Event: Racism and the Media Community Discussion Feb. 25th
Monroe High School (164 Alexander Street, Rochester, NY).
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
In the process of attempting to: 1) develop an ongoing working relationship with representatives of mass-media — in order to help produce solutions for outstanding socioeconomic, political, cultural issues and problems within our local, regional and national communities; 2) help create an atmosphere that deemphasizes perpetuation of negative stereotypes concerning communities of color, especially as it relates to the African American community; 3) help bring more recognition and attention to positive efforts and achievements within communities of color; 4) critique, analyze, and educate regarding the functioning of racism in general, and the role of mass-media in perpetuating racism — AARM has agreed to sponsor (along with other community organizations that might be interested in co-sponsoring) a community forum / panel discussion regarding the role and responsibility of mass-media in helping to address individual and institutionalized racism.
The panel discussion, which is not to be viewed as a one-time event, but instead as the beginning of a process of ongoing dialogue and relationship - building, will take place on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 (6:00 PM - 9:00 PM) at Monroe High School (164 Alexander Street, Rochester, NY). Thus far, the meeting agenda includes a welcoming by Rochester City School District Superintendent, Mr. Jean-Claude Brizard, and panelists include Mr. Jerry Walsh (Channel 8 News Director), Mr. Stephen Dawe (Channel 13 News Director), Mr. Ed Buttaccio (Channel 9 News Director), Mr. Mike Goldrick (Channel 10 News Director), Mr. James Blount (About Time magazine), Mr. George Radney (Challenger newspaper), Mr. Gary McLendon (Rochester Association of Black Journalists), Mr. Dave McCleary (Minority Reporter newspaper), and Ms. Julie Philipp (WXXI). Other media representatives, including those from RCTV, WDKX, WHAM (Radio), Democrat and Chronicle and City newspapers have also been invited to have representatives on the panel.
March 24th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
This is the way things should be, get off what we are on now
April 17th, 2009 at 8:07 am
Although I realize that this effort is well intended, I am afraid I feel as if that it is an outdated effort that perpetuates reverse discrimination. Because this effort to eliminate racial discrimination targets specifically people of color, especially African Americans, and not all races, other races besides “those of color” will wind up appearing as if they’re less or not subject to racism and that they’re problems are not as important or urgent. In today’s society, where racism against any person of color is shunned and heavily frowned upon as a degenerate act of vulgarity, it is often times more likely that whites are subject to more prejudices and discriminations than people of color. Obviously this is not universally true, however I believe that selectively praising one group of races and ignoring another is racist itself.
April 17th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Hmm.
First, I’d like to point out your use of the phrase “reverse discrimination,” which, whether you want to believe it or not, is a eurocentric phrase in itself. It implies that regular discrimination (in this case, “racism”) is “normal” (or, that it needs no further specific title) when it is used against people of color or against an oppressed group; but when it is used against the oppressors or privileged class, it’s somehow “reversed”? Think about that. Discrimination is discrimination, and racism is racism, regardless of who its victim is. I know, you’re probably thinking this is silly, but this is just one of many ways language affects our thinking and understanding of how the world works. To put it simply, white people get first dibs–to use the word discrimination. People of color only get to do what white people do in “reverse.”
As for the rest of your response, I’d be very interested to know how hypothetically (for we all know racist acts against people of color are NOT “shunned and heavily frowned upon” in this society….if you honestly think this, you are lying to yourself) focusing on racism targeting people of color logically requires that whites be subjected to “more prejudices and discriminations”. While it is true that everyone who lives in this country (this culture) is affected by racism, this does not mean that racism affects us all equally, and this ESPECIALLY does not mean that racism negatively affects white people more than people of color, or that it ever will. That is an absolutely absurd, ignorant, and false statement. It ignores the entire history of this country and so many other things.
The reason this media project is focused on people of color is simple: people of color in this city are far more likely to be given a bad reputation based on what is (AND what is NOT) reported by mainstream media outlets (outlets which happen to be owned and operated by–you guessed it–white people). The result of this is pretty obvious, but I’ll at least try to break down one outcome: people in the suburbs see “news” of what happened this week in the city–image after image of poor people committing crimes. Then they see story after story of people in the suburbs having a good ol’ time, doing great things, being more intelligent–more perfect. This perpetuates negative stereotypes about poor people in the city, which happen to be mostly people of color.
It is very possible to confront racism without ignoring entire groups of people, but for us to do that, it first needs to be brought to our attention that white people are, by and large, an oppressed group. Sadly (or fortunately, depending on your skin color and outlook on life), that’s just not the case here. Two authors I usually recommend to white people (sorry, I’m making that assumption here) who want to understand racism are Tim Wise and Inga Muscio. They also have videos on youtube and websites of their own….just google the names.
I should also point out that AARM is an open organization, with open meetings every Tuesday night. If you’d like to get involved and make it a more “balanced” effort, I’d encourage you to stop by and continue this conversation in person.
Thanks for reading,
-Tim Adams
Youth Issues Committee
Activists Against Racism Movement
April 18th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Upon further investigation, it’s no wonder Eric was so quick to pull the “reverse-racism” card. Check out the most recent update to his blog: http://houseofmuller.blogspot.com/ where he actually encourages readers to SEEK OUT “illegal” immigrants and hope that they engage in “criminal activity.”
Responding to this man was, essentially, a waste of time.