Michael Omi Racial Identity Analysis

The world has never been closer than as it is in the 21st century. We are supposedly said to be moving away from our roots and living together in a world adopting new cultures, where our race or color do not define who we are. Michael Omi, however, disagrees with this impression and believes that, “racism is pervasive feature in our lives” (Omi 538). He says that it is implicit and conveyed in an ‘invisible’ manner. Race is the first differentiating factor when we meet someone. It raises questions regarding that person’s ethnicity and is the most ‘obvious’ route taken to connect with somebody. Race and color stereotypes are so etched into our minds that when a person doesn’t identify with this stereotype, we question the “notion of race”,

He emphasizes on creation of the ‘superior’ white heroes in movies and provides examples of how Asians are portrayed as sneaky or Latinos as being more violent and not as ‘human’ as the whites. Omi’s theory about racial segregation in the music industry is extremely useful because it sheds light on the difficult problems faced by ‘dark-skinned’ artists for they have their own genres such as R&B while country and heavy metal are viewed as white genres. The roles written for racial minorities are often one-dimensional and lack substance. The author asserts that women of color are sometimes highly sexualized and views as “sexual objects” (Omi 545). However, with changing times, women and men of color are being presented more ‘positively’. Omi points out that, “In contemporary television and film, there is a tendency to present and equate racial minority groups and individuals with specific social problems” (Omi 546). These consolidations question the foundations of these presentations. It is a mélange of myths and realities. By focusing on ‘stereotypes’ which exist among racial minorities, Omi overlooks the deeper problem of how it influences our daily lives. about objectification and the 'racial jokes' which are like buzzers that tell you that there is a color line which is very present because Omi may not be aware, but recent studies have shown that this is

He cites that the only way this can be achieved is by challenging popular beliefs and verifying their relevance in today’s world.

Nothing is permanent except change. This phenomenon, is also visible on today’s television shows. The cultural divide and those ‘color’ lines are slowly blurring, to pave way for ‘post-identity’ television. Christian, through his article; The End of Post-Identity Television, is reflecting on how characters are now cast without much contemplation about their backgrounds with respect to race, gender or sexuality. He states that it is a favorable change “in a time of LGBTQ emergence” and in an era where women are feeling more empowered than they have ever before (Christian 556).

The author mentions Grey’s Anatomy creator, Shonda Rhimes who casted characters of different races which were originally written as black or white. This interchanging also occurred in case of female or LGBTQ characters in case of other television programs. Women were written as being “feminist” or “post-feminist”. LGBTQ were presented as domestic and “just like you” and me, wanting a family and kids like other heterosexual couples. Christian alludes that, TV shows reflected the ideals and beliefs of the masses, shedding away differences and demonstrating that we were all the same. But he questions whether the same can be said about our daily