Race and Contention in Twenty-First Century U.S. Media

Description

This volume explores and clarifies the complex intersection of race and media in the contemporary United States. Due to the changing dynamics of how racial politics are played out in the contemporary US (as seen with debates of the "post-racial" society), as well as the changing dynamics of the media itself ("new vs. old" media debates), an interrogation of the role of the media and its various institutions within this area of social inquiry is necessary. Contributors contend that race in the United States is dynamic, connected to social, economic, and political structures which are continually altering themselves. The book seeks to highlight the contested space that the media provides for changing dimensions of race, examining the ways that various representations can both hinder or promote positive racial views, considering media in relation to other institutions, and moving beyond thinking of media as a passive and singular institution. Cover......Page 1 Half Title......Page 2 Title Page......Page 4 Copyright Page......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgments......Page 8 Introduction: The Contours of Race and Media......Page 10 PART I: Structures and Contention......Page 22 1 Failure to Communicate: The Critical Information Needs Debate......Page 24 2 Courting Minority Commodity Audiences: Bounce TV in the Age of Media Conglomeration......Page 35 3 New Media and New Possibilities: The Online Engagement of Young Black Activists......Page 50 PART II: Navigating Contention Behind the Scenes......Page 66 4 Black, Asian, and Latino Directors in Hollywood......Page 68 5 Is Carlos Mencia A White Wetback?: Mediating the (E)Racing of U.S. Central Americans in the Latino Imaginary......Page 79 6 Sofía Vergara: on Media Representations of Latinidad......Page 94 7 Color-Blind Racism in the Media: Mindy Kaling as an "Honorary White"......Page 109 PART III: Visual Representations of Contention......Page 124 8 Drifting for Whiteness: Hollywood Representations of Asian Americans in the Twenty-First Century......Page 126 9 Consuming Black Pain: Reading Racial Ideology in Cultural Appetite for 12 Years a Slave......Page 140 10 Racial Ideology in Electronic Dance Music Festival Promotional Videos......Page 157 PART IV: Perpetuating Contentious Ideologies......Page 172 11 The Rise of the Racial Reviewer, 1990–2004......Page 174 12 Successful Immigrants in the News: Racialization, Color-Blind Racism, and the American Dream......Page 191 13 Black Studies in Prime Time: Racial Expertise and the Framing of Cultural Authority......Page 207 14 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Muslim: Media Representations of 'Islamic Punk' through a Postcolonial Lens......Page 223 Conclusion: Looking Ahead......Page 240 Editors and Contributors......Page 244 Index......Page 248