Identity issues raise a question among middle-class black and Latino teens regarding to their academic struggle compared to white and Asian ethnicities. The gap between the races is known as the “minority achievement gap,” which consists of the lower test scores, grades and college attendance by black and Latino students. Some researches feel the media has an influence on how teens view themselves in society. An article posted on NPR states, The teens often live in dual worlds: the suburban one they live in, and the rougher street life they see glorified in the media.
CNN highlights how black and Latino students lag in education compared to white and Asian students.
Personally, I feel the media does have an impact on how individuals view themselves and others in society. If children at an early age are exposed to television shows where black people are portrayed as poor and intellectual, the chances are they will grow up viewing black people as that stereotype. I feel the media sets the stage to how different ethnic groups are represented in society, regardless if they are correct or not.
The Stereotypes
A sociology teacher at Columbia High School Melissa Cooper presented a collage of faces to her class and asked students what they thought of these people if they saw them walking down the street.
Students discuss stereotypes in classroom
The students replied that the Latino-looking guy is a drug dealer and the white guy in the suit is smart because he wore glasses.
The exercise Cooper did with the class demonstrates how people view and judge others in based off of appearance alone. For all we know, the white male in the suit could have been a drug dealer, while the Latino male was a sophisticated business man. Did the media have an influence on the students assumptions of the pictures displayed by Cooper? How did they come to those conclusions about the Latino and white males?
The Gap
It still remains a question to why middle-class black students can’t keep up with white and Asian students. Studies have shown black middle-class students excel just as well as white students in elementary school, but as soon as they hit that the “teens” they fall behind.
Scholars and researchers contemplate if the real issue is confusion between reality and the images portrayed in the media.
Sociology professor at New York University Pedro Noguera says feels middle-class black children have the same benefits of middle-class white children, but many of them chose to be more like poor children.
“In many black communities, it is the ethos, the style, the orientation of poor black kids that influences middle-class black kids in ways that [are not] true for middle-class white kids,” Noguera says. “Most middle-class white kids don’t know poor white kids.”
The Campaign
I feel the education struggle black middle-class teens face would make a perfect campaign to raise awareness and inform the public of this issue. I would primarily focus on the impact the media has on teenagers and how it portrays the different ethnicities. I think the reason why the missing gap has been unanswered for so many years is because it is hard to measure the impact media has on teens with all the reality shows, music lyrics, Facebook, Twitter, etc. It is as if the media is evolving too fast for society to keep up with it.
Media Diversity 