Post-colonialism - bonus reading and tasks

MM58: Social Media and Black Identity

1) List three theorists discussed in the article and what they believe regarding black identity.

Aisha Harris -
 Social media plays a negative role in the construction of black identities. She argues that the rise of social media has created a culture wherein black people are subject to the process of 'Memeification' (Ain't nobody got time for that, Hide your kids, Hide your wife)
She believes that this process is an unconscious reflection of a deep rooted desire to see black people perform and entertain. Fixing ideologies and identities of black people.

Giddens -
would argue that social media can be somewhere that constructs positive black identities. An example would be 'The Blackout' - a campaign created on Tumblr to celebrate blackness. However it could be said that social media has derailed the campaign as it has also aloud for the 'fetishisation of blackness' where other people set up accounts to hypersexualise black people and their identities. The positive gains of 'The Blackout' campaign may not translate into real life.

Henry Jenkins -
Social media is an arena wherein 'participatory cultures' can be established - the interest driven online allows people to channel their skills into political activism and 'voicing marginalised viewpoints' An example is '#BlackTwitter' a constructed community that actively challenges negative representations of black identity in mass media and socially. It reaffirms positive views of black identity through 'humour, art, activism and education.' Jenkins argues that the participatory culture have the power to influence politics and 'shape the world around them'. An Example would be #Black lives matter a campaign mainly cretaed by 'black twitter' to call out police brutality, institutional racism and racist prejudice within society.

Christian Fuchs (a Marxist theorist) -
Accused Jenkins of separating the idea of participation from the concept of participatory democracy. He argues that 'in order to have a true 'participatory culture'. there needs to be equality of ownership'

2) In your opinion, is social media a positive or negative force when it comes to issues of black identity? 

I think that social media is a mostly positive force with issues of black identity. It gives people the voice and the space to share the things that are ignored by traditional/mass media. Issues arise when things don't translate into reality some may get stuck in 'echo chambers' believing that almost everyone wants equality and change, some may think that it is an easier task given the amount of attention it has received online when in reality little has changed practically.

(PG64)

3) How could you apply the post-colonial theories we have learned in class to the issue of social media and black identity?

Alvarado
Dangerous - News typically focuses on crimes committed by minorities.
Exotic - 'Latino's' are consistently favoured for a more sexual appeal in music videos e.t.c
Pitied - The 'poster boys/girls' are typically black children, the aim is to pity them and show that they need the west's help
Humorous - Many tv shows, films, memes are centred around black (usually male) comedians.

Fanon
Primitivized - Black people are consistently shown to have either raw talent, or very primitive violence and beliefs.
Infantilized - Like with the memes, anything that can be considered 'simple minded' or different is made into comedic trends across social media.
Essentialized - The crimes of minorites commonly reported generalise groups and make them all seem as if they are all criminals.
Decivilized - There is a constant referral to black people, criminal activity and uprisings making them seem typically decimalised.

Said
'White mask'
Them Vs US

Sometimes there is a divide between white people and minorities, however there is also a lot of evidence that shows that there is a lot of westernisation and the east adopting western styles/ideologies to fit in.

A Hustle for Life: Refugees in the Media

Now turn to page 6 and read A Hustle for Life: Refugees in the Media. When you have read the article, complete the following tasks:

1) What examples of different representations of refugees in the media are offered in the article?

In the British press, a great deal of the language and the imagery has been hostile. Refugees are often labelled as migrants, to create the impression that they are travelling by choice, rather than fleeing a genuine disaster.

They are held responsible for their own condition, even – or especially – when the West itself has contributed to it. Such language deliberately creates the impression in readers’ minds that refugees are a dangerous and threatening mass, parasitically living off the settled countries of the West.

They re not all negative though, there is the iconic image of A Turkish Police officer holding the boyd of Aylan Kurdi - a three year old Syrian boy who drowned.

A remarkable example of a more searching and humane approach to the issue is Exodus: Our Journey to Europe, a three-part BBC series broadcast in the summer of 2016. The title ‘Exodus’ refers to the biblical story of Moses leading the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land. In this case, the refugees were not Jewish, but from Syria (fleeing civil war), Afghanistan (fleeing the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban) and Gambia (escaping the poverty of sub-Saharan Africa). The makers of the programme, Keo films, wanted to illustrate what is actually involved in these dangerous journeys across thousands of miles, and to help us to relate to refugees as individuals, rather than nameless members of a huge mass. (essentialized)

2) In your opinion, is the documentary genre more or less biased than the news media? What examples can you provide from the article to support your view?

I think that documentary and news media are equally as biased. Everyone creates their own bias by trying to be equal, they are cutting out information and trying to make every situation balance creates a new narrative. For example in Exodus: Our Journey to Europe, a positive bias is being created especially when referring to the bible.

3) How could you apply the post-colonial theories we have learned in class to the representation of refugees in the media?

Refugees have are essentialized and we are rarely told anything other than that they are refugees. They are also dangerous as the most coverage they get involves crimes that they have been accused of and any terror attack is automatically suggested to have been the work of refugees. Similarly they are also pitied, because a more positive suggestion would be that they turn to terrorist groups because they simply have nothing and the west is not doing enough to help them.