21st Century Media & Race
To better understand the "miscarriage"(?) of Justice that occurred in the Trayvon Martin case, we all must recognize the emergence of a new "tool" to keep racism alive in a way that will continue to benefit those citizens who consider themselves to be "white". It was deftly employed by the "Defense" in the murder case. The exploitation of media for months before the trial, and in numerous instances during the trial, is what we all saw. What, exactly? Racially-coded language, racially inequitable juxtapositions of imaginary events, racial inferences relating to language .. ; if you were paying attention to the trial, you can add many examples from your own experiences.
Both Talk, and Televised Media have played prominent roles in spreading this new phenomenon. We were childish and naïve to expect hundreds of years of vile racial language and practices to suddenly "disappear". We must not persist in our naivety, after we are confronted by such blatant application of this technique during the recent trial. The entire world witnessed it! The female jury has been so traumatized by their role in this "process", they require "counseling".
In this age when Media dominates every aspect of our lives, we have to be more vigilant and protest against the almost complete use of this technique for "content" programming by the entertainment industry: from Hollywood to writers for Television programs. Every time we see a "token" non-white stuck in a social situation in a sitcom, in ways that have nothing to do with the plot, we see the technique being employed. The impact on the continuation of racialized thought in our society is immense! This technique is masked by the on-going mass "ban" on racial epithets.
PR; public relations techniques have been placed on steroids through applications of technological advances in communication. It underpins everything from advertising to, now, murder trials! Can "Justice" survive?
Stay Vigilant! Look for uses of visual cues for purposes of psychological manipulation.
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