Racial Inequity in an Age of Interconnectedness: Mainstream Media and Racial Profiling as a Support of Police Brutality in the U.S.

Academic Paper from the year 2020 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, University of Potsdam (Institut f Anglistik und Amerikanistik), course: Cultures of Violence, language: English, abstract: While it has already been established that police officers in the U.S. still discriminate against people of colour by enacting police brutality, thus enabling institutional racism to flourish, mainstream media contribute in a similar manner by perpetuating depictions of the criminal black male and with that supporting the idea of racial profiling. To make it easier for the reader to identify my stance, providing the necessary explanations for the terminology, as well as clarifying the historical context through which racism is enrooted in the history of the U.S. will guide the reader along the mass racial violence that will be discussed. In the main part, a thorough analysis of two incidents of police brutality, one being the case of Martin, the other one being Brown's case, shall be established. Finally yet importantly, examining the influence of media shall help to either justify or falsify my thesis on this matter, before I end with my conclusion.