1.Visit the United States census webpage (http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf) and report the ethnic/racial breakdown of the American population. Next, students (in pairs) are instructed to watch a particular network for the duration of one week
2.Watch a program (show, movie) and record the following:
a.Setting: What is the city/state? Is the setting generally diverse or homogenous? Is it a home, work, or other setting?
b.Character representation: How many characters (excluding nonessential characters such as people in the background) were white, black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, or Native American? (Literally count characters in each category);
c.Role prominence of each character of color: Is he or she a major character (essential to the story line) or minor character (not essential to the story line)?;
d.Characteristics of each major or minor character of color: Are they thin/obese, short/tall, excessive makeup/no makeup, provocative attire/conservative attire, disheveled/well groomed, dirty/clean, accent/no accent, articulate/inarticulate, quiet/loud, passive/aggressive, lazy/motivated, ridiculed/respected, dumb/smart?
In preparing your reflection paper, answer the following questions:
1.How did you select what to watch?
2.What is the show about?
3.What is the genre (Drama, action, comedy, science fiction, animated, etc)?
4.How might the genre affect (or how is the genre used) how race is dealt with on race television? (e.g., GetOut)
5.How are race and racism reflected in show/movie?
1.How do television representations of racial diversity differ between social/familiar and workplace settings? Is it a case of “art imitating life”?
2.What is the significance of whitewashing spaces that tend to be more integrated?
3.What are some of the problems with having racially-stereotyped characters on shows with a predominantly/exclusively white cast?
4.Should there be an explicit commitment to racial diversity in television? Why? Why not?
5.Why is racial diversity important in television? What would a more racially diverse television landscape look like?
6.What does the lack of diversity in programming say about race in the contemporary United States?
Sample Solution