The
Whites of Their Eyes: Racist Ideologies and the Media – Stuart Hall
Ideology is a
pertinent social force defined by three concepts. First, an ideology is the
collection of different ideas into one generalized meaning. A given topic will
take on different meaning depending upon the ideological stance one views it
from. Second, ideology produces the social atmosphere we live in. We derive the
overarching social conscious that dictates our understanding of the world from
ideology. In this way, ideology takes the form of common sense in our minds and
becomes a part of our unconscious thought. As a result, the ideas it propagates
produce a “naturalized” world in our minds. Third, ideology gives its subjects
an identity in society and consequently, the ability to represent ideological
truths. One of media’s most important and influential processes is the
creation, modification, and circulation of these ideologies. The media produces
likenesses of the world that dictate our understanding of society and how and
why it works. This ideological production is responsible for the construction
of race.
In its depiction
of the world, media also defines race. It determines the ways in which society
perceives race and the role this perception plays in inter-human relations. The
media is constantly redefining and elaborating ideas about race in order to
stay relevant in our ever-evolving society. It produces and advertises these
revised racial statements in two ways, through overt and inferential racism.
Overt racism is the open discussion and advancement of a blatantly racist
argument or opinion whereas inferential racism is the supposed natural
representation of situations about race based on unchallenged assumptions. The
latter is dangerous for society for this racism is subtle and pervades all forms
of media production, propagating an unconscious racism in all its audiences. These
types of racism assume several common identities in advertising images: the
slave, the native, and the clown or entertainer. Though exact replicas of these
identities are not very prominent in today’s media, modern images still contain
traces of them. Our apparent superior wisdom and liberalism as a modern society
supposedly separate us from the blatant racism of the past, but racial
stereotyping and prejudice still exist today and remain influential factors in
our social relationships.
Hank Willis Thomas
works to enlighten his audiences to this modern-day racism in his Branded, Unbranded, and Rebranded projects. His presentation and
manipulation of advertising images reveals the generalizations made about race
and cultural identity by the media.
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