G-Phoria – The Award Show 4 Gamers

LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 31: Actress Aisha Tyler arrives at G-Phoria – The Award Show 4 Gamers held on July 31, 2004 at the Shrine Auditorium, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Tyson Knocked Out By Journeyman

Artist LL Cool J performs onstage at the Time Warner/Rock The Vote party

BOSTON – JULY 29: Artist LL Cool J performs onstage at the Time Warner/Rock The Vote party at The Roxy nightclub July 29, 2004 in Boston, Massachusetts. The event was one of many social events held during the Democratic National Convention. (Photo by Michael Springer/Getty Images)

P. Diddy interviews delegates

BOSTON: Entertainer P. Diddy interviews delegates from New York for MTV News on the final night of the Democratic National Convention 29 July, 2004, in Boston, Massachusetts. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry will close the four-day convention by accepting the nomination for president, setting the stage for a three-month election showdown with US President George W. Bush in the 02 November election. (Photo credit PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)

Kimora Lee-Simmons Arrested On Drug Charges

SADDLE RIVER, NJ – JULY 26: – Kimora Lee Simmons, wife of hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, is seen in this police mug shot July 26, 2004 in Saddle River, New Jersey. Simmons was arrested and charged with eluding an officer, possessing marijuana, careless driving and operating a vehicle while possessing drugs. (Photo by Saddle River Police Department via Getty Images)

Harry Belafonte Named Goodwill Ambassador

Former Black Panther nabbed After 30 years

Brandy And Quentin Richardson To Tie The Knot

Mass media and the African American criminal male stereotype

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Dennis Rome, a sociologist and associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Indiana University Bloomington, wants to open people’s eyes to a form of indoctrination they experience day in and day out. It poisons race relations in the United States, Rome says, by contributing to negative stereotypes of African American men, creating damaging self-fulfilling prophecies for black youth and bolstering an age-old fear many white Americans have of African Americans.

Rome charges contemporary mass media with such “conceptual entrapment by imagery” in his new book, Black Demons: Mass Media’s Depiction of the African American Male Criminal Stereotype, published this month by Praeger Publishers. While the book is geared to the college classroom, Rome wrote it to appeal to the general public as well, which he would like to see take a more critical view of media that he says foster a negative stereotype of African Americans.

Contemporary media, he says, particularly through extreme gangster rap music, reality crime shows and newscasts, have essentially defined crime and given it a black face, despite statistics that paint a different picture. For example, he cites statistics that point to higher cocaine use among whites than blacks, an impression one does not get while watching the evening news or the reality show COPS, he says.

Rome has been researching issues related to crime, media, race and ethnic relations for 15 years. What has evolved from his work is a schema, central to his book, that involves several steps:

- The media report on crimes, showing images that viewers then associate with crime.
- The media report on crimes without showing images. Viewers have in mind the images shown previously.
- When viewers later think about crimes, they look for indications that support their conception of crime, which was formed by what they saw in the media reports.
“I want people to understand the conceptualization, the entrapment by the media, and not be too quickly convinced of what they see,” Rome says. “If we understand how we conceptualize these media images, we can begin to change our behavior.”

The schema has applications for scholars as well. “We have a better chance of understanding how behavior is shaped if we can understand how concepts of crime are shaped in the mind,” he says.

Black Demons includes chapters devoted to reality police shows and extreme gangster rap music, which is often brutal toward black women yet is purchased largely by white suburban males, Rome says. He makes a strong case for how the African American male criminal stereotype continues to be used to justify covert and overt racism. He also provides a historical analysis of how the dominant society has employed and still employs this stereotype to keep blacks assigned to second-class citizenship. The myth of the black rapist, for example, was used to justify lynching and to keep African Americans in a vulnerable position.

Rome’s schema can be used to evaluate other social issues as well. Concerning crime, however, Rome has some suggestions for reversing the negative stereotypes and images.

“This country needs to stop participating in a prison-industrial complex, where fear is created so people are more willing to fund prison construction than schools,” he says. “We also need to look at alternative measures for affecting behavior. Punitive punishment doesn’t work.”

He says the citizenry also would benefit from news media with more diverse ideas, not just more diverse ethnicity.

Rome can be reached at 812-855-8805 and drome@indiana.edu.

Sharpton to Bush: Black vote ‘is not for sale’

Anthony Anderson Released On Bail In Memphis

MEMPHIS – JULY 28: Actor Anthony Anderson is released from the Shelby County Jail on July 28, 2004 in Memphis, Tennessee. Anderson, along with Wayne Witherspoon, were charged with aggravated rape after an incident with an extra on the set of “Hustle and Flow,” a John Singleton produced film being made in Memphis. (Photo by Mike Brown/Getty Images)

Actor Anthony Anderson Accused Of Rape

Urbanworld Film Directors Panel Discussion

NEW YORK – JULY 27: (L-R) Filmmakers Charles Stone III, Jenny Alonzo, vice president of production & inventory operations at Lifetime Television and national president of NAMIC (National Association of Minorities in Cable), Warrington Hudlin, Vanessa Middleton, Phil Roc, MTV2 General Manager David Cohn, Dana Jackson, and Patricia Riggen pose for a photo before the Urbanworld Film Festival Film Director Showcase at the MTV offices July 27, 2004 in New York City. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)

UrbanWorld is dedicated to redefining the role of minorities in contemporary cinema by implementing programs and events that support the development and success of the urban filmmaking community.

Lloyd Banks visits MTV’s TRL

NEW YORK – JULY 27: MTV VJ Vanessa Minnillo (L) and rapper Lloyd Banks (R) make an appearance on MTV’s Total Request Live July 27, 2004 in New York City. (Photo by Peter Kramer/Getty Images)

Jay Z Leads MTV VMA Nominees

The 2004 MTV Video Music Awards will be staged at Miami’s American Airlines Arena on August 29 and will be broadcast live at 8 p.m. on MTV (tape-delayed on the West Coast).

Here is a list of the nominees…

Best Video Of The Year
D-12 (My Band)
Jay Z (99 Problems)
OutKast (Hey Ya)
Britney Spears (Toxic)
Usher F/ Lil’ Jon & Ludacris (Yeah)

Best Male Video
Jay Z (99 Problems)
Prince (Musicology)
Justin Timberlake (Senorita)
Kanye West (All Falls Down)
Usher F/ Lil’ Jon & Ludacris (Yeah)

Best Female Video
Christina Aguilera (The Voice Within)
Beyonce (Naughty Girl)
Alicia Keys (If I Ain’t Got You)
Jessica Simpson (With You)
Britney Spears (Toxic)

Best Group Video
D-12 (My Band)
Good Charlotte (Hold On)
Hoobastank (The Reason)
Maroon 5 (This Love)
No Doubt (It’s My Life)

Best Rap Video
50 Cents F/Snoop Dogg & G-Unit (P.I.M.P)
D-12 (My Band)
Jay Z (99 Problems)
Lil’ Jon & The East Side Boyz F/ Ying Yang Twins (Get Low)
Ludacris (Stand Up)

Best R&B Video
Beyonce (Me, Myself And I)
Brandy F/ Kanye West (Talk About Our Love)
R. Kelly (Step In The Name Of Love)
Alicia Keys (If I Ain’t Got You)
Usher (Burn)

Best Hip Hop Video
Black Eyed Peas (Hey Mama)
Chingy F/ Ludacris & Snoop Dogg (Holidae In)
Nelly F/ P. Diddy & Murphy Lee (Shake Ya Tailfeather)
OutKast (Hey Ya)
Kanye West (All Falls Down)

Best Dance Video
Beyonce (Naughty Girl)
Black Eyed Peas (Hey Mama)
Missy Elliot (I’m Really Hot)
Britney Spears (Toxic)
Usher F/ Lil’ Jon & Ludacris (Yeah)

Best Rock Video
The Darkness (I Believe In A Thing Called Love)
Evanescence (My Immortal)
Hoobastank (The Reason)
Jet (Are You Gonna Be My Girl?)
Linkin Park (Breaking The Habit)

Best Pop Video
Hilary Duff (Come Clean)
Avril Lavigne (Don’t Tell Me)
No Doubt (It’s My Life)
Jessica Simpson (With You)
Britney Spears (Toxic)

Best New Artist
The Darkness (I Believe In A Thing Called Love)
Jet (Are You Gonna Be My Girl?)
JoJo (Leave Get Out)
Maroon 5 (This Love)
Kanye West (All Falls Down)
Yellowcard (Ocean Avenue)

Best MTV2 Award
Elephant Man (Pon The River)
Franz Ferinand (Take Me Out)
Modest Mouse (Float On)
Twista F/ Kanye West & Jamie Fox (Slow Jamz)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Maps)
Yellowcard (Ocean Avenue)

Best Breakthrough Video
Franz Ferinand (Take Me Out)
Modest Mouse (Float On)
New Found Glory (All Downhill From Here)
Steriogram (Walkie Talkie Man)
Kanye West F/ Syleena Johnson (All Falls Down)
The White Stripes (The Hardest Button To Button)

Best Direction
Jay Z (99 Problems)
No Doubt (It’s My Life)
OutKast (Hey Ya)
Steriogram (Walkie Talkie Man)
The White Stripes (The Hardest Button To Button)

Best Choreographer
Beyonce (Naughty Girl)
Black Eyed Peas (Hey Mama)
Missy Elliot (I’m Really Hot)
Sean Paul (Like Glue)
Usher F/ Lil’ Jon & Ludacris (Yeah)

Best Special Effect
Incubus (Megalomaniac)
Modest Mouse (Float On)
OutKast (Hey Ya)
Steriogram (Walkie Talkie Man)
The White Stripes (The Hardest Button To Button)

Best Art Direction
Alicia Keys (You Don’t Know My Name)
No Doubt (It’s My Life)
OutKast (Hey Ya)
Steriogram (Walkie Talkie Man)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Maps)

Best Editing
Jay Z (99 Problems)
Jet (Are You Gonna Be My Girl?)
Simple Plan (Perfect)
The White Stripes (The Hardest Button To Button)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Maps)

Best Cinematography
Christina Aguilera (The Voice Within)
Beyonce (Naughty Girl)
Jay Z (99 Problems)
No Doubt (It’s My Life)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Maps)

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