Start Date
13-12-2016 11:10 AM
Description
The Civil Rights Movement dramatically effected American citizens in nearly every sphere of daily life. Though many people believe that the Movement ended with the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the American African American population was still fighting a bitter war for accurate representation in their country. One area where this population was both underrepresented and inaccurately represented was in advertisements in mainstream media. This project will focus on why mainstream magazines at the time were not representing the full American population, and why their attempts at representation were wildly inaccurate and inadvertently racist. By examining primary sources of advertisements at the time, this project will culminate in an analysis of the motivations and reasoning behind the exclusion of African Americans from mainstream advertising and the course of events that led to broader representation for this group in magazines.
African Americans in Advertising: A Fight for Representation
The Civil Rights Movement dramatically effected American citizens in nearly every sphere of daily life. Though many people believe that the Movement ended with the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the American African American population was still fighting a bitter war for accurate representation in their country. One area where this population was both underrepresented and inaccurately represented was in advertisements in mainstream media. This project will focus on why mainstream magazines at the time were not representing the full American population, and why their attempts at representation were wildly inaccurate and inadvertently racist. By examining primary sources of advertisements at the time, this project will culminate in an analysis of the motivations and reasoning behind the exclusion of African Americans from mainstream advertising and the course of events that led to broader representation for this group in magazines.
Comments
Mentor: Dr. Nicolas Rosenthal