1. Amber Eddy
FYS 100
Racism in the Media
Many people do not realize how racist something can sound until it’s too late and it has
offended someone. In a matter of a day I heard five major red flags that could be considered
racist. The first one was from a woman in my self-defense class who told me that she jokingly
told an African American male she had just met how she would be surprised if he is the only
black guy in the neighborhood that doesn’t deal drugs. I was quite shocked at her statement and
couldn’t believe how she could say something like that with such ease. The second one was from
a close friend of mine who, while we were watching a dating show, said how of course the guy
remembered that girl’s name because she is black and her name is typically Chantal. This was
meant as a racist joke but the key thing is that it was racist regardless if it was supposed to be
funny or not. The third one was when I was watching a show and the comedian would announce
the name of an African American comedian joining him on a tour, but instead of showing the
real guy’s picture, he just showed a picture of an African American, whether it was a famous
man or not. The fourth one was told by my friend at dinner who said that in high school, she had
a police officer who was extremely racist and would say the “N-word” all the time, whether it
was to an African American student or only to be disrespectful in any way. The fifth one was on
television as well where I was watching a comedian talking to this girl and he asked why she
hadn’t dated a black guy since she is taller than 6 feet. Of course he is a comedian and is
supposed to tell jokes, but he chooses to say racist ones because he wants to. He mostly tries to
insult people so he does not really care if this affects anyone or not.