Fox News Tries to Make Hate and Racism Sexy
My peers and I all probably remember when "reality tv" as we know it went big time. MTV started showing "The Real World" allowing us all to experience what it was like for seven strangers with different backgrounds to live together in the same house. The concept exploded. Today we have reality TV on everything from deserted island survival to fashion design to gay men.
And it's become sexy.
Today reality tv shows are much more graphic and explicit than they ever were back in the early 90s, playing up the drama of sex, drugs, friendship and betrayal. In many ways, it seems like participants in the shows cater to what they think the audience will want to see. In other words, they try to make it sexy. And I have no doubt that the producers encourage that as well.
But what are the consequences of the popularization and sexy-ilization of certain "reality" concepts?
Fox News is planning to air a new reality tv show called "Smile-- You're Under Arrest" two days after Christmas documenting the work of Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona, the notorious "America's Toughest Sheriff" who turned his police department into an immigration enforcement agency.
Yet Sheriff Arpaio's tactics are known internationally for openly racially profiling latinos throughout Arizona and spending vast amounts of money for large-scale immigration sweeps.
Since 2004, over 2,700 lawsuits have been filed against Arpaio for his racist and illegal tactics and Arizona's governor has cut funding to his unit. Yet he continues, just driving his county into a $1.3 million deficit.
And now, Fox News is parading his work all over television.
But do you think they'll mention the consequences of Arpaio's tactics? Like the fact that in exchange for focusing on immigration, he has ignored 40,000 felony arrest warrants? Or that response times to 911 calls have increased because he has pulled his "immigration enforcement team" from emergency responders and patrol units?
Immigrants are not criminals. And we endanger the physical safety of our communities by making people scared to report crime to the police for fear of being deported. We damage the moral character of our community by permitting hate and racial profiling to be the rule of law.
Some news for Fox News: Hate and Racism are NOT sexy.
And it's become sexy.
Today reality tv shows are much more graphic and explicit than they ever were back in the early 90s, playing up the drama of sex, drugs, friendship and betrayal. In many ways, it seems like participants in the shows cater to what they think the audience will want to see. In other words, they try to make it sexy. And I have no doubt that the producers encourage that as well.
But what are the consequences of the popularization and sexy-ilization of certain "reality" concepts?
Fox News is planning to air a new reality tv show called "Smile-- You're Under Arrest" two days after Christmas documenting the work of Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona, the notorious "America's Toughest Sheriff" who turned his police department into an immigration enforcement agency.
Yet Sheriff Arpaio's tactics are known internationally for openly racially profiling latinos throughout Arizona and spending vast amounts of money for large-scale immigration sweeps.
Since 2004, over 2,700 lawsuits have been filed against Arpaio for his racist and illegal tactics and Arizona's governor has cut funding to his unit. Yet he continues, just driving his county into a $1.3 million deficit.
And now, Fox News is parading his work all over television.
But do you think they'll mention the consequences of Arpaio's tactics? Like the fact that in exchange for focusing on immigration, he has ignored 40,000 felony arrest warrants? Or that response times to 911 calls have increased because he has pulled his "immigration enforcement team" from emergency responders and patrol units?
Immigrants are not criminals. And we endanger the physical safety of our communities by making people scared to report crime to the police for fear of being deported. We damage the moral character of our community by permitting hate and racial profiling to be the rule of law.
Some news for Fox News: Hate and Racism are NOT sexy.
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Labels: enforcement, immigration, racial profiling
posted by alexandra at
2:20 PM
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