From the size of your house to the type of job you have, there are numerous surrounding factors in life that determine one's place in society. In Ta-Nehisi Coates’ autobiography, Between the World and Me, it is illuminated that a major factor that tells us our place in society is the media.
Early on in the book, Coates recollects his childhood and how he knew he was seconds away from getting murdered at all times. “I felt myself to be drowning in the news reports of murder” (19). On the streets of Baltimore, the number of black murders at the time was too much for young Coates to count. At an early age, all the news coverage of these deaths, of almost only African-Americans, proved that he himself was a minority. He wasn’t exposed to the few black deaths occurring across the country, so in his reality, all the white people were just of a higher class and he was below them. This wasn’t a one-time incident, by Coates “drowning” in the deaths, the media was replaying this image that because he was of the same race as all these people murdered, he was seen as less by society. This example shows how media, in this case, news, can show us our place in society.
The news wasn’t the only form of media that Coates was exposed, by television shows as well. He remembers how him watching TV was just him learning that all the white boys weren’t in danger, or as he phrases it, “Their only want was a popular girlfriend” (20). These boys on TV weren’t waking up every day wondering if it were to be there last, they were safe and the thought of them losing their bodies would be unheard of. By wealthy white families dominating television, Coates knew that that is what being white means, where their only “want” was the last of Ta-Nehisi's problems. As if it weren’t enough, the fact that he used the word “popular” means that their biggest concern goes beyond just the luxury of having a girlfriend, she had to be popular as well. Coates knew by all characters' wealth and glamour that he would never be one of them, that he would never live a day in their carefree shoes, that he was below them in society. Television and shows, in particular, showed Coates that he was inferior because of his race and in terms of society he was at the very bottom.
The third type of media that showed Coates his place was society music. It all began when Coates had a realization that he really had no business in being in school and they were doing him more harm than help. Once Coates heard It Goes Around, by hip-hop legend Nas, he strung an immediate connection. He said, “I heard a few lines from Nas that struck me: Ecstasy, coke, you say it’s love, it is poison. Schools where I learned they should be burned, it is poison. That was exactly how I felt” (26). This influence of music contributed to the formation of his views on schools at the time. By feeling this was on the school system, he was set up for failure and there are limited options someone can do without proper education. Nas was encrypting messages of society and how schools should be “burned”, yet now that Coates believes this, he is viewed as less by the corporate world.
As the world is digitizing, the age of social media is engulfing society and platforms like Instagram can also show someone their place in society. Many people can evaluate their popularity by the number of likes they receive on their latest posts or how many followers they have. This issue of likes defining popularity and people's place in society, Instagram is even considering removing them altogether. Business Insider evaluates this issue, and the article says that getting rid of likes is, “about creating a less pressurized environment where people feel comfortable expressing themselves”.
It happens so often that because someone receives 200 likes instead of someone else who gets 90, they are deemed more popular and thus society views them as superior. This can lower the self-esteem of people when all they were trying to do is stay connected with friends.
It is clear that almost every form of media from Snapchat to newspapers can show people their place in society.
Although recent pressure to include diverse characters has increased representation of marginalized groups in movies and TV, many people-- Coates among them-- might argue that the media has a history of being racially biased in both the stories they portray and the way they depict certain characters. Can you think of any other examples of racial stereotyping or misrepresentation in media? To what extent does the media shape how people perceive other races?
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