Should TV Programs Feel Obligated To Increase Diversity?

I do not think that the person proposing this topic is talking about obligation in the legal sense. Therefore, I think it is important to evaluate this topic on a moral basis. With regard to whether or not television shows should make progress with diversity, I see a really one-sided issue. I do not know why people would argue against increasing diversity in television. Not only is it clearly beneficial but there are no noticeable harms to doing so.

An article by The Conversation titled “Why it’s so important for kids to see diverse TV and movie characters” argues that diversity is essential because it helps minority kids construct their identity better. The article articulates, “There’s a relationship between low self-esteem and negative media portrayals of racial groups, in addition to an association between poor self-esteem and the paucity of portrayals of a particular group. Others have found that media misrepresentations of ethnic groups can cause confusion about aspects of their identity among children of these groups” (Dobrow). I not only agree with this article but think that the importance of this can be underrated by people who do not really care about the level of diversity in television.

People who disagree with increasing the level of diversity in television often think that television is diverse enough for it to matter. The numbers are irrefutable and no one is arguing that television is representative of the population because it is not. However, people are arguing that with the inclusion of at least one minority character, the issue is solved. However, an article in TIME dispels this by calling it “tokenism” and further explaining that the one non-white mentality is “creating an environment in which lone staffers are expected to speak on behalf of entire racial or ethnic groups” (D’Addario). In order to progress properly, the article encourages at least three non-white characters. I do not know the specific amount but what I do know is that there is still ways to go in constructing an array of non-white characters for minority children to identify with and for minority actors to have opportunity in a discriminatory system.

Two questions I think could be important are: how do children construct their identity? and does the lack of inclusion of minority actors make the television industry racist, sexist, etc.?

Resources: