't discussed yet (but probably will in the next few days), is how to fix tokenism. The problem is that tokenism is not a simple problem to fix. It's a natural consequence of the way TV shows work. The shows only exist to attract viewers for commercials, and they reflect the fact that whites make up the largest target audience of those commercials. People are more comfortable and connect more with characters who look similar to them. It's not a matter of racism but of human nature. Humans empathize more with people who are similar. Shows need to make an impact with viewers to create a following, so they cast whites in the lead roles.
Because the phenomenon is so deeply rooted in the nature of television and the personalities of Americans, it is not an easy issue to address. Like the social issues we talked about in our reconstruction plans, tokenism is a very difficult problem to solve with government intervention or any type of large scale program. The government can't just force the networks to cast minority leads; to do so would be unconstitutional. It would be very nearly impossible to design a program that would change people's attitudes on a scale necessary to make a real difference. It would also be impractical to try to fix this problem using public shaming, the methods the NAACP several years ago. It's a lot harder to get people outraged over "the inclusion of minority characters but only in minor roles with simple parts" than it is to create outrage over "the total lack of minorities in TV."
I believe there really is no practical way to fix tokenism from the outside. There is another possibility, though. Tokenism may be self-defeating; the presence of characters of different races may work away at the subtle biases responsible for tokenism in the first place. Despite not being an optimal situation, the portrayal of race in television has clearly improved over the last few decades. Our generation is growing up in a cultural environment where it is routine to see minority characters acting out normal roles. They may not play lead roles, but largely thanks to tokenism we at least see Black characters and Asian characters and others. I believe the biases we still have are being eroded, and that eventually we will reach a point where tokenism kills itself off.
Image Credit:http://digthatbox.com/arcade_token_gallery.html
Hmm. I think you have a good point. Like all other social injustices, I think TV Tokenism will die off. Sometimes it takes longer than we'd like, but I agree that the worst thing we could do here would be to get the government involved. In a free society, people should have a right to do whatever they want (provided they're not hurting anybody), even if people view it as being grotesque and despicable. Also, I'm glad you mentioned the Constitutional issue as a reason why the government CAN'T do something - I had been getting a different impression from some of your comments in class.
ReplyDeleteI would argue that we won't "reach a point where tokenism kills itself off", UNLESS whites are somehow outnumbered by blacks in American society. How long will that take? I think you know the answer and I think it's an easy way out for someone whose race has historically been privileged.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, think of the Weisbuch study -- even POSITIVE roles for minorities still engender racist feelings in the viewer.
Why does it have to be a government role or a protest group? Why not fix this with education?