How Media Ridicules Minorities

How Media Ridicules Minorities

Premiering on March 1989, Cops is one of three shows that have been on the air the longest and the second longest on Fox network. To date, Cops has aired over 851 episodes and has covered over 140 different cities in the United States. Camera crews follow police officers, deputy Sheriffs, undercover narcotic officers, and other tactical officers to show these individuals in action during their police activities. Many people watch the television series and are amazed when they see how the cops take down the bad guy. The show is a parody against minorities and only restates the stereotypes. This show has many references to pop culture and when a white person sees this show he will only confirm that Blacks and Latinos are like animals. How can minorities fight stereotypes and racism with shows like this one?

The media portrays black individuals as violent beings who do not follow the law. In one episode of Cops, officers respond to a call of a man with a gun. Upon arrival, the first thing shown is a black man with a pistol. Officers draw their weapons and order the man to throw the gun and get on his knees. The man is clearly under the influence of some type of narcotic and does not follow the officer's orders. The cops use a taser on the man to control him and arrest him. The man resists and the cops have to fight with him and hit him. He continues to resists and hits one officer and bites him on the arm. This segment dehumanizes African Americans because human don't bite, only animals bite. Although the man bit the officer, he had an altered level of consciousness since he was under the influence of a drug. Dehumanizing blacks on TV puts fear into the public and that leads to discrimination and racism. The show does not justify why the people that get arrested act violently.

In another episode, two undercover narcotics officers chase a black man after he was leaning into the driver window of an SUV. The man is chased and he throws a baggie into the sewer. After being beat up and arrested the cops retrieve the baggie and find that it was crack cocaine. The man starts arguing with the cop and tells him that he didn't have any crack on him and that the officer stopped him for no reason. The officer becomes sarcastic at this point. The man asks the cop if he just stops any person on the street thinking he has drugs and the officer answers, "any person who puts crack down their pants." The man then replies, "So you just assumed I put crack down my pants?" The officer sarcastically replies, "I'm that good" and shuts the door. The officer implies that he has a special talent but at the same time implies that these people are obtuse and implies they all carry drugs.

For any racist person who sees this show they will get an image that black men are violent, carry weapons, use drugs, and are violent towards the police. After watching this show for more than six years, I have noted that ninety percent of the episodes depict blacks as bad people. When I was thirteen years old, I used to watch this show every day, and I got to the point that when I saw a black man on the street I would be scared. I would see a giant monster that was going to harm me, I remember hiding from black people. Media makes black people look like violent people, when in reality most black people are friendly.

In another episode of "Cops," the officers arrive to an auto shop and find it opened. They bring in the dog and yell that if anyone is there