MTV attempts racial consciousness

MTV, racial consciousness and the limits of corporate social responsibility uncovers the issue with racial inequalities and media responsibility with that issue and the overall race discussion. MTV is caught in the fire because on one hand it seemingly promotes racial fairness, yet indulges in taking serious racial issues lightly and allowing its celebrity representatives and shows to do the same.

If MTV wants to include its brand in bettering racial issues, it should extend its campaign to more than mere thirty-second commercials. While the White Squad advertisements as well as the White People documentary does a great job of bringing attention to the problems of racial disparity and white privilege, the company should put better action into its words. As the title of the article suggests, the acceptance of the behavior at the VMA calls into question whether MTV’s racial awareness is a genuine hope for millennials or if the company is merely falling into the pressured responsibility to put its “two cents” into the new racial war of today’s age.

With MTV being one of the largest companies that reaches the young television audience, it has the opportunity to begin the needed conversation about racial issues in a positive way. Allowing Miley Cyrus to repeatedly appropriate and twist black culture goes highly against the arguments they make in their other race campaigns. Similarly, Rebel Wilson’s police stripper act had the potential to call attention to police brutality which has been a prevalent issue in the media. No one expects MTV to be a company that calls society to move in the right direction, but if it puts itself in that category it owes its viewers to follow through.