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Ethnic studies: Home
Ethnic Studies
General resources
Websites and Articles
Critical Media Project: Race & Ethnicity
Media representations of diverse groups, from the USC Annenberg School of Communication.
A Dangerous Distortion of our Families
A report published by a professor of communication at the University of Illinois.
Latino, Black And Middle-Eastern Immigrants Portrayed As Criminals On TV
An article from Forbes.
Minorities in Media in the U.S. - Statistics & Facts
This is a free area on a subscription database site.
People Of Color Face Tremendous Stereotypes During Times Of Catastrophe
An article from the Huffington Post.
Perpetual Foreigners: A Reflection on Asian Americans in the American Media
A 2016 article from the Huffington Post.
Tokens on the Small Screen: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Prime Time and Streaming Television
Databases
Ethnic Newswatch
Current and historical coverage of a variety of newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic and minority press.
JSTOR
A broad collection of scholarly journals. This is not a current issues index; most articles are at least three years old.
African Americans
Blackface: The Birth of An American Stereotype
Historical information from the National Museum of African American History & Culture.
Media is Much to Blame for Negative Stereotypes about African American Men, Says UC Berkeley Journalism Professor
A 1997 article from UC Berkeley.
Negative Racial Stereotypes and Their Effect on Attitudes Toward African-Americans
An essay on common stereotypes seen in American media.
The Perceived Realism of African American Portrayals on Television
A 2008 article from the Howard Journal of Communications.
Arab Americans
Reclaiming Arab Identity: Dismantling Arab Stereotypes
A website and research program sponsored by the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, MI.
Chinese Americans
Beyond the Silver Screen: The Limitations of Asian American Media Representation
Commentary from the East Coast Asian American Student Union.
Chinese in the U.S. Fact Sheet
Demographic data from the PEW Research Center.
Understanding Our Perceptions of Asian Americans
Overview of Asian Americans in the media from the Asia Society.
Indian Americans
Indians in the U.S. Fact Sheet
Demographic data from the PEW Research Center,
Western Media's Stereotypes of Indian Culture
A 2010 article from the University of Illinois.
What is the Problem with Apu?
An article from an Indian daily newspaper.
Who I Was and Who I Want to Be — Indian Americans in Media
A Huffington Post article from 2013.
Irish Americans
Editorial: Americanization of St. Patrick's Day
A news article explains Irish folklore as understood by Americans.
How Stereotypes of the Irish Evolved From ‘Criminals’ to Cops
Historical perspective on the Irish in America.
Italian Americans
How Jersey Shore Transformed America
An article from Esquire magazine.
Italian American Stereotypes in U.S. Advertising
A 2003 report from the Order Sons of Italy in America.
Shadduppa Ya Stereotype! Italian-Americans Fight Back
A 2012 article from The Independent.
You Looking at Us? Italian-Americans Object to Sopranos
A 2001 article about legislators protesting The Sopranos and other media depictions of Italian-Americans
Japanese Americans
Beyond the Silver Screen: The Limitations of Asian American Media Representation
Commentary from the East Coast Asian American Student Union.
Japanese in the U.S. Fact Sheet
Demographic data from the PEW Research Center.
Understanding Our Perceptions of Asian Americans
Overview of Asian Americans in the media from the Asia Society.
Walt Disney on the Front Lines
This is a collection of movies that can be found in the library, showing depictions of Japanese people during WWII.
Jewish Americans
Enough of the Jewish Stereotypes
An opinion piece, from the Huffington Post.
Stereotypes in the United States
An in depth article on Jewish stereotypes, with a long list of further readings.
Korean Americans
Beyond the Silver Screen: The Limitations of Asian American Media Representation
Commentary from the East Coast Asian American Student Union.
Koreans in the U.S. Fact Sheet
Demographic data from the PEW Research Center.
Understanding Our Perceptions of Asian Americans
Overview of Asian Americans in the media from the Asia Society.
Latinx Americans
Hispanic Trends
Reports and data from the PEW Research Center.
Why are half of Latino Immigrant TV Characters Portrayed as Criminals?
An article from The Guardian.
Muslim Americans
How to Reduce Negative Stereotypes of Muslims in the Media
An article summarizing a speech given at Duke University.
Muslim Americans
Reports and data from the Pew Research Center.
The News Media Offer Slanted Coverage of Muslim Countries’ Treatment of Women
An article about a research study carried out by a Stanford postdoctoral fellow.
Struggling Against Stereotypes
An article about Muslim portrayals in the media, from Harvard University's Pluralism Project.
U.S. Muslims Concerned About Their Place in Society, but Continue to Believe in the American Dream
From the PEW Research Center - this is a more general report but there are references to media coverage in here.
Native Americans
Ending the Era of Harmful “Indian” Mascots
An article from the National Congress of American Indians.
The Newspaper Indian
This is a book about press portrayals of Native Americans in 1820-1890. This book can be checked out at the library desk.
Stereotyping Native Americans
An article from the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia.
Pacific Islanders
Eliminating Pacific Islander Stereotypes
A brief article from The Guardsman (San Francisco City College).
Moana Might be Great for Representation but it's not all Heartwarming for Hawaii
An article about the influence of the movie Moana on Hawaii, with references to portrayals in the film.
Representations of Pacific Islanders in Film and Video
A nearly 20-year-old article by a Fijian professor and filmmaker.
Transgender people
Fair and Accurate Media Coverage Really Could Improve the Lives of Transgender People Like Me
A British article about transgender media representation.
Victims or Villains: Examining Ten Years of Transgender Images on Television
A 2012 article from GLAAD that looks at transgender characters on television.
“Recognize Me”: An Analysis of Transgender Media Representation
A 2018 Master's thesis from the University of Windsor in Canada.