There are many instances of under-representation of minorities and their struggles in the media. This is evident in what we consume daily such as movies: television shows, novels, and newspapers. The lack of representation often leads to intense feelings of abandonment by society due to the persistence in neglecting the truths of different minority groups. This issue can be easy to miss, but it is difficult to disregard once you begin to notice the pattern. Many of the shows that I have enjoyed in my leisure time have always had a predominately white cast with the “zesty” and “feisty” Black and Hispanic characters to add some “spice” to their narrative; then there is also the witty and incredibly intelligent Asian character that also follows these racial stereotypes. These common prejudices hinder the progression of groups of people by further solidifying hateful thoughts from people who are set in their outmoded beliefs. People who are in charge of creating media refuse to understand how impactful a visual representation is, especially for younger audiences. Young children need to be able to relate to the people they admire on television, and that also refers to the characters’ unique struggles and their own skill sets. Having these witty side characters may be enough to placate the need for diversity within their sets, but this is not sufficient for the majority of the population. To understand the inequalities of today, one only needs to study our nation’s mass media and entertainment industries. 

 

                  When it comes to a lack of diversity in media, just look at sitcoms from the past 50 years, such as Friends, Seinfeld, and Happy Days. These shows would focus on the woes of their daily lives, but conveniently fail to have any minority representations. A prime example is the ability to count all the black characters mentioned in Friends. In a Buzzfeed article written by Ada Enechi titled I Counted All The Black Characters In “Friends” And Here They Are, we are encouraged to keep a tally of the minority presence during its airtime. In this article, the author combs through all ten seasons of Friends and was able to find twenty-seven minor characters that hardly helped in the development of the plot. Most of these characters were simply used as a comical relief, being sure to never mention them in major plot lines. All the black characters that were mentioned only had one punchline which was often either a few phrases or a very “meaningful” facial expression.  Seinfeld, another hit sitcom from the 90s, had nineteen black cast members during its nine seasons on the air. Following a similar format to Friends, ensuring their limited minority characters did not add too much to their “riveting” storylines. Many other popular shows during that time all followed the same basic formatting and had similar, if not the same, plots and still were able to maintain high enough ratings to still remain on television for years to come. One of the more shocking and cringe-worthy of the shows would have to be Happy Days which also followed the same cookie-cutter formatting of the other shows  previously mentioned, but they were just more honest about their distaste in regards to minorities, specifically African Americans. In an episode titled “Fonzie’s New Friend,” one of the main characters, Fonzie, wants to go on a date with a girl to a luau and decided that Sticks would be perfect to accompany him for the girls friend, but the punchline was that Sticks, his “friend,” was black. After this scene, the camera pulls back and Stick says, “ Why do I get the feeling that I was just humiliated?” This was not the only instance of racism in this episode, Sticks also stated, “I’m sold, but not literally” when they were discussing their plans for the party. Although there are many instances of these crude racial jokes, we have made some progress in more recent years.

 

    An example of this progress would be Marvel’s Black Panther, which was the first Marvel movie with an all-black cast ever produced. This event greatly influenced how young and influential children viewed themselves, as it was one of the first times they were able to visualize themselves as heroes. In most shows and movies we see white people from all walks of life, exhibiting that all their dreams are achievable as long as they remain dedicated and persistent. That is not the reality for minority groups. When we see different cultures in films they are typically highlighting the racial issues they have faced and worked tirelessly to overcome, thus forcing people to relive their traumas, much different from Black Panther. Black Panther resonated with those who saw themselves in the characters, i.e. Black people, and finally allowed them to feel like heroes. What was really impactful was not only the cast but also its settings. The movie would switch between Africa and America, allowing people to see into African American culture, thus educating people who are uneducated about their environment. Black Panther was not only a cinematic masterpiece, but gave voices to groups of people that have often felt neglected.

 

 There have been many instances of racism and neglect of minorities in television and other media outlets, and although we have made much progress in recent years there is still a lot of room for improvement. The recent push for acceptance of different cultures has benefited society greatly. This demonstrates that regardless of a person’s origin, a person can do anything as long as you work hard enough. It is important that this continues because with the gradual acceptance of all cultures, the happier our society will become.