Today's post is for Dr. Eric King Watts at UNC Chapel Hill... and for TV viewers out there who might think we are in a post-racial context.  But, instead of concentrating on just the exploitative media coverage of Barack Obama's primary campaign (or even Coco Tea), let's take a good look at all of TV.

Today, racist visualization on TV goes a bit further than Danny Bonaduce and the Partridge Family.  Even well-intentioned advertisements are constructed with visually racial (anthropological?) overtones.  No child has only two choices as suggested by this public service advertisement ad. Inevitably the binary of getting gunned down on a street or staying in school is a false premise - but this kind of constant racial exploitation remains.

Blacks are typically portrayed in the media as underprivileged, backward, and technologically ill-suited for the modern world.  Even when cable news rushes in to expose the travesty, it is difficult to judge if CNN is explaining the predicament or promoting it for profit.  Jim Crow lives, even when individual citizens try to take matters in their own hands.  While Don Imus gets publicly linched for "nappy headed ho's" - corporate visual exploitation continues at every turn.  And if you don't believe it, check out some of that good 'ol BET programming.  As the good Doctor says, just "look at the coverage."

Consider visual literacy and grow better media communication.