Analyzing what you watch

What TV shows did you watch when you were little? Do you think they affected you? Perhaps filled in the gaps of what was lacking from your experiences, situation and education thus far?
Did you know a lot of Asians growing up? Or did you learn everything you know about Asians from TV? What about blacks? Did "Family Matters" and "The Jeffersons" introduce you to that race, or did movies and the news that only showed "bad" blacks? How did we "learn" that blacks "like" fried chicken and watermelon, and can dance, sing and play sports better than a white person? Where did those stereotypes come from?


Think about it.


I watched:
"Recess" - cartoon
"Fresh Prince of Bel-aire" - black
"Sabrina the Teenage witch" - white
"Family Matters" - black
"Gummy Bears" - cartoon
"My Little Pony Tales" - cartoon
"Mr. Rodgers" (or something) - white
"Step by Step" - white
"Boy Meets World" - white
"That's So Raven" - black
"Full House" - white
"Saved by the Bel"l - mix
"Pepper Ann" - cartoon, but there was a redhead and that's a minority



Did you know..

In 2000-2001 there were
76 % white TV characters compared to 75.1 % whites in the 2000 Census
18 % black TV characters compared to 12.3 % blacks in the 2000 Census
2 % Hispanic TV characters compared to 12.5 % Hispanics in the 2000 Census
2 % Asian TV characters compared to 3.7 % Asians in the 2000 Census
0.2 % American Indian TV characters compared to 0.9 % Indians in the 2000 Census

So it looks like blacks were over represented in the media, and Hispanics under represented, compared to how many were reported on the census. What do you think? Does the media, like TV sitcoms, feel like they have to represent every race? Damned if they do and damned if they don't..