"Race Becomes More Central to TV Advertising"
As a sociologist, I'm always reflecting on cause and effect. So, for example, once the parade is underway, does the horse pull the cart or does the momentum of the cart motivate the horse to keep moving? Did the Civil Rights Movement occur because Americans had altered their views about race? Or did their view points change largely because this movement got underway and led to cultural transformations that they could no longer ignore.
In a similar vein, what role do the mass media and advertising have in the continued alteration of our perceptions about people of different racial and cultural groups? Are media decision-makers telling us that multiculturalism is "hip" and we are now buying the message just like any other message? Or are the thoughts and standards of the public changing such that the magicians of Madison Avenue and Hollywood Blvd. must get on board the multicultural express.
When I see a brochure advertisement for Penn State with a photo of five people from five different cultural groups, there is a side of me that feels cynical, as though someone felt the need to be inclusive of everyone. A likely case of political correctness, I surmise. But at the same time, if I saw the same brochure with students of only one background, I'd be equally cynical and wonder what they were thinking to use such a photo. Like the statue of the children playing on the Hintz Family Alumni Center -- who are all white. There's just something about that statue that does not sit well with me.
And yet...I despise political correctness. And yet...what was the artist thinking? And yet...thankfully the artist didn't go out of his or her way to find child models who were all ethnoracially different. And yet...why didn't he or she do this?
It's quite a "catch-22"--you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.
Clearly this article is telling us that we're on the threshold of a new era of race relations and that it's bound to be positive for everyone, even as there are sure to be a few bumps in the road as we move forward. What do you think?
