African American Stereotypes in Reality Television

Abstract

In the early 1990s, reality television was a fledging type of voyeuristic television programming that was catching the attention of American viewers. Twenty years later, reality television is the format of choice for many traditional and cable networks. This study analyzes ten reality television shows airing in 2005 and 2008 to investigate whether producers cast participants who fit into traditional and new African American stereotypes. The analysis determined all ten shows had at least one participant who fit into stereotypical characters, including the angry black woman, hoochie, hood rat, homo thug, sambo, and coon.

KEYTERMS:

• African Americans
• reality television
• stereotypes
• stereotype threat
• structuration

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to acknowledge E. Lyle Henderson, Dr. Donise M. Johnson, Dr. Leelannee K. Malin, Dr. Russell Robinson, and Mychell Sneed-Jacobs for their initial contributions to this study.