The Portrayal of Racial Minorities on Prime Time Television
Quotes from this article included:
“Documenting the trend in the portrayal of racial minorities on prime time television serves two major purposes. First, it is socially significant to identify the extent to which television networks represent U.S. ethnic minorities and especially to determine what changes, if any, have occurred in the last two decades among the least represented groups”.
Concern about minorities on television emerged in response to issues raised by the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights 1977)
In 1971, AA were 6% of the prime time characters in comedies and dramas, and 11% of the population; in 1980, they were 8% of prime time characters and 12% of the population; by 1993, they were 11% of the prime time characters and still 12% of the population. Thus in sheer frequency at any rate, they achieved one measure of parity.”
The resulting commission report suggested that such portrayals of African Americans, as well as other minorities, influenced the way in which both Whites and non-whites perceived minorities (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights)
