CHALLENGING MISREPRESENTATIVE IMAGERY
Since the 1600’s, a legacy of historically oppressive art, symbols, and misrepresentation has facilitated one of the greatest atrocities committed against African Americans in this country—the attack on the societal image of Black people and Black communities in America. The litany of recent acts of racially motivated violence and blatant white extremism have highlighted the continued presence of systemic racism in this country. A historical look at art and media depictions reveals pervasive, stereotypical icons and representations of Black and Indigenous lives in news, television, media, books, advertising, and more. A common theme among these stereotypes is an overrepresentation of drug abuse and violence in urban areas. These images have played a central role in shaping public narratives, self-perceptions, and common misconceptions around Blacks in America. This misrepresentation includes but is not limited to media drastically inconsistent coverage of white non-medical opioid users with that of black and brown heroin users, where research shows that different methods of representing drug abuse lead to varying public and policy responses. The existing narratives about communities of color right now are stigmatizing, dehumanizing, and false. These narratives are memorialized and communicated in art and the media, and find their way concretely into policy. The Confined Arts has identified both a need for change and a concrete method for achieving that change.
For a very long time, print and televised media have portrayed “addicts” as ethnic minorities, and have specifically portrayed Blacks as more menacing and criminal than Whites in news stories involving drug use and drug arrests. For many people, these misrepresentations provide a one-sided narrative, one that is usually people’s only access to information about the human beings who live in urban communities and/or are more vulnerable to the criminal legal system. This is extremely problematic because these negative misperceptions of people–especially those struggling with drug abuse–do not tell the whole truth or provide the necessary context to initiate treatment or prevention. Iconic stereotypical messaging in popular media only encourages the public’s willingness to legitimize or ignore legal injustices. Reducing the lives of drug users to a false stereotype has concrete violent consequences for Black communities, who are disproportionately incarcerated for drug offenses.
Locally, Harlem has a long history of drugs and poverty dating as far back to post World War II. While heroin use increased throughout the country, much of the drug’s distribution centered in Harlem. As a result of this and pervasive racialized stereotypes, Harlem was labeled the “Dope Capital”. By looking at New York state’s response to heroin in Harlem during the 1960s, we can better understand how racialized narratives about drug addiction impact policy. In late January 1973, Rockefeller held a televised news conference to advocate for more punitive drug laws and to articulate the framework for these laws. Despite the law encompassing the entire state, Rockefeller took the stage with five guest speakers, all from Harlem. Each speaker gave a testimony meant to be a representative of the state but limited to the streets of Harlem. The public narratives surrounding the Harlem Community during these times led to a huge disinvestment where there was a huge need. In effect, the community so ravaged by the narcotics epidemic was brought center stage as a startling example of state failure, despite receiving little state aid to fight addiction through rehabilitation. Using easily digestible, imagined constructions of criminal pushers, identified as poor Black youth from Harlem, the government created a portrait of Harlem that cemented the support for increased law enforcement and further withheld state support to those battling addiction in Harlem.
In the past 10 years the Harlem Community has experienced several drug raids totaling hundreds of arrests. On one occasion Police and FBI agents swathed in military-style fatigues swarmed three East Harlem housing projects, busting 32 people on gang and drug charges. The April 2016 daily news article covering this story documented this mass arrest by showing law enforcement in war-ready apparel and highlighting an image The NYPD released of their thermo-aerial footage. These methods of photographing and photo journalism dehumanizes community trauma and fosters inaccurate ideas of public safety within communities and is a method of fear-mongering for those looking from the outside in. The Confined Arts is uniquely positioned in the Harlem Community to facilitate a paradigm shifting from these misrepresentative narratives by creating a more collaborative and inclusive visual culture for Harlem.
For a very long time, print and televised media have portrayed “addicts” as ethnic minorities, and have specifically portrayed Blacks as more menacing and criminal than Whites in news stories involving drug use and drug arrests. For many people, these misrepresentations provide a one-sided narrative, one that is usually people’s only access to information about the human beings who live in urban communities and/or are more vulnerable to the criminal legal system. This is extremely problematic because these negative misperceptions of people–especially those struggling with drug abuse–do not tell the whole truth or provide the necessary context to initiate treatment or prevention. Iconic stereotypical messaging in popular media only encourages the public’s willingness to legitimize or ignore legal injustices. Reducing the lives of drug users to a false stereotype has concrete violent consequences for Black communities, who are disproportionately incarcerated for drug offenses.
Locally, Harlem has a long history of drugs and poverty dating as far back to post World War II. While heroin use increased throughout the country, much of the drug’s distribution centered in Harlem. As a result of this and pervasive racialized stereotypes, Harlem was labeled the “Dope Capital”. By looking at New York state’s response to heroin in Harlem during the 1960s, we can better understand how racialized narratives about drug addiction impact policy. In late January 1973, Rockefeller held a televised news conference to advocate for more punitive drug laws and to articulate the framework for these laws. Despite the law encompassing the entire state, Rockefeller took the stage with five guest speakers, all from Harlem. Each speaker gave a testimony meant to be a representative of the state but limited to the streets of Harlem. The public narratives surrounding the Harlem Community during these times led to a huge disinvestment where there was a huge need. In effect, the community so ravaged by the narcotics epidemic was brought center stage as a startling example of state failure, despite receiving little state aid to fight addiction through rehabilitation. Using easily digestible, imagined constructions of criminal pushers, identified as poor Black youth from Harlem, the government created a portrait of Harlem that cemented the support for increased law enforcement and further withheld state support to those battling addiction in Harlem.
In the past 10 years the Harlem Community has experienced several drug raids totaling hundreds of arrests. On one occasion Police and FBI agents swathed in military-style fatigues swarmed three East Harlem housing projects, busting 32 people on gang and drug charges. The April 2016 daily news article covering this story documented this mass arrest by showing law enforcement in war-ready apparel and highlighting an image The NYPD released of their thermo-aerial footage. These methods of photographing and photo journalism dehumanizes community trauma and fosters inaccurate ideas of public safety within communities and is a method of fear-mongering for those looking from the outside in. The Confined Arts is uniquely positioned in the Harlem Community to facilitate a paradigm shifting from these misrepresentative narratives by creating a more collaborative and inclusive visual culture for Harlem.