Anglais Terminale : Diversité et Inclusion : Black Lives Matter and Representation

9/11

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Axe 6 : Diversité et Inclusion

KEY QUESTION : Is the Black Lives Matter movement justified ? 

Representation : how mainstream media deals with and present gender, age, ethnicity, national and regional identity, social issues and events to an audience. Mainstream media have the power to shape an audience’s knowledge and understanding about these important topics.This makes them very powerful in terms of influencing ideas and attitudes as it could be the only experience of other cultures that some audiences will encounter.

The US, but also the UK and France are all ethnically diverse countries; however this diversity is not always reflected in the media. On TV, film, and on the front of glossy magazines, non-white faces are often under-represented. The concept of representation can be applied to any reflection of society, such as adverts, politicians, famous people, etc.

Many people confuse ethnicity and race :

Ethnicity is defined by culture, national customs, language or beliefs.

Race can mean physical characteristics that may be related to skin colour or other physiological features.

Representations of minorities often focus on certain stereotypical characteristics and customs associated with the ethnicity or race. Many of those aren’t very balanced and can rely on negative stereotypes which may adversely affect the way others then perceive a particular ethnic culture.

Representation, when done « right », can allow minorities to feel validated and to express their opinions comfortably. This creates an environment where ideas and stories are diverse, perspectives are varied, and everyone feels valued. 

Can you give some examples of representation ? 

US

• Obama
• Kamala Harris
• 20$ Bill Harriet Tubman
• Black Panther
• Rap music
• Basketball players

UK

• Diane Abbott (MP)
• Naomi Campbell
• Daniel Kaluuya (Get out, black mirror)
• Stormzy
• Zadie Smith (writer)
• John Boyega 
• Idris Elba

France

• Aimé Césaire
• Sibeth Ndiaye
• Rama Yade
• Paul Pogba
• Aïssa Maiga
• Omar Sy
• Aya Nakamura

Good rep : major roles in films, position of power and decision, positive portrayal and coverage of news related to black people

Bad rep : racist stereotypes, black character diying first in horror film, tokenism ?

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Examples of Representation

• Oscars new Diversity and Inclusion rules for best picture

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• Black Ariel (Halle Bailey)

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• Black Spiderman (Miles Morales)

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• Black + Woman James Bond (Lashana Lynch)

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• Nike Just Do It campaign fall 2019 Germany

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Tokenism

Cambridge Dictionary : actions that are the result of pretending to give advantage to those groups in society who are often treated unfairly, in order to give the appearance of fairness. / the fact of doing something only to show that you are following rules or doing what is expected or seen to be fair, and not because you really believe it is the right thing to do.

Merriam Webster : the policy or practice of making only a symbolic effort (as to desegregate).

Wikipedia : the practice of making only a perfunctory or symbolic effort to be inclusive to members of minority groups, especially by recruiting people from underrepresented groups in order to give the appearance of racial or sexual equality within a workforce. The effort of including a token employee to a workforce is usually intended to create the impression of social inclusiveness and diversity (racial, religious, sexual, etc.) in order to deflect accusations of discrimination.

Examples related to black people translates to « positive » stereotypes and diversity « for brownie points » : the black sidekick / token black friend / funny black guy / sassy black girl / works in the police or fbi / wise older black man / strong black woman

Not another teen movie (spoof/parody)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWhhPWyWCv0

https://youtu.be/z²KzChFpv_aM?t=34

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Write a short paragraph using the following vocabulary to try and answer the question : does diversity equal inclusion ?

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