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A Critical Discourse Analysis of Interracial Marriages in Television Sitcoms

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A Critical Discourse Analysis of Interracial Marriages in Television Sitcoms University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 5-2014 Drawing the Primetime Color Line: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Interracial Marriages in Television Sitcoms Jodi Lynn Rightler-McDaniels University of Tennessee, Knoxville, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, and the Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies Commons Recommended Citation Rightler-McDaniels, Jodi Lynn, "Drawing the Primetime Color Line: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Interracial Marriages in Television Sitcoms. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2014. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/2725 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Jodi Lynn Rightler-McDaniels entitled "Drawing the Primetime Color Line: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Interracial Marriages in Television Sitcoms." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Communication and Information. Catherine A. Luther, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Elizabeth Hendrickson, Lori Amber Roessner, Barbara Thayer-Bacon Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) Drawing the Primetime Color Line: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Interracial Marriages in Television Sitcoms A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Jodi Lynn Rightler-McDaniels May 2014 ii Copyright © 2014 by Jodi Lynn Rightler-McDaniels All rights reserved. iii Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to anyone who has ever been ostracized because of who they love. iv Acknowledgements I have been blessed with the love and support of so many wonderful people – anyone who has completed graduate work understands the necessity of having a strong support system. First and foremost, I would like to thank my two biggest supporters, my dad and my husband. Dad – you have given up so much for me to achieve this dream. Words cannot express how much you mean to me. I am so lucky to have you as my role model and best friend. I love you more. Will – thank you for believing in me, even when I had trouble believing in myself. You make me remember everyday how lucky I am to have you in my life. I am so excited to start the next chapter of our lives together. To my amazing mentor and chair, Dr. Catherine Luther, I do not think you will ever know just how much I appreciate and admire you. Were it not for you, I would not be where I am today. Thank you for pushing me when I needed it, guiding me when I was lost, and supporting me always. I have tried my best to live up to the example you have set before me. I also owe a profound debt of gratitude to the members of my amazing committee. Dr. Elizabeth Hendrickson – thank you for always making me smile and believe in myself. Your sense of humor made a world of difference through this process and I cannot thank you enough for that. Dr. Amber Roessner – thank you for always offering words of encouragement and a shoulder to cry on when needed. Dr. Barbara Thayer-Bacon – I thank you for introducing me to things that sincerely fascinate and inspire me. You are a true inspiration to anyone who is fortunate enough to cross paths with you. Thank you all for allowing me to study something that I truly care about – I could not have asked for a better group of scholars to guide me through my doctoral studies. v Finally, I would like to thank all my friends and family for your unwavering love and support. There are too many to name, but you know who you are. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. vi Abstract Changes throughout history, particularly those surrounding race relations in the U.S., frequently have a direct effect on personal social experience and the current structure of society. Although public discourse often emphasizes the rhetoric of racial progression, subtle racism abounds – both in society and in media – masked under the façade of equality. This is especially true when examining race relations between Blacks and Whites, particularly those involved in intimate heterosexual interracial relationships, as they have traditionally been viewed as negative, dangerous, and threatening to the status quo. Television representations are often socially and culturally rooted with real issues, hence their mass appeal. Critical television studies involving race (and gender, class, and power) situate questions about these representations and struggles within the context of American entertainment media. By engaging the text together with context, in line with cultural studies, meanings can be deduced from media discourse. As such, this study explores and traces Black/White interracial intimate relationship portrayals on exemplary American network television sitcoms representing the 1970 and 2010 decades. Building on the intersection of existing mass communication and cultural studies research about both intimate interracial pairings in American society and in mainstream television, this dissertation focuses exclusively on the first season of two situational comedies featuring a heterosexual Black/White interracial couple that were broadcast during primetime hours on major commercial networks – The Jeffersons (CBS/1975) and Happy Endings (ABC/2011). Using critical race theory, this critical discourse analysis systematically examines the U.S. television industry-created sitcoms’ depictions of interracial marriages between Black and White individuals. vii Although important social, legal, and political events pertaining to race relations took place during the study’s chosen time frame of 1975-2011, little variation existed in the thematic representations of Black/White interracial couples. Furthermore, consistencies in themes between each sitcom existed. viii Table of Contents Chapter I. Color-coded Love………………………….…………………………..….. 1 Introduction………………………………………………………... 1 The Race Myth…………………………………………………….. 8 Historical Perspectives…………………………………………….. 11 Cultural Hegemony…………………………………………..……. 29 Interpretive Turn in Media…………………………………..……. 33 Critical Race Theory………………………………………………. 37 Media as Cultural Instruments….…………………………………. 42 Locating This Research...………………………………………….. 45 Chapter II. “A Blend Can Be Obtained”..……………………………………………... 49 Mainstream Media Portrayals ..…………………………………… 49 The Essential “Tube”……………………………………………… 51 Televised Interracial Portrayals Through the Decades……. 55 1950s………………………………………………. 55 1960s………………………………………………. 57 1970s………………………………………………. 59 1980s………………………………………………. 62 1990s………………………………………………. 64 2000s………………………………………………. 65 Research Questions………………………………………………... 67 Chapter III. Method…..………………………………………………………………… 69 Qualitative Research………………………………………………. 70 Critical Discourse Analysis…..…………………………………..... 71 Justification for Genre Selection…………………………………. 74 Program Selection Criteria……………………………………….. 76 The Sitcoms……………………………………………………….. 78 The Jeffersons ……………………………………………... 78 Happy Endings …………………………………………….. 82 Researcher Disclosure……………………………………………... 85 Chapter IV. Findings……………………………………………………………………. 87 Persistence of a Color Line………………………………………… 88 The Jeffersons ……………………………………………… 89 Happy Endings …………………………………………….. 94 Interracial Mixing Is Problematic…………………………………. 97 The Jeffersons ……………………………………………… 100 Happy Endings …………………………………………….. 112 Racial Stereotypes Reinforced…………………………………….. 118 The Jeffersons ……………………………………………… 119 Happy Endings …………………………………………….. 122 ix Chapter V. Discussion…………………………………………………………………. 125 Limitations…………………………………………………………. 134 Chapter VI. Conclusions and Recommendations………………………...……………... 137 Conclusions……………………………………………………….... 137 Recommendations for Future……………………………………… 140 List of References………...………………………………………………... 142 Vita……………………………………......................................................... 175 x List of Tables Table 1. Selected Television Programs……………………………………………………. 78 Table 2. The Jeffersons Season One Episodes…………………………………………….. 80 Table 3. Happy Endings Season One Episodes……………………………………………. 83 1 Chapter I Color-coded Love Interracial marriages are unbiblical and immoral. God created different races of people and placed them amongst themselves…There is nothing for [W]hite Americans to gain by mixing their blood with blood of other peoples. There will only be irreversible damage for us. (Written in a letter to the editor in response to a newspaper photograph of Black and White youths dancing together, as quoted in Mathabane & Mathabane, 1992, p. 186) Introduction The topic of mixed race can bring out the worst in people. From the vicious harassment of couples in mixed relationships to the hatred expressed on supremacist websites, few subjects have the same capacity as racial mixture to reveal deep-seated fears and resentments. (Parker &
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