University of Georgia

Terry College of Business
 

There is hardly an ethnic group in American society that doesn't feel maligned by the media. Although analysis of the media's limited viewpoint often focuses on racial minorities, white ethics and national minorities also resent stereotyped, negative or unbalanced portrayals.

What the media that perpetrate them choose to ignore is the extent to which ethnic consciousness shapes individual identity. Mass media practitioners. particularly, find it easy to forget their viewers' history as children and grandchildren of immigrants. They fail to realize how this immigrant heritage becomes a sharper of values and attitudes that are transmitted through generations and continue as vital forces in their descendants' lives.

This tendency reflects our new understanding of the role this history plays in identity. In fact, research in the field of mental health confirms a deep psychological need for a sense of peoplehood, for historical continuity. Our ethnicity often plays a major role in determining how we feel about ourselves, how we work, how we play, how we celebrate holidays and rituals, how we feel about life, death, and illness.

As a reflector of society's values, the media have a tremendous impact on the shaping of our personal and group identities. Radio, television, films, newspapers, magazines and comics can convey the rich texture of a pluralistic society or they can, directly or indirectly (by omission and distortion), alter our perceptions of other ethnic groups and reinforce our defensiveness and ambivalence about our own cultural backgrounds. As an Italian-American, I've realized this myself when comparing the ethnic invisibility of '50s television with modern shows that concentrate on Mafia hit men and multiple biographies of Mussolini. Having squirmed as I watch some of these portrayals, I can empathize with Arabs who resent being characterized as villainous sheikhs, Jews seen as mendacious moguls or even the current vogue for matching a Russian accent with a kind of oafish villainy. Although such stereotypes may or may not serve political ends, they share the cartoonlike isolation of a few traits that ignore the humanity and variety of a group's members.

What is the impact of ethnic stereotypes on TV and in film on how people feel about themselves and how they perceive other ethnic groups?

Although research in this area is limited, what is available suggests that TV and film's portrayal of ethics does have a deleterious effect on perceptions of self and others. In my own clinical work, I have found that minority children and adults will often internalize negative stereotypes about their own group. Other studies have shown that ethnic stereotypes on television and in the movies can contribute to prejudice against a particular group - especially when the person is not acquainted with any members of that group.

For example, in one study of television fiction, both white and black children indicated fairly high levels of acceptance that what they were viewing was like "real life," including stereotypes about their own ethnic groups.

Teaching Prejudice

In studies of youngsters who commit hate acts - desecration of religious institutions, racial and anti-Semitic indigents - many youngsters apprehended reported they got the idea of performing vandalism from news coverage of similar acts (the copy cat syndrome). They saw media coverage as conferring recognition and prestige, temporarily raising their low self esteem.

Add to TV fiction and news the rash of "truly tasteless" joke books, radio call-in shows that invite bigoted calls from listeners, late-night TV hosts and comedians who denigrate ethnic groups, and the impact on peoples' perceptions is considerable. While the media cannot be blamed for creating the bigotry, their insensitive comments establishes a societal norm that gives license to such attitudes and behavior.

An important cause of distorted and damaging TV stereotypes is the tendency of some media executives to view ethnic culture as an "immigrant phenomenon," a transitional phase in the process of Americanization rather than a continuing influence on people's language, religious lives, arts, politics, food preferences and so on. Except for a colorful parade here and a human-interest story there, even ethnic news is sometimes suspect - "parochial" or "divisive," an encouragement of the nation's "balkanization."

The media often fail to see that for many Americans, ethnic and religious traditions are still powerful influences. At times, these traditions conflict with surrounding values, but they are also sources of strength and understanding. How they work in second-, third-, and fourth-generation families can provide a rich store of story ideas and authentic characterizations for writers, directors, and actors.

Becoming Real

What, then, do ethnic Americans want? Just accurate portrayals of our lives. "Feedback" to us of a sense of pride in who we are. Appreciation of our special sadness, joys, achievements, faults, humor, the diversity of our lifestyles and the common experiences that bind all Americans together as human beings.

And what can ethnic groups do to make the media more culturally sensitive? To begin with, go beyond complaining and work more closely with media executives and the creative community. Applaud the industry when it presents high-quality, culturally authentic programs. Urge media people to use such resources on the ethnic experience as good novels, plays, short stories, magazine articles, newspaper stories.

Of course, some stereotyping is unavoidable in a simplified media like television and ethnic groups should understand that. But the media should also stop relying on these old negative caricatures. When ethnic groups ask for a balanced presentation in programs that reach millions of Americans, they are certainly not trying to censor the media. They only want to be shown as they are - not better, but surely not worse.
 

Joseph Giordano, a psychologist, is director of the American Jewish Committee's Center On Ethnicity, Behavior and Communications and is co-chairman of the Italian American Media Institute.