Providing new insight into debates over race and representation in the media; this ethnographic study explores the ways in which African Americans are depicted in television situation comedies and the meanings that African American audiences assign to such representations. The author ponders the reasons why blacks are relegated to comedy; and explores audiences' perspectives on a variety of issues; including how blackness is defined through television; the impact of stereotyping on societal perceptions; and the positive side of comedies.
#573905 in Books NYU Press 2011-02-28 2011-02-28Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x .66 x 6.00l; .82 #File Name: 0814767370263 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. easily to understand termsBy amrAn essential guide to both the history and implementation of racial discrimination. Breaks down the insidious ways that race and racial bias seep into public policy and daily life in clear; easily to understand terms; backed with thorough research. Best of all; it manages to do so without getting to deep into the academic language that can make studies on social issues inaccessible to many people.14 of 15 people found the following review helpful. More AwesomeBy STEVEN WHITMANIn these days when 4 seconds is about all the time one gets to establish a position; this remarkable book by Princeton Professor Imani Perry asks us; no requires us; to think long and hard about the driving force in building and reproducing US society -- racism. Dr. Perry does not provide any easy answers for what must be done but provides many crucial questions about what we must think about in order to rid the US of this plague. In the end Perry suggests several strategies for proceeding towards a civilized society free of discrimination. All serious anti-racists should read this book and discuss it wherever possible. As Lorraine Hansberry wrote: "The matter of admitting the true nature of a problem before setting about rectifying it; or even pretending to; is of the utmost importance."Steve Whitman2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Just a great book for helping me see as a white person ...By Kevin MillerJust a great book for helping me; as a white person; see how racism operates in its less obvious forms in post-Civil Rights era American society. I couldn't stop underlining and notating it.Just one example of Perry's ability to create eye-opening explanations of what is going on is her paradigm of how race fits differently between the four quadrants created by plotting high/low status with insider/outsider status.. . . . . . .... . . . . INSIDERS . . .. . . . .. OUTSIDERSHIGH STATUS ..professional whites. . .professional Asian AmericansLOW STATUS ...inner-city blacks . . .. "illegal Mexicans"* So called "illegal immigrants"--Latino and Latina undocumented residents and anyone perceived to be such--get slotted in the "low status/high outsider" quadrant; making them noncitizens who are seen as a drain on society.* Urban blacks without a college degree are pigeonholed as insiders (therefore citizens) but low status; which paints them as problem citizens who are also a drain on society.* High-status outsiders--such as the educated Asian American--are perceived as contributors to society rather than "scabs" on society but are also judged to be members of the outgroup--"perpetual foreigners"--no matter the generations in America.* Perry notes that; relative to nonprofessional urban blacks who are seen as citizens but problem citizens; high status outsiders have more in common with high-status insiders (such as educated whites) even though they are perceived as non-citizens (regardless of whether they are or not).I wish every college student in America would read this before graduating.
