Media Racism: The Impact of Media Injustice on Black Women’s Lives

Date of Publication: January 2024

Pages: 216

ISBN: 978-1-942774-10-5 (hardcover)

ISBN: 978-1-942774-07-5 (paperback)

Marquita M. Gammage, Ph.D.

Media Racism: The Impact of Media Injustice on Black Women’s Lives

“A powerful, well-researched indictment of racist media in the United States.”—Kirkus Reviews

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/marquita-m-gammage/media-racism/

As contemporary media continues to be a battleground for the portrayal of Black Women, Gammage explores the troubling proliferation of racially informed media depictions of the lives of Black Women, providing essential insights into the intersection of race, gender, and media representation in today’s world.

Media Racism: The Impact of Media Injustice on Black Women’s Lives establishes a critical framework for examining the role of media in shaping the lives of Black Women. It confronts the alarming scarcity of research dedicated to understanding the significance of media in perpetuating life disparities among this demographic. Through meticulous research and analysis, tables, and figures, Gammage sheds light on the multifaceted effects of media racism, encompassing physical, mental, cultural, political, and social dimensions.

“Gammage provides the contemporary critique needed to examine media misogynoir, and the historically racist treatment of Black womanhood translated on television, film, and through digital media.“
Kandace Harris, Ph.D.

“In this groundbreaking work, Gammage identifies and challenges racist media representations of African American women. Media Racism is grounded with social data on the life expectancies, as she analyses the behaviors of constructed Black women in media endorsed by white supremacist cultural ideas and the media’s role in perpetuating and perpetrating the racialization of women’s health and well-being.”
Nah Dove, Ph.D.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments
List of Tables and Figures

Introduction
Problematizing Media Racism
Weaponizing Black Womanhood
Chapter Overview

Chapter 1: Anti-Blackness and
Media Racism: A Cautionary Tale

Chapter 2: From Crack Mamas to Baby Mamas:
Black Women, Media, and Public Policy

Chapter 3: Unhealthy Representations of Black
Women in Television Dramas

Chapter 4: Reality Television as a Public
Health Crisis for Black Women

Chapter 5: Black Lives Matter? Devaluing the
Health and Safety of Blacks in the Media

Chapter 6: Black Women’s Lives Versus Black
Women’s Representations

Conclusion: Establishing Culturally Conscious
Media Ownership and Production

References
Index

About the Author

Marquita M. Gammage is a Full Professor in the Africana Studies Department at California State University, Northridge (CSUN). She earned her PhD in African American Studies from Temple University. Dr. Gammage research examines the calculus of media effect on the sustainability of anti-African racist ideologies through the intersection of race, gender, and media. By analyzing current popular media productions (reality TV, television dramas, social media, etc.) paired with an Afrocentric historical and cultural lens, her research demonstrates how the continued misrepresentations of Black womanhood in the media and society in general can be predictive of future public policy initiatives that endanger the freedom and liberties of African Americans. Additionally, her research explores racial equity and academic success of African American students, high impact practices and asset-based pedagogy.