Media and Race - Ads
I writing this to ask if anyone else has had a similar experience when it comes to television ads of late. Before I outline my observation, I want to make it clear that this is not a criticism but merely an observation.
Not long ago I began to notice a phenomenon within television commercials. Have you ever noticed that many commercials represent a diversity of race. That is that many commercials show at least one representative from a variety of races. This is completely understandable and a welcomed sight in our media. Then I began to notice that whenever there was an African-American in a commercial along with a White actor, it was often (in fact nearly 100% of the time) the case that the African-American was playing a role of the knowledgable or "problem-solver" while the White actors were often portrayed as the one with the problem...or the one where the humor of the commercial joke fell on them. I started concentrating on this phenomenon whenever a commercial came on and I was amazed at just how many followed this scenario.
Has anyone else noticed this? I'm trying to imagine a commercial where the butt of the joke would fall on the AA and I can see clearly why an advertiser would avoid this at all costs. Does this present a problem...or is this something that we welcome? Is this political correctness to extreme or is it something that helps to counter the awful imbalances that minorities have faced for hundreds of years?
-P