|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
The Media's Bias Against Black Men in America Armstrong Williams Last week the New York Times published an article about the plight of American black men. The article was another example of major media outlets using negative statistics to consistently cast black men as the scourge of this country.
It is not surprising that editors and journalists pursue and use these stories. Gloom and doom sells. But there is a deeper truth beyond the headlines, and it is this truth that we must understand in order to appreciate the full story of black men in America.
These negative articles are not altogether erroneous. We must admit that the statistics do not lie. But a statistic cannot give balance or provide a larger context to the story. The statistics often do not cover the remarkable advancement many American black men have made in the last half century, nor do they report on the collapse of many white men in the same era.
Story Continues Below
This is not just bad reporting; it is bad for society. The continual coverage of the black man's plight instead of his progress only hinders his growth, holds back our country from true equality, and hides the truth about the opportunities and challenges that we all face.
We need the truth the whole truth. Get this on the record: We should have no problem with media outlets covering stories about the failures of some American blacks. However, we should challenge the lack of coverage of American black progress in this country. In the last century black men have literally gone from being slaves to business owners, government leaders, lawyers, doctors, firemen, generals, entertainers and educators. No other oppressed class of people anywhere else in the world has advanced its standing in a society this quickly.
At the same time, incidence of drug use, crime, scandal, divorce and other social ills have increased dramatically for white men, but these statistics are not reported as problems about white men' in America.
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control, a white adolescent male is four times more likely than his African-American classmate to be a regular cocaine user. Whites are 66 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds, and yet they are 70 percent of drug users in that age group. Blacks are 13.5 percent of persons in that age group and only 13 percent of young adult drug users, while Hispanics are nearly 15 percent of that age group, but yet comprise only 12 percent of drug users 18-25.
Approximately 9 out of 10 serial killers are white males between the ages of 20 and 35. Yet we never hear these statistics repeated over and over again in the mainstream press, making these crimes synonymous with one particular race as is the case with blacks. American blacks have often shared with me their astonishment at how they are treated with such pity and empathy overseas, because many foreigners believe that, because they are black, they must be criminals, school dropouts, deadbeat fathers and victims of perpetual racism. They learn these ideas from the way that American blacks are covered by the overseas media.
The media bias against one political party may be interesting dinner party conversation. Yet media bias against American blacks is a grave issue. These negative stories create powerful images in the heads and hearts of readers. Foreigners hear about these reports and come to America expecting every black man to attack them. White job owners read these stories and find it hard to believe any of their black job applicants can be productive. Black teens see these articles and wonder how it is possible to overcome the inherited problems of their community.
On and on it goes. Negative articles create a vicious cycle of negative images and low expectations.
So, what is the truth about the progress and plight of Americans today? I believe it is simple: We are all flawed. Every one of us from the president to the pope to the paper boy is going to err, sin and fail. The key to the story is not that bad things happen; we know that they will happen. The critical question is: What happens next?
All of us have the capacity to choose how to react when we are faced with difficult times, challenges and tests. All of us have the ability to pick ourselves up after we fall down, to dust ourselves off, and to get back on the horse. All of us have the ability to learn from our mistakes, examine our failures, and become better people because of our experiences. Indeed, we can only explain the tremendous progress of black men in America these past fifty years by acknowledging that, day after day, millions of American black men made the right, hard choice and decided yet again to dedicate themselves to living the American dream.
Black or white, God gave us the opportunity to succeed, and regardless of the situation we are dealt, we can all live the life we imagined. The world would be shocked to know that the majority of black men make the right choices and build successful families and careers every day in America, yet are rarely discussed in the headlines.
www.armstrongwilliams.com
Editor's note:
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Print Page 
Forward Page 
|
| All Rights Reserved © 2009 NewsMax.Com |