The primaries have brought important changes in the way information is handled through the media. Not only did the campaign provide an opportunity to probe the relationship between races and genders embodied by the presence of black and female candidates, but it also inaugurated the use of Black language to suit an unprecedented political atmosphere.
The use of Black language in the media has been subject to a lot of controversy as many actors in the corporation do not really understand the language of black people. Many journalists unconsciously hurt people by using the language of black folks on television.
The last blunder in this election season came from fox news. Last week one of the screen text described Michelle Obama as “Obama’s baby mama”. The script exactly read the following title "Outraged Liberals: Stop Picking on Obama's Baby Mama!” It suddenly prompted a lot of reactions from different audiences expressing their anger. The reactions are understandable as “baby mama” is inappropriate to describe somebody who is married to her kids’ father.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “baby mama” stands for "the mother of a man's child, who is not his wife nor (in most cases) his current or exclusive partner." The term has been used mostly in hip-hop lyrics and celebrity magazines.
In this new political atmosphere, one observer notes "this campaign has shown that people are excited to use black language for the first time in presidential politics." It explains the reason why word choice for appropriate language might be a big issue for all those journalists out there that really do not know a lot about black people. Sara Lewis, a faculty member at Yale University School of Art, contends that: "But as they do it, often they're putting their feet in their mouths because they don't fully understand the culture."
This is once again a reason to make newsrooms as diverse as possible to make sure such inappropriate use of language would not be an issue.
2 comments:
I feel like there is a fuzzy line when refering to people of color. Personally, i always have this filter in my head before i say certain things, normally i just talk with whats on my mind, however i try my hardest to not be offensive and this is where the filter comes in.
I think lots of people of all ethnicity have this nowadays and for good measure. Not that we shouldn't say whats on our minds, just that having this filter means that someone is thinking in the right manner of being sensitive to others.
I speak for myself, when around people of color my "sense" is on high alert. Sometimes i have the feeling that i lose part of my personality, because rather than taking the challenge of saying things while being mindful i something opt out of conversation. I realize that this seems terrible, but for some reason i feel that there is a barrier at times in general between whites and people of color in general dialog.
I can't say that this is always true and in fact i've always enjoyed talking with all kinds of people, but i think i struggled with this especially when was younger and hadn't had much experience in diversity and at the same times had seen rights activist in the media always slamming or denouncing people for being racist or saying racist things...the media does affect everyone.
Hey there, your blog got a great response and an opportunity to have some really conscious dialogue. I think being mindful and then being super careful are two different things, and I think by doing so you are allowing many wonderful opportunities of different interactions to take place. I think it is interesting that because of the platform today, instead of bringing people together, it can alienate. I think the original blog has some merit, making statements that are mindful, but may be off key, are so not what would be termed as racist. Come on back to and step out of your box, there is a wonderful world of new and exciting interpersonal interactions for you. They are waiting for you.
Thanks for the orignal blog and the opening of this discusion.
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