I've never understood where they get this "the media has a left-wing bias" thing from ... particularly when they're owned by these mega corporations that usually vote Republican for fiscal reasons! my conservative friends used to often cite this bias ... I just figure by "bias" they mean "facts" or something of the kind.
You've Said It AllarchlordsOctober 9 2008, 22:48:18 UTC
But, on a related note, I'm always annoyed by the media referring to him exclusively as "black." He's only as black as he is white (and as I am white). I'd understand if they don't use the word "mulatto" on Voice of America (just found out about Special English the other day when I was looking something up), but hell, they don't even have it in his wiki article. NPR listeners are supposed to be less anti-knowledge than other Americans, so they should be receptive to words that almost everyone knows (so the others can ask them and thus learn). It makes sense when they call him "the first black major-party presidential candidate," since he's blacker than any of his predecessors, but in the rest of the cases they're just emphasizing the difference for whatever reason.
Re: You've Said It AllladybronwynOctober 9 2008, 23:07:12 UTC
I would say that's a combination of emphasizing difference and also a result of the American system of race. There's a long history in the US of 'blackness' being an all-or-nothing characteristic. Note for example the so-called one-drop rule--anyone who was known to possess any black ancestors was counted as black. And I would argue that this largely continues today--anyone who has black ancestors is black, regardless of the relative darkness of their skin. Halle Berry is a good example here
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But, on a related note, I'm always annoyed by the media referring to him exclusively as "black." He's only as black as he is white (and as I am white). I'd understand if they don't use the word "mulatto" on Voice of America (just found out about Special English the other day when I was looking something up), but hell, they don't even have it in his wiki article. NPR listeners are supposed to be less anti-knowledge than other Americans, so they should be receptive to words that almost everyone knows (so the others can ask them and thus learn). It makes sense when they call him "the first black major-party presidential candidate," since he's blacker than any of his predecessors, but in the rest of the cases they're just emphasizing the difference for whatever reason.
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Carol Channing too. I think I heard a story about skin color in Bollywood at some point, as well.
It's good to know people who have knowledge on specific topics. It's too bad I don't have anything to add to the mix.
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