Eric Stoller's blog

| higher education | technology | consulting |

White Privilege + Television

33 comments



white privilege and television

Rachel blogged recently about “Why There is a BET and There isn’t a WET“.

Nearly every semester, I get this comment, “Professor, why is there a Black Entertainment Television when there is no White Entertainment Television? They would say it is racist if we had WET, so why can they have BET?” There are other variants of this question, such as: “Why are there historically black colleges and not historically white colleges?” “Why is there an NAACP and no NAAWP?” “Why is there a minority scholarship, but no white scholarship?” “Why is there an Asian/Black/Latino student’s center and no White student’s center?”

It’s a great post and it reminds me of a discussion that occurred in one of my graduate school classes (If you read this and were in the class, do you remember what happened too?).

We started talking about television and someone mentioned how the majority of television programming was geared towards white people. One of my classmates baulked at this premise and said something about BET. I think I asked him something about whether or not he had had difficulty finding white people on television during his adolescence.

In her post, Rachel writes that “many whites don’t notice whiteness.” I think this was a pretty good example of a white person who was not aware of the norming of whiteness. In fact, this is #6 on the white privilege list by Peggy McIntosh.

Related posts:

  1. White privilege
  2. Neutral Man’s Burden – Colbert on White Privilege
  3. Portland Police discuss white privilege
  4. Tim Wise on White Privilege
  5. White privilege

Written by Eric Stoller

August 28th, 2007 at 4:37 pm

Posted in Race,Social Justice,This and that

Tagged with , , ,

«
»
  • http://www.dancrall.blogspot.com crallspace

    I have often wondered that too, why there is no WET. My only conclusion is that the acronym is too weird.

    No, really… in all honesty, a lot of TV is geared toward not just white people, but anyone who is willing to rot their brain and waste increments of half hours. Mainstream TV is such an insult these days, that really, I think the focus should be on something more worthwhile, something that builds. Most TV is designed to put and tear us down, black or white. And considering networks like MTV, FOX, etc., I think it’s an equal playing field.

    Maybe the intellectual community should come out against the fact that TV is geared mostly to dumb people, and demand more worthwhile material.

  • FinanceBuzz

    I used to ask the same question about BET. A joking response by a friend highlights Eric’s point. “There is a White Entertainment Television. It is called the The Nashville Network.” I know there are black people who enjoy fishing, NASCAR, country music, etc. but I think this makes the point.you are saying. That being said, I have no problem with there being a BET. It is a private company and if there is a market for such programming, all the power to them. However, I do suspect that if there were a bona fide”WET” there would be protests and charges of racism. I cannot prove that but that is just my gut feeling from observing how often racism is charged.

    I would put forward this point on the “whiteness” of the majority of television. It comes down to market economics just like BET. White people comprise almost 75% of the American population. Based on that alone, there is likely going to be more whiteness on television and other media outlets.

  • Dennis

    FB, if a WET existed, what kind of programming would be shown? Why?

  • vic

    Whatever you white people decide to show :)

    /me gets back to his Telemundo

  • http://crip-power.com stacey

    reading that entry made me so happy— it’s like “wow, there are people who actually GET things” (my everyday class hour consists of the prof talking about what he’d do if senator craig asked him for sex, “wetbacks” ruining the country, that a person would need about $10 million to be happy, etc. etc.) thanks for reposting.

    i don’t know if you’re interested but i saw that you posted the erase racism carnival— we’re hosting a campaign against charity/pity model of disability and about all the horrible effects of the jerry lewis telethon. there is more information on my blog and i hope you’ll join us in solidarity.

  • James

    Financebuzz:

    The whole point isn’t that there would be protests if someone started WET. The point is that WET would be pointless and would NEVER happen because we already have hundreds of channels of White Entertainment Television. BET is ONE network. I have 70 channels of expanded basic cable, four of which I watch. All but one of my 70 channels (BET being the exception) are geared toward white folks. So, why would anyone start up a WET channel?

  • FinanceBuzz

    Dennis,

    I have no idea. What kind of programming do they put on BET? Music that tends to be popular in the black community. Shows that focus on black characters. I suspect if there were a WET it would be the same.

  • FinanceBuzz

    James, I think you make a valid point. I do not see the need for it.

  • http://ericstoller.com/blog/ Eric Stoller

    Stacey – Sorry that it took me so long to respond. Thanks for commenting. I’ve been checking out the blogging carnival against pity a.k.a. the Anti Telethon Blogswarm. It’s very good.

    James – Great comment! I am very glad that you are one of my regular readers/contributors.

  • tony rones

    I think the idea is arrogant! through TV we learn to love and hate white people. We learn that white people or people who look white is beautiful. We learn that white education is important. Any other culture is a privilege importance. Majority of the media is for the idea of white superiority BET doesn’t voice the opinion of blacks but also keep black people basically uneducated or promotes ignorance. whit the right knowledge the chat can be very interesting but most black people have fear to speak up

  • RC

    I agree with tony rones completely. I think many of the posters need to read the white privilege list. The whole idea of white privilege and television is that there is no need for a WET because television, as well as a majority of mass media, is geared towards white people and white american culture. BET is a result of an effort to provide an alternative for black communities and allow them to view programs that identify with them culturally. BET has failed at this miserably by only providing degrading images of people of color and misrepresenting the black community. On the other hand, every other channel broadcasts programs that provide positive images of white people and a glorification of their communities and culture. It is a shame that white privilege in america prevents white people and many of the authors of the previous posts from realizing that the whole american system, including the media, is set up in their favor. BET and any other black organizations exist because of the need for organizations that black people can exist within comfortably. These organizations exist because black people have been systematically excluded from or made to feel uncomfortable in white organizations. Its a shame that arrogance and white privilege prevent many of the posters from realizing this. Please read the white privilege list by Peggy Macintosh.

  • Pingback: Discovery Channel » Eric Stoller’s blog

  • shayna

    i get so mad at all the color thing…the mixing of races is the real problem..this melting pot crap that people have allowed the government to be involved in. They wanted this to create a different world and give different ideas that they wanted and now people are so mixed up that we, in our own individual races can no longer even support the ideas our grandpa’s and grams have raised us with. our cultural upbringing is being divided and erased because people cant breed and be with their own race. I am not saying be cruel to each other but keep your heritage togather and don’t make a mix of ideas that someday as a end result of all this race class crap…you will have to make a stand for what you are and if your mixed which side do you fully want to represent…which cultural up brining do you turn your back on? just say no to mixing and learn about your people and the many great things each culture has done to make a better tom marrow. love people but love your own as well….

  • concerned mom

    I am an African American woman and a mother of a 4 and 2 year old. It does concern me that the t.v. media is inundated with images of white people, albeit good and bad (but more good than bad) – and the majority of images of balck people are degrading, gun weilding, butt-shaking, foul mouthed, and generally ignorant. The community in which I live is not made up of these kinds of people and I don’t want my children growing up thinking that they have to be afraid of their own people, but white people they can trust – it is the white man that is promoting racial divide in this country by continuously showing through the various forms of media predominantly good images of whites and bad images of people of color. The white man actually has the power to bring racial harmony to this country by promoting and modeling images of not just diversity, but of unity among diverse peoples – showing backs and whites working happily together, asian and blacks playing together not just as children as you might see on the famed children’s show “Sesame Street”, but also as adults on the golf course or on the tennis courts – maybe if you showed more of it – people in their obviously impressionable minds, may actually begin to believe that it can be done – but the real question is – does the white man want this unity?

  • http://confussedcitizen Richard

    I have read alot of comments on this subject which all bring up good point and different views to think on. I do not find my self to be a racist, My best friend is noticably part black. I also have black co – workers and friends of in which have black friends that i more than welcome their friendship. This also includes hispanic and aisan decent. Being from the south i have watched raisism come along way both black and white. When i was a kid you did not have much contact with the opposit race. This sense has change in my family and those whom used to teach and uphold these teachings have remorse and which they would not have done such. In thier defense this is what was tought to them as childern. As america grows frurther away from the times of slavery this wall between races will shrink. To the ” concerned mom” i agree with you about television shows and movies always pertraying the black man as a drug dealing gaingster. This surely does not help in raising childern of any race. Please do not think that all white people are racist and want to see the fall of black people. In my opinnion white people see the names of the organizations such as “BET” and get mad, despite the real intensions of the organization. If the names of the organization where not as staight forward sounding, such as one bloger stating whites have a “WET” but its named “CMT” Then most people would not even notice. We as a Nation need to come together and fix what is ahead of us which is our goverment and our rights as U.S. citizens, for i believe we are not african americans, white americans, aisian or hispanic. If you where born in the USA or where given legal right to be here and pay taxes then you are an American, and the last time i looked this was still something to be proud of so lets keep it that way.

  • Shayna Rayder

    the friendship with the other race is not what i am really talking about…i am talking about the peoples own heritage and family blood lines are being destroyed by stupid people not using their heads. an example…i approve certain type of paper work that req. a black or white box…people are so frucked up and mixed they don’t even know what to stand for. our America is being destroyed by our own. everyone needs to step up and take a stand for what is right and mixing is not a answer to coming together but will lead to a terrible end of choices for the poor child that their family selfishly picked for their life’s journey….a hard road right from birth. everyone has there place and their own life style but people are to busy not caring for the future and satisfying their own urges.

  • Mike

    Everybody goes on and on about what is racist and what is not. I myself am 1/2 German, 15/16 Engilish and 1/16 Cherokee. I consider myself a white man, mostly because I am white, but also because I LIKE BEING ON THE TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN. The white man did not steal America, we took it face to face. We did terrrible things to the blacks and we’ve apologized and been paying for quite some time. As long as I have to keep paying, I DON”T CARE HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT IT. It’s over, deal with it.

  • http://ericstoller.com/blog/ Eric Stoller

    Let me get this straight, you are 24/16th of a person? Very impressive. It must be difficult to find pants…

    Also, your first sentence on what is racist and what is not, I would recommend a quick glance in your mirror, there is your answer.

  • JIm Sachsen

    I have watched BET every once in awhile. It served up the worst stereotypes of blacks since Amos and Andy.

  • Pingback: Comments in moderation » Eric Stoller’s Blog | social justice | higher education | technology

  • http://rhetoricalwasteland.blogspot.com Dennis

    Jim: I might actually agree with you on this one. I can’t stand BET – it is, indeed, full of stereotypes.

    But what does this prove? That it’s bad TV? That people of color can reproduce stereotypes? That the pressures of being a powerful TV executive overcome other influences?

    Mike: So if I beat you up, burn down your house, etc., if I just wait long enough that justifies my actions and I can tell you to just deal with it? Really?

    Shayna…. I’m not sure I even have words to respond to you. I can only hope that what you wrote was satire. Why do peoples’ bloodlines matter? Why are “mixed-race” children doomed to a life of hardship? (And if that’s even true, why should we accept that as the state of affairs?)

    Also, are you aware that modern racial classifications are false at the genetic level? They are socially constructed groupings originally developed by Europeans to prove white superiority. They have no basis in scientific fact.

  • SarahMC

    Shayna, please explain who is, and is not, included when you talk about “blacks.” Are you referring to everyone with skin darker than a certain shade? People of African descent? What about northern Africans?

  • shayna rayder

    when i speak of blacks, i speak of any shade…the area of where they come from is not the issue but mixing is one of the biggest….why cant people have enough pride in their own race to breed with there own and stick with there own. i am not talking about being cruel but being respectful of our own race and have some damn pride in our own self’s…white or black, yellow or green….mixing them is creating a confused future within our children who will not be able to identify with what and who they are. i should not only say the black race but at this current state, it seems they are mixing a lot and at the time i wrote last i was doing a topic on this issue.”the melting pot”….the idea of the new America and it’s destruction from what i believe our forefathers intended

  • SarahMC

    So dark-skinned people should not mate with light-skinned people. Got it. Do dark-skinned Italians count as “black,” then? And light-skinned people with African roots can mate with, say, light-skinned Irish folks?
    As you can see, race is a social construct.

  • http://rhetoricalwasteland.blogspot.com Dennis

    Shayna,

    So what if “our forefathers” desired “racial” separation?

    They were wrong about a lot of things, this being one of them. I see no reason to blindly listen to them and assume they had the ability to predict what today’s world would be like to the extent that they could design a government or society that would work. We can’t even do that now – so how could they have done it then?

    And why should I take pride in my race? Europeans – “white people,” I suppose – killed millions of Native Americans, instituted and maintained slavery, imperialistically colonized large parts of the world in a brutal fashion, and set off nuclear bombs on other human beings (and that’s without sitting down and thinking about it.)

    What’s there to be proud of? That people with my skin color have committed some truly horrific crimes?

    Don’t get me wrong – I’m not wracked with guilt; those incidents were nothing I could have changed. But I’m not going to take pride in that history. Doing so is morally and ethically repulsive. What does it say about someone who does take pride in such a bloody and aggressive history?

  • SarahMC

    Why is dating someone outside your race considered being ashamed of your race? Some people’s relationships are a reflection of how much the partners enjoy each other, not just a means to an end (more white babies?).

  • FinanceBuzz

    Dennis, as I read your response, a question came to me that I think may explain some of your position. Are you a white man who is racist against….white people? If you took everything you said and said it about black people, I have a feeling that you and other on this board would be screaming racism. What else do you call it when you paint the whole white race based on the action of some? Are white people the only people who engaged in killing in the history of mankind? Yes, there have been some horrific crimes, but there have been some incredible successes in government, science, engineering, and business by white people. There have been successes in these areas by people of all colors and creeds. However, to read your comments, one would think that anyone who is white is capable of nothing positive. Yes, I think if white man made such comments about black people, there would be some definite outcry by this group. So where is the outcry now?

  • http://ericstoller.com/blog/ Eric Stoller

    Derek – I think that the successes of white folks have long been recognized and have dominated the social studies curriculum in most K – 12 settings. The history of violence, oppression, and institutions that have benefited white people while simultaneously harming people of color have been largely omitted from educational curricula. It is not a lack of positive recognition that exists. It is a lack of critical awareness on the negatives.

    Being white is not a negative thing, being white and not being aware of race-based institutional privilege is.

    …and Dennis and I are both white men making comments about white privilege. Being white is as much a part of our lived experience as it is yours.

  • FinanceBuzz

    Well I am white and I do not buy all the argument you make on alleged “privilege.” And that is not a bad thing unless I have done something to make me guilty of mistreatment of others. I cannot be told I am a “bad thing” for something I did not do. To argue otherwise is, in my opinion, counter to the values we hold in the American society.

  • http://ericstoller.com/blog/ Eric Stoller

    Derek – I never said that you did anything. I am writing about an awareness of what has been done, how white people as a group have benefited, and how that benefit (privilege) needs to be recognized.

  • FinanceBuzz

    Well Eric, that is the great thing about American. We are all individuals not just a part of the group. I reject a lot of the group mentality that pervades society. This idea of acknowledging some type of “privilege” as opposed to the hard work that I have put in school and work over the years to get where I am is part and parcel of the assault on individualism that is going on in this country and key component of left-leaning politics (and that is, going back to an old discussion, why I feel identifying this type of philosophy as left-wing or liberal is fitting). Perhaps you do not embrace all aspects of this assault but you continue to perpetuate its damage by insisting that people cannot be given credit for their successes nor blame for their plights (when those responsibilities are at play). I acknowledge that there may be some aspects of this “privilege” you highlight. But you still do not have a solution. I still do not see you, as a proponent of such a philosophy, giving up all the benefits of your alleged unearned gains. To read this blog, you would think that no white person has ever accomplished anything on their own merit that was not taken from a person of color. That is not even logical but yet I am supposed to acknowledge this theory? No. Maybe certain elements of your point I will concede, but your overall philosophy is flawed and I will stand on my individualism.

  • http://ericstoller.com/blog/ Eric Stoller

    Derek – Acknowledging white privilege does not nullify your degree/hard work. Your degree and hard work are not going to vanish. Yes, we are all individuals, but we still exist together in groups. It is not an either or scenario. I have never said that being an individual is a bad thing.

    Once again, people are given credit for their successes. However, that does not mean that their individual accomplishments are not impacted by historical context. The two can exist together.

    I’m curious…what aspects of white privilege resonate with you?

    I think that part of the solution is recognizing and becoming aware of white privilege. Resistance to awareness is definitely something that took me a while to work through.

    Acknowledging white privilege does not mean that I need to turn in my university diplomas or empty out what little is in my bank account. Acknowledging white privilege is part of a process that is an element of an anti-racist identity.

    White people and our actions are not bereft of historical context. Our current existence is in part because of what has transpired in the past.

    What elements of what I am writing about seem to make the most sense? If you feel that the overall concept is flawed, what parts stand out from the whole as being relevant?

  • Chris

    It will be interesting once the demography of the USA switches from monority black to MAJORITY black (about 2050 so says the census). Can there then be a WET without a problem? Will BET then be considered racist? To me, its all just silly. Man will never be accepted beyond the confins of Earth with this track of thinking.