Overview: These readings offer a context and concepts for analyzing racism and representation, with a particular focus on youth. The assignment has three parts:
- View three clips of news reports of the protests in Charlotte, North Carolina over the police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott; bring one URL to share.
- Readings
- Reading questions
- View (3) clips; bring one URL to share.
View three clips of news reports of the protests in Charlotte, North Carolina over the police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott. On seeing these reports, what thoughts and feelings are provoked? As you do the following readings and response questions, consider how they apply to the media representations of these protests. Have the URL for one clip ready to share in class.
2. Readings
- Moving The Race Conversation Forward
- What Is Systemic Racism? – Incarceration
- Moving The Race Conversation Forward: How The Media Covers Racism, And Other Barriers To Productive Racial Discourse, Part 1. Race Forward, The Center For Racial Justice Innovation. January 2014, pp. 1-4, 6-10.
- Youth Media Council. Speaking for Ourselves: A Youth Assessment of Local News Coverage (2002). Pp. 1-16, 27-35.
3. Reading questions – WRITTEN RESPONSES REQUIRED
- From Moving the Race Conversation Forward (readings #1, #3), take notes to be turned in on “Key Terms” defining racism (p.3) and “Framing Definitions.” (p.4) What are your thoughts on their premise that discourses around the “individual” become the dominant frame used to discuss racism? How might this discourse that elevates individual agency over systemic power extend to other current political issues?
2. As best as possible in your own words, characterize the patterns described by the Youth Media Council report (#4) including:
- “Criminalizing” youth and its impacts
- “Findings” of local TV news representations of youth of color
- “Recommendations”
3. For white youth, what is your perception of the varied forces that shape understandings of youth of color? Their sense of agency in relation to undoing systemic racism?
Written assignments are single-spaced & typed in Times New Roman or Arial (size 12 font), 1-inch margins all around. Remember to proofread. Include a heading (single-spaced) that includes name, date, assignment title. Turn in as a paper document.