Race Paper

/in /by

Topic 1

  1. What factors account for the types of representations of African Americans we see depicted on television at any given point in time? How have representations of African Americans changed over time? In relation to what? Why have each new set of representations been met with concern as much as praise?
  2. How does The Cosby Show compare with previous representations of blackness on television, from Amos ‘n’ Andy to Julia to Good Times?
  3. Did Cosby suggest that aspiration to middle class values like individualism, hard work, and the nuclear family was all that separated the Huxtables from the ghetto?

Topic 3

4. How does episode construct different forms of racism? How are the differences between civil rights era politics and the politics of post-Civil Rights articulated? How are tensions resolved?

Topic 4

5. Should African American television programming be created primarily by African Americans?

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