Television, Civil Rights, and Bill Cosby
Introduction
Every American participates, in some small way or another, in judging people based on stereotypes or prejudices that are ingrained in them. Due to the Civil Rights Movement and the corporate world’s attempt to be politically correct, citizens are now more aware of these quick judgments and are more willing to accept the fact that they may be wrong. However, tolerance has not always been the case, and even now others still choose to ignore society’s awareness and stick to the predetermined notions that have been ingrained in them. But the question arises, where do these stereotypes and prejudices come from?
While there are many explanations and influences as to a people’s, person’s, or culture’s, learned behavior and responses, in American society, none are greater than the images on television. Television, as a mass media, comes into every person’s life at some point, and the images, morals, values, and stereotypes presented on television are forced on people. Therefore, since television is everywhere, it serves as a tool to teach and perpetuate ideas presented and created by the culture that consumes it.
When looking at the influence of television on American culture, along with the focus of stereotyping and prejudice, there is an obvious connection that can be made. Television either helps or hinders, depending on the time period, black stereotypes and prejudices by projecting certain images to the American audience. These images can come as programmed and scripted shows, news features, people, events, and political attitudes. In particular, television has greatly influenced the advancement of the Civil Rights Movement, especially by using humor to mask touchy issues. The networks drew on comedy and likeable people to help advance their audiences to accept new cultural beliefs.
Therefore, the purpose of my research is to show that since television is a pedagogical instrument used to teach the American public values and ideas, it helped the Civil Rights Movement by teaching Americans that integration was acceptable, particularly by using the comedy of Bill Cosby.
Brief History of Television
The idea of television has been around since the 1800’s. Until 1929, when Vladimir K. Zworykin produced a practical television, TV was not perfected for consumer usage. By 1936, RCA (Radio Corporation of America) began installing TV receivers across New York City to test the new technology. Broadcasting programs began in 1939, but was halted in 1941 because of the war. After World War II, in 1945, broadcasting began to become popular again. However, the radio still served as the largest form of mass communication (Isenberg).
Even though radio already broadcast to millions, TV became more of an influence, especially in the late 20th century. Before then only film had the same influential effect on audiences (Hoppenstand). In 1948 the three major networks, ABC, NBC, CBS, began commercial broadcasting (Tuttle). Commercial broadcasting made television more of an influence on Americans. “The ideas and images portrayed were critical in the fact that no other medium at that time had the influence that TV did because it was the most massive, and had the widest audience” (Hoppenstand). Television and its images were even more influential as the development of leisure time and activities started to gain importance in the 1950’s. TV was an easy solution for spending family time and as a leisure activity, bringing TV into everyone’s life (Hoppenstand).
Newton Minow, the new chairman of the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) in 1961, as he told the National Broadcasters Association, believed then that television was the “most powerful voice in America.” He realized that TV had an “inescapable duty to make that voice ring with intelligence and with leadership.” Also, as an “instrument of overwhelming impact on the American people” its goal should be “to make our people aware of their world” (Minow).
Rhetorical Roles of Television
To say that television is an influence on moral character is easy, but to explain that theory is much more difficult. The rhetorical value of television is immeasurable. However, explaining the role that TV has as an “instrument of overwhelming impact” and describing its voice can be done in a variety of ways. A common factor in each theory is that television is subtle and disguises its messages.
Having disguised messages allows the audience to receive the lessons being broadcast without being first put on the defensive. “Through displaced events and disguised characters, society uses television drama as a means of transforming its fears and unresolved problems into metaphorical forms which are less threatening than direct confrontation” (Adler 13). Addressing problems on television, even disguised in a situation of drama or humor, allows the person viewing a television program to participate in Lawrence Kohlberg’s Cognitive-Development Approach to Moral Development (Ryan 114).
In his model, the Cognitive-Development Approach to Moral Development, Kohlberg suggests that moral development is achieved through a series of six stages of moral thinking. As a person grows and has more interaction with different situations, they then move through the stages to define their moral attitudes and beliefs (Ryan 114-117). Kohlberg’s model of Moral Development applies to television in that by watching interactions and situations instead of participating in them directly, the viewer virtually moves through the stages to define their own beliefs (Ryan 117).
Another explanation of how TV influences people is offered by Horace Newcomb and Paul Hirsch. They state that “Television is the terrain in which the faults are expressed and worked out” (Newcomb 466). In their essay, “TV as a Cultural Forum,” they explain that people are being subjected to a dominant culture’s ideology being broadcast over the television. The messages that are broadcasted are disguised as “fictional entertainment” (Newcomb 456). People who watch these television programs are then made aware of social ideologies and conflicts with which they now need to come to terms. The input from television challenges their values and their cultural security. To alleviate this dissonance, people will reevaluate their beliefs to fall in line with the dominant culture. As Hirsch and Newcomb describe, “Television shoves them toward action, toward expression of ideas and values” (Newcomb 465-466).
The rhetors that produce the messages and ideas presented can be anyone within the television community. Newcomb and Hirsch also offer that the rhetors of television are the writers, producers and actors (Newcomb 563). But those are not the only people who influence television’s messages and rhetoric. The list of rhetors also includes the audience, the sponsors, the scheduler, the camera man, and virtually everyone else involved in production (Newcomb 568). The jobs of all these people are to make sure that the program displays the messages that need to be carried and that the audience is willing to accept the message so that they will still continue to tune into the program (Gregg). As Dr. Hoppenstand, editor of The Journal of Popular Culture, describes “TV is both a window and a mirror.” Television’s programming reflects the culture just as much as it allows people to examine that culture (Hoppenstand).
Cultural Context of the 1950’s and 1960’s
When TV was young, the American culture was thriving. Postwar America, in the early 1950’s, featured prosperous families and businesses. Because of the booming economy and feeling of national pride and security, people enjoyed a greater lifestyle and were able to indulge in new technological inventions, such as television and automobiles, and a lack of poverty. Across the nation, people were moving out of the cities and into new homes and neighborhoods creating suburban communities (Handlin).
At the end of the 1950’s, television was a major factor in American society. Even though TV was still young in the beginning of the 1960’s, broadcasters reached 180 million Americans (Minow). 1960’s television season also saw 60% of its viewers at 5-6 p.m. as children less than twelve years of age. At this point, children were spending as much time in front of the TV as they were in school (Minow). Estimates show that the average adult viewer in late 1959 and early 1960 saw about 200 minutes of television a day (Minow).
The programming during this period was quiz shows, variety shows, movies (Westerns), situation comedies, and action-adventure fantasies (spy-stories) (Minow). With the rising trend of children viewers, the 1960’s brought an emphasis on the development of educational programs and diversity by mass market appeal (Minow). TV’s influence was being recognized and it was apparent that people would rather be entertained than informed (Minow). Nevertheless, there was a call to the broadcasters to rid TV of the “vast wasteland” of shows and instead of network programming, cater to the community and its issues (Minow). One of these issues was that of diversity and racism in America.
While most people still enjoyed the post-war economy, there was one group of Americans that were still in poverty. The nation’s black community, along with other minority groups, was facing a nation wide attitude of discrimination. Around 1955, the poverty and discrimination that faced the blacks in America had frustrated the leaders of black communities; they were frustrated with the slow process of integration and acceptance for minorities. This frustration lead to the Civil Rights Movement, in which blacks and other minorities fought for fair and equal treatment under the law. The Civil Rights Movement really began to take shape during the later years of the 1950’s and climaxed in the early 1960’s (Handlin).
The Civil Rights movement started slowly with non-violent protesting across the South of the United States. Leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and Tom Hayden, emerged and organizations such as the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference), and SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee) took shape and fought for equal rights. Many movements, protests and boycotts were staged in order to gain national attention and fight for equality. Some of the most notable movements were those of Montgomery, Alabama’s Bus Boycott, Birmingham, Alabama’s marches and riots, and even the March on Washington in 1963 (Handlin).
As this movement and the demonstrations, often resulting in violence, were taking place, television was able to capture the images and broadcast them to millions. Suddenly, the nation was seeing how blacks were being treated. At the climax of the Civil Rights Movement, President John F. Kennedy went on television in June of 1963 and told the nation that racism and integration was now “a moral issue” (Kennedy). Broadcasting this statement sent shock waves throughout the country. He went on to tell America that blacks in the US were not as likely to finish high school, complete, or even enroll in college, or become a professional as those of their white, equal counterpart. He also stated that the life span of a black citizen was seven years shorter and they were usually only able to earn half as much as their white co-workers, if they could find work at all (Kennedy). While the Civil Rights Movement is mostly associated with this time period, traces of the movement and perpetuating struggle for equality can still be seen today (Handlin).
Conclusion
Ingrained stereotypes and prejudices in people’s lives come from a variety of sources. In the American culture, one of the greatest influences is that of television. By subconsciously participating in Kohlberg’s Cognitive-Development Approach to Moral Development and being exposed to a dominate culture’s ideology, as Newcomb and Hirsch suggest, people develop moral values and beliefs, and are taught stereotypical images and prejudiced views that are inline with the rhetor-authors of television and the society that harbors it. Television mirrors the culture that it is in while allowing the people within that culture to see their own world. Eventually, attitudes will change, and what is reflected through television will evolve to teach the people the new ideologies. Television is a never ending cycle of adjustment.
In the 1950’s and early 1960’s attitudes of segregation and racial injustices were tolerated by many, but that began to change as the Civil Rights Movement took place. Images broadcast of injustices and opinions for freedom were heard by millions. Slowly, as TV broadcast these messages, people began to readjust their beliefs and morals.
Television went from being all one color, to more than just shades of black and white within a decade. Acceptance of blacks was being broadcast across America, teaching people to accept integration, and reinforcing these beliefs with repetitive images and messages. One way in which this was done was through the use of humor to mask touchy issues of the times.
While there were shows with black celebrities entertainers, none were as effective as Bill Cosby. He was likeable, not drawing attention to indifferences but finding middle ground which everyone had in common. He emphasized human nature, and by being able to laugh at it, people could laugh at themselves and others without defensive lines being drawn. From his early comedy shows to the charitable work he does now, he can be called a “Cultural Icon” (Hoppenstand). “He is a talented comedian that was able to bridge the race barrier with comedy. He demonstrated the success that can be achieved by a black actor” (Hoppenstand).
Howard Cosell called him a “brilliant communicator . . . witty, knowledgeable, and vastly entertaining” (Smith 196). Cosby communicated mostly through the medium of TV. He used the technology that reached a massive audience to share his message of equality, education, and values. Reluctant at first, he fought for the Civil Rights Movement the only way he knew how, through comedy. As a creative artist, his form of TV comedy created and applied themes that were universal to everyone, and situations acceptable for all audience members (Merrit). He did not participate in many marches, but instead talked to people directly, at their homes, on a non-confrontational level while using the power of TV to slowly change the way that the audience felt.
Cosby’s use of television to create and send messages of acceptance, education and diversity to Americans makes him a cultural icon, and shows how television can influence the society that it serves. His work of acceptance helped the Civil Rights Movement and perpetuates it today.
© 2009 Caypay
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