The Impact of the Media
on Race Relations
By: Robert Asgeirsson
From: Currents Winter 1987/88 pp.23-24
© 1987 Urban Alliance on Race Relations
"The National Conference on Minorities in the Media held in
Toronto on June 27 to 28, 1987 was sponsored by the Urban Alliance
on Race Relations, in cooperation with Ryerson School of
Journalism, and the Canadian Ethnocultural Council."
Why Another Conference?
In the late 70s, community organizations became increasingly
concerned that the mass media in Canada, for the most part,
ignored the presence and contribution of racial minorities as part
of the multicultural/multi-racial fabric of Canadian society.
Attempts were made to get governments at the provincial and
federal level to become aware of the nature and scope of the
problem and to seek ways to remedy the situation particularly
through legislation.
The federal government, through the Multicultural Directorate held
a national conference in Toronto in November 1982, "Visible
Minorities and the Media." Many of the concerns and issues were
identified and a number of recommendations made toward seeking
appropriate and effective solutions. If one examines the
recommendations it soon becomes apparent that as a society, we've
hardly moved since 1982.
Recommendations related to access and opportunity, depiction and
balance, and research and education are just as relevant today as
they were when presented in 1982.
Five years was adequate time for meaningful change to have taken
place if both the government and the media were serious about
their commitment to present an accurate portrayal of racial
minorities in the media.
Peter Desbarats, Dean of the Graduate School of Journalism,
University of Western Ontario, and the moderator of the opening
panel not only set the tone of the conference but also at the same
time managed to summarize the sense of all the discussion that
ensued:
It is not difficult to be critical and incisive (about the media)
because the record of Canadian news media as active promoters of
the concept of the multi-racial Canadian society is far from
outstanding. If you are looking for polite words to describe this
record, you could say that it has been cautious and pragmatic. If
you want to be more direct, you could call it timid and
hypocritical.
I will begin with a statement of the obvious, but perhaps it needs
to be stated as it is the premise that underlies this whole
conference: media do have an impact on race relations and a
fundamental one.
Collectively, the media, all forms of print and electronic
media-I'm not just talking about news media, but books, films,
magazines, radio, all forms of media- collectively these represent
our image of ourselves. That total picture is our version of what
we are and it both reflects what we think we are and influences
what we think we should be. There is ample evidence today of this
influential role of the media...though we don't always understand
exactly how that process works.
Because media exert a strong influence on all of us, those of us
who work in media have a special responsibility. We have to
influence society in the right direction. We have to provide
leadership. Some media workers, journalists among them, try to
evade this responsibility by claiming that their role is only to
reflect society objectively. But we all realize in this day and
age that there is no such thing as a perfect mirror. The image of
reality is always distorted by the nature of the mirror. The
subjective character of all media makes it impossible for
journalists and other media workers to evade the responsibilities
of leadership.
Leadership requires knowledge of society and its shortcomings.
When problems are identified, leadership requires a commitment,
not just a general statement of goodwill. It requires targets or
objectives that can be used later to evaluate progress. Leadership
also requires follow through, the ability to persist in achieving
objectives over long and often discouraging periods of time.
As this conference probably will discover, Canadian media by these
standards, have failed to provide leadership in building a society
of equal opportunity in Canada The problem has been identified
often enough. But media have been slow to make specific
commitments to change. As a result, there has been discouragingly
little change over the years, and this conference, like others in
the past, will have to tackle the whole subject almost afresh
without much sense of real progress.
Even after decades of discussion and political pressure from
minorities, we are still at the point of symbolic or token
gestures.
A Personal Review
What do you think of when you hear the term "minority group"? Do
your thoughts contain suspicion, distrust or caution? When you
hear the term "Ethnic" do you think about painted Easter eggs,
pasta, accents, malcontents or revolutionaries? Many Canadians do
and the media continues to use these terms.
Although I have Icelandic forefathers who came to this country
over 100 years ago and although I was born in this country and
although I speak the English language as well as any other
Canadian-I am still considered to be in a minority group. To be
absolutely correct - an invisible minority group and ethnic to
boot.
Well, I've always considered myself be a Canadian first and
foremost and somehow a quiet inheritor of this 'Icelandic stuff'
that has been passed on to me and my offspring as a gentle
reminder of our roots. Who do I threaten with this inheritance?
The only thing I may be guilty of is boring someone by extolling
the virtues of being Icelandic by descent
Arnold Toynbee, famed historian, has defended us in his chronicles
by stating that the 'lcelander' makes the best immigrant because
he is the first to abandon his culture.
There are certain practical advantages to being an invisible
minority group and apparently we have worked successfully at
becoming that way. We seldom, if ever, bear the brunt of racial
jokes or slander. We seldom, if ever, experience oppressive racial
discrimination. These are ugly and uncomfortable experiences and
who in their right mind would want that?
There is strange social stigma in our land, however, and it's
attached to the terms "Ethnic" and "Minority group". Should anyone
find out about my particular ethnicity, well heaven forbid, I may
be classified as being less than a full-fledged Canadian. How's
that for unfair? . . . Lucky I have this invisible culture, I
guess.
In my invisible cloak of culture and white Anglo Saxon appearance,
I attended the special conference, "The impact of the media on
race relations" as a delegate on behalf of the Icelandic National
League. When I arrived at the hotel to register for the Conference
it was like stepping into a United Nations Assembly. All about me
were Canadian citizens, 100% full-fledged, but of different
physical appearances including colour and dress. All of them, I
say again, were Canadian citizens, accorded the full human rights,
equality and dignity that our new Constitution proclaims. The
reason that we had all gathered here was to find ways of bringing
the legal and theoretical status into reality.
"We've got to break down the stereotyped images and attitudes that
insult and distort the perception of the 'visible minorities' in
Canada." said one of the delegates. "We constitute one third of
the population of Canada and we pay taxes! Many of us are better
educated than many of the so-called white Canadians" said
another.
The modern Media (Print, Radio and T.V./ Film) are now recognized
as the most powerful social influence ever to appear in the
history of mankind. The Media now have the ability to alter
perceptions. They produce an ongoing conditioning process that
influences the way we dress, talk, think, consume, and generally
conduct our lives.
Leading representatives from the national Media sat as panel
members during the various Plenary and Workshop sessions held over
the two day period. A two-way dialogue on ways to improve the
portrayal of the minorities was desired by the conference
organizers and delegates. What happened was that in many cases the
media defended itself at great length before any two-way dialogue
ever happened. The remaining time allowed for delegate input was
very short and proved frustrating for many. Media inadequacies and
unfairness soon became obvious- even, thankfully, to their
representatives. In the end, the panel members seemed to be
grateful for the enlightening experience and Conference delegates
hoped that they would pass their new awareness along to their
colleagues who could do some thing concrete.
Some of the thought provoking points that were raised:
- Invisible minorities have been invisible in the media
- The News media has been cautious, timid and even
hypocritical in recognizing the ethnic minorities.
- The media has this contradiction of preaching virtues and
not practising them with respect to equality and hiring
practices.
- Ethnic minorities are part of the Canadian identity and
should be seen as an equal partner in Canada, not an adjunct.
We are all Canadians.
- The use of the words 'minority' and 'ethnic' currently
works, in a way, against the concepts and ideas being talked
about.
- The recognition of 'difference' poses an interesting
dilemma.
- Ethnic programming ensures a differentiation or a sense of
separateness.
- Do we want this?
- The laws serve more to protect the minorities against
negative images than to foster positive portrayal.
- We all came in different boats but we're all in the same
boat now.
Basically the delegates, representing one third of Canada's
population, want the rest of the Canadian population to recognize
them, first and foremost, as fellow Canadians. Following that
recognition, hopefully, will come the true equality of all
citizens in this land. Although some speak with accents and/or
halting English, many have excellent educations from their former
homelands and are very capable people. What they want is an equal
chance to prove themselves on the job and in a society unfettered
by racist attitudes, distrust and misconceptions. They want
genuine social acceptance and the Media can be very helpful in
portraying them as just regular Canadians.
Minority groups want to shed the stigma of their image. They can
and will do more than their share if given a chance. As productive
Canadians they can also contribute something extra in
return-gifts, rich in diversity: their cultures and experience
from around the world.
During the short breaks I met many interesting Canadians. The most
memorable encounter was with a young man who barely managed to
escape from Saigon as it fell into Communist hands. He told me of
the terrible atrocities he witnessed and about the loss of many of
his friends at sea during their escape by boat With a look in his
eyes that brought more meaning than I can convey, he said;
"Believe me, I know what freedom means." A poet and recent
Engineering graduate, he loves Canada passionately . . . perhaps
even more than we do. He's a great Canadian, in my opinion.
There was a feeling as the conference closed that many real and
productive steps had been taken towards the goal of true equality
for all Canadians. I am grateful for the experience.
