Editor’s note: This is a response to “Black women poorly presented in media,” which was published in The Reflector on Feb. 21.
I am a regular reader of The Reflector and find many of the articles to be well written or on point.
However, I had concerns over the article “Black women poorly presented in media” that I could not let go un-addressed.
There is not an equal representation of African-American women in the media, but many of the arguments made to support this statement were inaccurate.
The article said, “…in mainstream media, the lead character on popular TV shows is almost always white” and if they are on the show it is as a minor side character.
This statement is not true. Kerry Washington stars in the new ABC drama “Scandal” and Jada Pinkett Smith stars in the medical drama “Hawthrone.”
For children, there is China Anne McClain on “A.N.T. Farm” and Zendaya Coleman on “Shake It Up” that air on Disney Channel. We could even go back into the past and look at shows such as “Sister, Sister” and “That’s So Raven” or even “The Cosby Show” which still re-run on occasion.
It would also be in poor form for me not to mention one of my favorite TV personalities, Wendy Williams, who hosts her own talk show.
As for the comment about “Walking Dead,” in no way do I mean this to be rude, but do you watch the show?
Sure many of the male African Americans have passed on, but so have people of other races. Everyone is subject to becoming a walker, no matter what background they come from.
My biggest problem with the comment made is Michonne, a central character (and fan favorite) portrayed by Danai Gurira, is completely disregarded.
A strange person to ignore considering she wields a samurai sword, which makes her hard to miss. I understand the comment was geared toward scary movies (or that is how I interpreted it), but if you think about it everyone dies in scary movies, just like “The Walking Dead.”
In fact, “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer” actually has Brandy as one of the only three survivors.
Speaking of films, what about the actresses like Halle Berry, Keke Palmer, Gabrielle Union or Zoe Saldana?
Even on a smaller scale, I recently watched a movie starring Toni Braxton on Lifetime. In magazines, I can understand what you mean about not as many African-American women on the covers of magazines like Vanity and Cosmopolitan, but flip open the magazine (I did before writing this) and you will find plenty African-American models posing through out them.
Or we could look at models in television and see Tyra Banks from “America’s Next Top Model” and Naomi Campbell as judges for modeling competitions.
The argument is also weakened by the fact music, an important form of media, was not addressed.
We could look at strong, successful women, such as Beyonce or Ashanti who empower women and extend into all facets of media beyond music.
Beyonce acted in movies such as “Austin Powers Goldmember,” “Obsessed,” “Pink Panther” and “Dream Girls.” Ashanti starred in two of my favorite movies, “John Tucker Must Die” and “Coach Carter.”
The intention was not to be negative, but the article was negative when the topic is presented from a glass-half-empty viewpoint.
The argument should have been “Black women making leaps in media, but still a long way to go.”
From there some of these women could have been mentioned, but also stated while their achievements great, the numbers don’t compare.
Failing to recognize the African-American women currently in the media does those women a great injustice.