Perception #2 Karenna Meredith

For most of my life I have been aware of the danger of giving African-Americans a single story. We learn about slavery and the Civil Rights movement in school, and are taught how truly devastating their physical, emotional, and mental turmoil and struggle have been. Yet still African-Americans are perceived by some as violent, inferior, or requiring rescuing from themselves. However, in light of recent events in Ferguson and with the launch of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, I believe that more individuals are (hopefully) coming to understand that this community of people are more than just a single-story.  I have found a few examples, from the media, of the need for further understanding of the African-American culture, and these messages are harmful because they are communicated to such a wide network of people who can be heavily influenced by their content: 

1. This Intel ad misidentifies the African-American race in a number of ways, subjecting them once again to a single story. First off, it misidentifies the race by representing them as track stars, exhibiting the single story that all African-Americans are inherently athletic. Then there is the issue of the fact that this white employer, in an obviously superior position, has solely African-American employees who are essentially being compared to machines, thus taking away their humanity, echoing the tradition of slavery. 

 

2.  This controversial commercial issued by Pepsi Co. has a number of issues, but most specifically the lineup of criminals who all happen to be African-American. This reverts back to the single-story that all African-Americans are violent or criminals, reinforcing a negative stereotype about members of this race. 

What has been interesting to me, throughout completing this assignment, is that most of the stereotyping I came across by major corporations in the media was done unintentionally. However, the largest issue is that so many individuals are not looking past the single-story, abandoning the preconceptions, to explore how something might be received or where it could be incorrect. Groups of people are not so simply identified as by one characteristic, whether it is true or false, there are so many facets that make each group of people so much more than one story.