Racial Steretypes in the Media

Ever since the start of my critical thinking class, I've been paying closer attention to the messages of the media and one in particular has significantly caught my attention.  That would be the basic and most often false stereotypes portrayed about particular races.  Channels like Disney channel portray false images about race in their TV shows, but also in their movies, which troubles me because of the audience that enjoys watching Disney channel.  If stereotypes about specific races are continually portrayed in shows and movies that children watch, they will grow up assuming that, for example, all Asians are smart or all African-Americans are good at football and basketball.  They might even continue to believe that these stereotypes are accurate as they grow older, if they live in areas that lack ethnic diversity.  Racial prejudice and stereotyping also exists in the news.  For example, after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and the city began to flood, news reports were flooding in concerning the state of the city and its inhabitants.  However, the descriptions of people varied on race.  For example, there were two reports on people basically stealing things from stores in order to have food to eat. There was a picture of a white couple with things, with a caption saying: "Two residents wade through chest-deep water after finding bread and soda from a local grocery store after Hurricane Katrina came through the area in New Orleans, Louisiana.".  In the same article, there is a picture of a young black man doing the same thing, however, with a different caption: "A young man walks through chest deep flood water after looting a grocery store in New Orleans on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005.".  There is an obvious difference in the choice of words for the same action.  Although it may not seem like it, a difference in word use indirectly teaches readers that black people steal and white people find.  There are countless other examples of media and news that give the stereotype that black people are thieves.  Another stereotype commonly portrayed about black people is that they're all very good at sports.  Although some may be very good at athletics, there are also those who are intelligent or talented musically.  According to www.americanprogress.org there are 1,200 black professional athletes in all US sports.  Statistically speaking, there are twelve times as many black lawyers, twenty times as many black dentists, and fifteen times as many black doctors.  So if there are so many more lawyers, dentists, and doctors who are black then there are professional athletes, why is this stereotype so common in the media?  I believe it is because of who the people are who create the things we see on TV and everywhere else.  There is a lack of diversity among those people, which I believe, leads them to make poor decisions regarding racial profiling and stereotypes.