Non-white voices are becoming increasingly heard

Non-white voices are becoming increasingly heard

            There is a lot of authority and respect given to the whites in the current century as compared to the non-white. In simple terms, the non-whites are the minority as far as the media is concerned. A lot of attention gets given to the people of white origin because of various reasons. It is a norm that the current society is trying to run away from. The difference between these two groups is evident in the upper and middle classes. The exclusion of the non-whites people from the media covers their voicers, making them not get heard by the general society. Over there years, there has risen systemic discrimination evidence that takes place before the cameras and even behind the scenes in the different productions criteria. By behind the scenes, we refer to the directors and writers of various scripts and movies. Apart from the non-white exclusion, there is also the discrimination of the female gender. This is evident from the film directors’ area and the various awards given by the different organizations to the movie directors. The male gender wins most of them. There is a need for tracing back the non-white voices for a period not less than forty years and determine whether the non-white voices are increasingly becoming vibrant. Various things go unnoticed in society when the voices are unheard of.

Evidence of the increase in the voice of the non-whites and avenues

Also of evidence suggest that there is a progression in terms of respect for the non-white voices. There might still be a problem of representation in the nomination of the Oscars awards, but we have to appreciate the fact that there is an improvement as far as the dame area is concerned. For example, the Oscar nominations for 2020 has 2 out of 20 people being of color. Surprisingly, there was no female nominated for the directors’ award category. There are so many good films directed by the women who get discriminated against behind the camera. The goal in the 2016 awards ceremony was to double the diversity representation by 2020. However, this never happened, and it led to some sarcastic remarks from some celebrities, including Issa Rae. She said, “Congratulations to those men.” However, this notion is set to change because of the increase in the number of minority voters at the Oscar awards (Syed, 2016). Their numbers make up to a third of the total voters. There are efforts to live up to the pledge in 2016. The number of the females and minority people is on the increase as there has been an increase in the voting pool for the Oscar’s awards of this year. The non-white and women are slowly gaining footage in this event.

Another substantial evidence is the political arena where the blacks are getting involved in the political positions of the world powerhouse countries. A good example is the retired president Barrack Obama. He was a senator before being elected to be the president of the USA. He is of the black origin, and his ascension to power proves that the non-white voices are increasingly getting heard. The more the world progresses, the more civilized it becomes. Under civilization, there is an equal representation of all the races. There are lots of white people who supported the presidential bid of Barrack Obama (Campbell, 2010). He is just one of the many examples of non-white political leaders across the globe who have had a lot of influence in their countries. Still, on the leadership part, various non-white people have won multiple global awards. For example, Wangari Maathai from Kenya won the Nobel Peace Prize. Ethiopia’s president has also won the same award. There is a significant consideration given to the voices of the non-whites in these awards, which is substantial evidence that their voices are getting heard.

In the sports arena, there is also influence the non-whites to a greater extent. Some of them have even gotten the chance to be the captains of their special teams. From the football perspective, there are so many non-whites playing in the major soccer league (MLS) in the United States of America (Jewell and Molina, 2005). It is interesting to see that over the years, there has been a lot of diversity in the football teams across the globe. Some whites play in groups having non-whites and vice versa. The diversity issue is of importance as it shows the miles in the hearing of these voices. Looking at the basketball league (NBA), there is the inclusion of many non-whites in the various teams. Examples include Red Bulls and Lakers. These players have had a lot of influence on their specific teams. The recent loss of Kobe Bryant hit hard the sporting fraternity because he was a sportsman that was a role model to many people, especially those eying to be sportsmen and sportswomen.

The other important avenue of looking at this fact is the music industry, more so the BET awards. The BET’s primary objective is to recognize the non-white talent. This is an American award show that underwent an establishment in 2001. Black Entertainment Television gives a voice to the African Americans in different fields. They include the music industry, sports, and acting. The event takes place every year, and it includes performances that are televised. The awards have a significant influence because it gets watched by millions of people across the globe. This is among the best avenues that non-whites formulated to make sure that their voices get heard. It has worked perfectly for them. Three words inspired the formulators of the phrase. They include achievement, ascend, and aspire. The nomination process of the award consists of voting by five hundred members of the music industry and even bloggers. Interestingly, the non-white musicians always get the chance to perform at these ceremonies (Jacobs, 2015).

Another critical avenue that has been of great use in making these voices heard is the establishment of the Ebony magazine. The magazine gets published every month. Its primary focus is stories on culture and entertainment. The people that the magazine focuses on are African Americans (Hirsch, 1968). There are also talks about people’s lifestyles and their influence on other people’s lives. Politics and beauty are also significant aspects that it focuses on. The objective of making the non-white voice heard is achieved through the magazine because it touches on the interests and issues of these people. The non-white influential figures always make up the photography sections on the cover pages of the magazine. Examples of the personalities that have appeared on these cover pages include Michelle Obama, Dorothy Dandridge and Michael Jackson.

Blogs and YouTube feeds are also major avenues used by the non-0whites to make their voices heard. Blogging nowadays has become a career for some people, especially those that have specific interests. They have led to the dictation of the political influences in many countries. There are numerous blogs written about the voices of the non-whites. Some of them are specific to Africans. When the non-whites read the blogs and act according to the suggestions in them, they realize that they create significant influences on other people. Apart from individuals, there also exist organizations that take this issue with utmost seriousness. Through their websites, they post different blogs with a specific target audience of African Americans. YouTube is also as important as blogging. Videos are focusing on the issue of discrimination of the non-whites and the various negative impacts that the vice brings about.

On the issue of the female gender being discriminated against, many women have come up with programs aimed at supporting and protecting the girl child. It is no wonder that the ladies have stepped up and claimed their space in the different professions in the world, including the movie industry, music industry and even the engineering area. Some have gone a step further to challenge the men in the different political seats and conquered them.

Unheard voices (Symbolic annihilation)

Various negative things happen in society when there are unheard voices. First of all, the lack of a variety of opinions may lead to poor decision-making. This has happened in various countries where the voices of the minority are unheard and decisions get made by the majority. The decisions made may not favor the minority, thereby bringing disputes in society. A disputed community is a dangerous one to live in because of lack of development and expectation of harm at any time.

Symbolic annihilation clearly defines the lack of representation of a group of people in society. This lack of representation may have a basis on the race, ethnicity and gender of people. It is just medium social inequality maintenance. The media plays an active role in this vice. It has the option of omitting some content or influencing the perception of the audience on the showed piece. Therefore, the media has to play a role in increasing the voice of the non-white people.

A society with unheard voices has individuals having different access to some resources. For example, a society where the women are not entitled to good education like their male counterparts is more likely to offer the men more job opportunities than women. This leads to the diminishment of this gender, making it feel of low worth.

Conclusion

Social media is going to give a formidable voice to the non-whites in the United States of America. This is because there are so many people on social media in this digital world. A post from a single person just needs to be viewed and shared to reach the mass audience. The same way that social media gets used in influencing some things in society, such as politics, is the same way that it can offer an avenue for accelerating the rate at which these voices get heard. By doing so, the world is going to be a better place for every race to live in.

References

Campbell, H. (2010). Barack Obama and twenty-first-century politics: A revolutionary moment in the USA. New York: Pluto Press.

Hirsch, P. M. (1968). An analysis of Ebony: The magazine and its readers. Journalism Quarterly, 45(2), 261-292.

Jacobs, A. (2015). Eminem to perform at the 2010 BET awards. Archived from the original on April 29.

Jewell, R. T., & Molina, D. J. (2005). An evaluation of the relationship between Hispanics and Major League Soccer. Journal of Sports Economics, 6(2), 160-177.

Syed, J. (2016). Oscars so white: an institutional racism perspective. Counterpunch.