Television Violence, African-Americans, and Social Control 1950-1976 Author(S): Henry Taylor and Carol Dozier Source: Journal of Black Studies, Vol

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Television Violence, African-Americans, and Social Control 1950-1976 Author(s): Henry Taylor and Carol Dozier Source: Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 14, No. 2 (Dec., 1983), pp. 107-136 Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2784315 . Accessed: 07/05/2013 16:39

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This content downloaded from 128.205.118.121 on Tue, 7 May 2013 16:39:09 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions TELEVISION VIOLENCE, AFRICAN-AMERICANS, AND SOCIAL CONTROL 1950-1976

HENRY TAYLOR CAROL DOZIER Columbus,Ohio

Television,over the past three decades, has becomethe primary interpreterof Americanlife and history,and the principal socializinginstitution in the UnitedStates (Cater and Adler, 1974). Because of the great popularityof this medium,the prevalenceof violenceon televisionhas precipitatedan ongoing debate,and a voluminousliterature, about the effect that violent TV programshave on thesocial behavior of children and adults.I One side contendsthat continuousexposure to TV violence stimulatesaggressive anti-social behavior among select members ofthe mass viewing audience, and that this had ledto increasesin violentcrime and juvenile delinquency. TV, thisside argues, not only mirrorsthe violentcontent of social reality,but also contributesto violentbehavior by creating a vastfantasy world peopledwith appealing but violent characters who serve as social role models (Newcombe,1979; Cater and Strickland,1975; Seigal,1957). The otherside argues that television merely reflects theideas that people already have about the world in whichthey live,and that TV violencehas littleeffect on thesocial behavior of

JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES, Vol. 14 No. 2, December1983 107-136 ? 1983Sage Publications,Inc.

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eitherchildren or adults(Schwartz, 1973; Barnouw, 1970; Lange et al., 1969;McLuhan, 1964; Klapper, 1960). Both sides in the debate about televisionviolence usually restricttheir inquiry into the complex psychosocial relationship betweentelevision violence and social behavior,to the rather simplisticquestion of whether or not TV violenceis a majorcause ofviolent antisocial behavior in Americansociety today. Histor- ical studies,however, provide a broaderperspective and a much morecogent answer to themore basic questionsof thegeneral natureand basic causes of violencein America.The American experiencehas beenplagued by an epidemicof violence, ranging fromnumerous border or territorialwars, to foreignwars, agrarianrevolts, a full-fledgedcivil war, massacres of Indians, the tortureof slaves,employer bellicosity toward workers, street violencein theslums, gang warfare, KKK lynchingsof blacks, domesticviolence, and the like (Kelley, 1981; Madol and Wakelyn,1980; Boyer and Morias,1971; Franklin, 1956)-all of whichpredate the advent of television.H. Rap Brown'swidely quoted statement,"Violence is as Americanas cherrypie," is, unfortunatelybut indisputably, historically accurate. Seen against the backdropof violencethat is stimulatedby otherhistorical causal factors,any possiblemarginal increase in violentsocial behaviorcaused by watchingviolent cowboy, police, and spy serieson televisionmust be considereda minorfactor in the etiologyof violent crime in thiscountry (Dick, 1979;Ryan, 1971; Fanon, 1963).2 Furthermore,there are no widely accepted explanationsof why television violence might bring about violent antisocialbehavior in some individualsbut not in others,or of how the lone factorof TV violencemight be knownto cause violentbehavior in an individualwho (we somehowassume) wouldnot otherwise commit such acts. It is also an openquestion whetherTV violencemight not "put off' many people in sucha way as to discouragetheir use of violence.After all, manyof today'santi-TV-violence campaigners grew up watchingcowboy moviesand "who-done-its."In short,how can we quantifythe net impactof this complex variable on a complex,historically violent societywhich nearly universally watches television?

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The criticsof television violence, while condemning violence and recognizingthe importanceof televisionas a learning source,have paid littlesystematic attention to the contentof TV violenceas a sourceof basic ideas aboutthe social order.As an instrumentof socialization, American commercial television is intimatelyinvolved with social conflictand social control. This involvement,as Clark (1969) suggests,is much more fundamentalthan the quiescentpresentation of some people enjoyingthe fruits of society while others do not.Not onlydoes TV uncriticallyreflect the social structureof societyin its selectionand presentationof charactersassociated with class divisions,but it also reinforcesthe notion that there is a fixed orderin society,and thatwhoever tries to upsetthat order will meet with tragedy (Schiller, 1976, 1975; Dorman and Mattchart,1975; Heffner,1973). The hypothesispresented in this articleis that television violence is used as a mechanismof social control in two interrelatedways. First,TV transmitsa conservativeconcept of legitimateviolence and the law enforcementsystem to the mass viewingaudience. By presentingan endless parade of invincible,violent, and generallymorally upright heroes, TV legitimizesthe use of violence-includingdeadly force3-by thosewho defendthe status quo, and reinforcesthe idea that the police are the good guys,altruistically dedicated to the protectionof society from evildoers. Second, because African- Americansare historicallythe most oppressed, exploited, and consistentlymilitant group in the United States, television attemptsto controltheir potential militancy by projectingthe violent black law enforcementofficer as a role model for emulationby black youth: by glamorizing and overrepresenting law enforcementofficers as an occupationaltype among black TV characters,television encourages African-Americans to view police work as a viable careerchoice (DeFleur, 1969). This articleexamines how TV violence servesnot only as a socializingagent which presents to themass viewingaudience thenarrow conservative view of violence and thelaw enforcementsystem, but also attempts,through the type of the violent

This content downloaded from 128.205.118.121 on Tue, 7 May 2013 16:39:09 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 110 JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES / DECEMBER 1983 black police hero, to play a significantrole in the political socializationof African-Americans.

TELEVISION'S EFFECT ON THE VIEWING AUDIENCE

This studyis based on thepremise that television constitutes a majorfactor in theshaping of people's perceptionsof social reality,and that programmingwhich featuresviolent TV showsplays a special role in thisprocess by moldingpeople's attitudes,values, and beliefsabout thenature and characterof violenceand thelaw enforcementsystem in Americanlife and history.The basis of television'swide appeal and of its ability to shape people'sideas about differentaspects of social reality is the story tellingfunction of the medium. Gerbnerand Signorielli(1979) suggestthat TV drama and fictionplay an importantrole in conveyinginformation about social reality by demonstratingthe invisibleconnections that show how institutionswork and why.Barnouw (1970) arguesthat this connectionbetween fantasy and realityis drawneven tighter in the docudrama,which intentionally fuses fiction and docu- mentationin orderto enhancea certainview of reality.4This mergerof facts and fantasy,Barnouw points out, makes it even more difficultfor people to distinguishbetween fantasy and reality.No one, of course, believes everythingseen on television,but manypeople do believethat storylines are based on fact, at least at some level. Television series (with the obvious exceptionof some sciencefiction) purport to depict the actual functioningof real institutionsand to accurately portraythe attitudes,values, and beliefsof the people who performvarious functions in society,and who workfor or deal with various institutions(Monaco, 1981; Barnouw, 1970). Because of television'sability to validatereality, it maynever occurto viewersto questionwhether a depictionis real; and if theydo, theymay conclude that a show is essentiallytrue, "tellingit like it is" (Barnouw,1970).

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People do seemto believethat television provides a generally accuratepicture of theinner workings of thecorporate world, hospitals,newspaper offices, law schools,the criminal justice system,and so on, which inner workingsare outside the experienceof themajority of the viewing audience. Television can have a tremendousimpact on the public'sperceptions of theseinstitutions, even to theextent that television fiction and drama are perceivedas portrayingspecific, actual institutions and/or real-lifeindividuals. The PhiladelphiaBulletin of July 10, 1974, reportedthat "Marcus Welby"during its firstfive yearsreceived over a quarterof a millionletters from viewers, most requestingmedical advice! A New York City police officialcomplained that jury membersformed images and expectationsof trial procedures and outcomesfrom television thatoften prejudiced their decisions in actualtrials. The series "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." actuallyprecipitated numerous genuinejobapplications, by adults, to theU.N. forpositions at U.N.C.L.E. (Gerbneret al., 1979; Barnouw,1970). If adults have problemsdisentangling fact from fiction in televisioncontent, the task must be even more difficultfor children.Extensive research has been conductedto explore television'seffect on children.While the conclusionsof these studiesare controversial,the researchnevertheless suggests thatthe potential effect of television on childrenis substantial. For example, Rubin (1976, 1978) identifiestelevision as the principalsource of political informationfor children.His findingssuggest that the viewing of certaintypes of television contentmay be functionalto thelearning of identities and roles ofpolitical figures and institutions.Dominick (1972) findsthat themass mediaare majorsources of learning about important politicalobjectives, including war, and theseauthors conclude that the mass media plays a significantrole in the political socializationprocess. DeFleur (1969) argues that TV is an importantsource of incidental learning through which children developa varietyof concepts, ideas, attitudes, and preferences. He furthersuggests that "televisionoccupational portrayals mayprovide important information for the young member of

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theurban industrial society just beforeand duringthe time he makes importantoccupation-related choices and decisions." Incidentallearning from television, DeFleur concludes,may contributeto a child'sattitude toward his own futureoccupa- tion, and toward his orientationto others who carry out specificwork roles in the occupationalstructure. The mag- nitudeof incidental learning from TV is amplifiedamong black and poor children,who tend to spend more time watching televisionthan theirmiddle-class white counterparts(U.S. Commissionon CivilRights, 1977,1979; Surlin and Dominick, 1970-1971). Despite the controversialaspects of the research on the effectsthat TV may have on childrenand adults, scholarsdo tendto agreethat television absorbs extensive daily time and is a mediumfrom which a substantialamount of incidentallearning may take place.

TELEVISION VIOLENCE AND THE LAW ENFORCEMENT SYSTEM

To determinehow televisionmight shape the audience's perception of violence and the law enforcementsystem, we examinedtelevision show seriesfrom the period 1950to 1976 whichhad law-enforcementpersonnel as heroesand/ or which had other violent themes.5Since our preliminarysample revealedno differencein the mannerin whichviolence was projectedby the different networks, our data was notorganized by network;nor was any effortmade in thisstudy to analyze programsin all formatsor genres,since it has been well documentedelsewhere that although the magnitude of violence will vary among adventure/action, drama, and comedyand varietyshows, the socializing intentof televisionviolence does not varyby show formator genre(Monaco, 1981). The firststep in our analysis was to determineif the protagonistin a violentTV seriescould be linkedto anysocial institutions,because in real lifeviolence does not take place withina vacuum,but is usuallyemployed by people in response

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to theirenvironment and in orderto accomplishsome political, social, and/or economic end. It thereforeseemed especially importantto analyzethose characters in these series who might serveas social rolemodels, to determinewhether they could be linkedto anyinstitution or social class. Protagonistsin violent TV shows werefound to be readilyclassifiable according to theirrelation to thelaw enforcementsystem, with three broad categories of heroes emerging:agents, independents,and surrogates.6

AGENTS

Agents were definedas those officerswho were directly employedby some real or fictional law enforcementinstitution: police, FBI, intelligenceagency, armed forces,etc. These individualsranged from bumbling idiots (e.g., AgentSmart in "Get Smart,"and Barneyin "Mayberry, R.F.D"), to invincible superheroes(e.g., the "Six MillionDollar Man" and "Wonder Woman"). The varietyof agenttypes seemed endless. There were beautifulwomen ("Police Woman"), sensitiveyoung teenagers("The Mod Squad"), invalids ("Ironside"), and kindlyfamily men ("Mayberry,R.F.D."). The storylinein theseshows was writtento cast sympathywith the agent, who was typicallyportrayed as a warm,sensitive, empathetic, and caring individualwho had dedicated his or her life to the protectionof society.Although users of violence,the agents wereusually characterized as men and womenwho eschewed violenceand employedit onlyas a finalresort. When agents werecast as theleading character, they were usually portrayed as shrewd,highly efficient police officers, who alwaysemerged victoriousin theirstruggle against crime. In the 1950s and 1960s,the agentswere unregulated. They were allowed to wiretap,intimidate, break and enter,and violatein variousways the constitutional rights of individuals. It should be stressedthat on TV theseunconstitutional acts were always shown in the context of the apprehensionof (presumed)criminals, and agentswere almost nevershown

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violatingthe rights of innocent people. It was duringthis same period, however,that African-Americansand othergroups weresuccessfully protesting against the use ofsuch unconstitu- tional methodsby the police in the real world(Simpson and Turnbull, 1978). By the late 1960s, television policemen generallyhad ceased committingtheir most conspicuous violationsof people's constitutional rights, although-some use of illegaland unconstitutionalprocedures in criminalinvesti- gationscontinued to takeplace in someof the programs. Arons and Katsh (1977) cite43 separatescenes from 15 prime-time police shows broadcast in March, 1976, in which "serious questionscould be raisedabout the propriety of police action." Because TV presentedthese illegal acts as legitimate,the authors of this study were fearfulthat citizensmight not recognizeviolations of their own rightsor those of other people. On the internationalscene, no attemptwas ever made to curtailthe illegal activitiesof those TV agents involvedin espionage.They continued to use a "by-any-means-necessary" approachto theoverthrow and destabilizationof governments thatthe U.S. believedto be unfriendly.Consequently, in shows like "Get Smart,""I Spy," and "Mission: Impossible,"agents wereallowed to commitassassinations and othermurders, to commit acts of sabotage, and to overthrowgovernments. Table 1 characterizesin summarya representativesample of TV programsthat featured agents.

INDEPENDENTS

The independentsrepresented another category of violent televisioncharacters. Independents were not directly linked to any law enforcementinstitution, but were generallycast as detectivesor investigatorsfor private institutionssuch as insurancecompanies. In manyinstances the independents had had some priornegative experience with the law enforcement systembefore becoming private investigators. For example,

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TABLE 1 Selected Programs that Feature Agents as Leading Characters

Program ProgramSummary Year

Police Woman Adventuresof a femalepolice 1975 officer.

The Rookies Adventuresof youngpolice agents. 1975 A multi-racialgroup of police officers.

Hawaii Five-O Police adventuresin Hawaii, in a 1970 multi-racialsetting.

MayberryR. F. D. Family man, friendly,casual sheriff,able to maintainlaw and orderwithout carrying a weapon.

The Untouchables A seriesof storiesabout special agents 1960 fightingcrime during the twenties.

I Led Three Lives Storyof an undercoveragent who 1955 spies on Communistsworking in U.S.A.

Inside Detectives A storyabout police detectives 1950 fightingcrime.

SOURCE: TV Guide: Southern Ohio Edition.

"Switch"was a seriesabout a formercriminal who became a privatedetective, and "Charlie'sAngels" was thestory of three policewomenwho had left boring assignmentsto become private investigatorsfor a millionaireconcerned with law enforcement.Independents in thistype of seriesacted as allies of the police, eitherassisting them in solvingproblems that were outsidethe purviewof traditionallaw enforcement,or aidingin theinvestigation of crimes that were difficult to solve. Because of theirclose workingrelationships with the police, independentsin these series were given legal permissionto carryguns and to engagein criminalinvestigations.

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Like the-agents,independents came in all sizes and shapes. There were beautifulwomen, blacks, older men, cunning youngsters,and even a few bumblingidiots. Because they operatedoutside the institutional law enforcementsystem, the independentswere given greater latitude in thestruggle against "crime."For example,they were allowed to wiretap,break and enter,offer bribes, and engagein otherillegal activities in order to apprehendcriminals. To justifythese tactics,whenever independentswere cast as leadingcharacters, the police were portrayedeither as incompetentbuffoons or as good cops who needed help with a particularlydifficult situation. This le- gitimizedthe independent'sinvolvement in law enforcement and provideda rationalefor his or her illegal crime-fighting activities.Because of thetenuous relation between the police and independents,conflicts often erupted between them. In the end, however,the superiortalents and illegal tacticsof the independentsusually prevailed, and the fighttemporarily subsided once the criminalwas caught. Independentswere projectedas extensionsof the agents,and theirallies in the struggleto bringlaw and orderto theUnited States. Because of this,they were allowed to use violenceand deadlyforce in the struggleagainst crime. Table 2 presentsa representative sample of programmingthat featured the independents.

SURROGATES

The mostinteresting of all theviolent protagonists was the surrogate.Unlike the agents and independents,these defenders of the status quo did not earn theirliving fighting crime. However,because ofa strongsense of civic responsibility, they joined thestruggle against crime whenever law and orderbroke down. In this regard,the surrogaterepresented a new glo- rificationof vigilantismin Americanlife and history,and TV programmingof this type created a modern type of the Westernfrontier a lawless environmentin which the in- dividual had to assume responsibilityfor protectionof the

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TABLE 2 Selected Programs that Feature Independents as Leading Characters

Program ProgramSummary Year

Switch Two reformedcon artiststurn private eye. 1975

BarnabyJones An insuranceinvestigator solves crimesin 1970 the interestof insuranceindustry.

77 Sunset Strip Youth generationdetectives aid 1960 police.

Hawaii Five-O Privatedetectives chase criminalsin a 1960 tropicalsetting.

Wells Fargo A Westerndetective uses cunningand 1958 courage to make Westsafe forWells Fargo.

PeterGunn Privatedetective uses his skillsto 1957 apprehendcriminals for a varietyof clients.

SOURCE: TV Guide: Southern Ohio Edition. establishmentand the maintenanceof law and order(Frantz, 1970). Surrogatesdiffered from agents and independentsin three significantways. First,they did not earn theirliving fighting crime. They were just concernedcitizens who rose to the occasion wheneverlaw enforcementbroke down, and it is importantto note thatthey were usually cast in roles where theycame to therescue of ordinarycitizens. Second, theyhad no legal permissionto carryweapons or to engagein criminal investigations.However, because they were recognized as allies in thestruggle against crime, they were given social sanctionto use violenceand evendeadly force. Third, many surrogates did not live in any given city,but were cast as wandererswho

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somehowrepeatedly found themselves in one communityafter anotherwhere law enforcementhad brokendown. To justify theirroving, surrogates were often portrayed as fugitiveswho had been wronglyaccused of some crimeand wereforced to move fromplace to place whilethey struggled to provetheir innocence.Exceptions to thefugitive rationale were found in "Bronson,""B.J. and theBear," and "Moving On." "Bronson was the storyof a successfulbusinessman who wanted to escape theurban rat race and findthe simplicity of nineteenth centuryAmerica. Instead of utopia,Bronson found a country torn with rampantlawlessness and was transformedinto a rovingcrime fighter. The implicationwas that Bronsonwas independentlywealthy, since he neverworked and had plenty ofmoney. On theother hand, David Bannerin "The Incredible Hulk" had to takean assortmentof odd jobs to sustainhimself. In theseventies, the popularity of truckers created yet another rationalefor roving surrogates, and "B.J. and the Bear" and "Moving On" introducedthe truckersurrogate to the mass viewingaudience. Table 3 shows a representativesample of programmingthat featured surrogates. One unifyingtheme among shows featuringagents, independents,or surrogatesis thatthose individuals who fight to upholdthe status quo are assumedto have a moralif not legal rightto use violenceand deadlyforce. To cast sympathywith theseviolent protagonists, they were portrayed as superheroes who dedicatedtheir lives to thestruggle against crime. In the earlydays of television,these superheroes were portrayed as paragonsof virtue who did notsmoke, drink, gamble, curse, or philander.In the 1950Westerns, for example, the superheroes wore white hats and had good manners and impeccable morals.During the 60s and 70s,the image of the violent heroes was changed,but their halos werenot completely removed. In shows like "Columbo," "Kojak," "Cannon," "ElleryQueen," "Police Story,""The Streetsof San Francisco,"and "Baretta," the defendersof the status quo still representedthe living embodimentof moralrectitude. Even in seeminglyinnocent situation comedies like "Barney Miller" and "Mayberry,R.F.D.," stories were writtento

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TABLE 3 Selected Programs that Feature Surrogates as Leading Characters

Program ProgramSummary Year

The Hulk Scientistfights for truth 1975 and justice as he searchesfor a cure to a malady that transforms him into an invinciblesuper hero.

Bronson Motorcyclistroams the country- 1975 side bringingjustice to obscure little communities.

Bonanza Cartwrightfamily fights to bring 1965 justice to the Old West.

The Big Valley Matriarchand her sons battle evil 1965 doers in the Old West.

The Lone Ranger The masked man roams throughoutthe 1950 Westbringing truth and justice to this untamedcountry.

Hop-a-Long Cowboy roams the West fightingfor 1950 Cassidy truthand justice.

SOURCE: TV Guide: Southern Ohio Edition. promoteempathy, or the capacityto identify,with the police and law enforcementsystem personnel in general. These programsinvited viewers to see policemenas individuals,with human strengthsand weaknesses, rather than merely as impersonalmembers of impersonallaw enforcementsystems dedicatedto the maintenanceof the establishedorder. The contentof shows whichfeature violence seems thereforeto obscurethe role thatthe police and law enforcementsystem actuallyplay in this country'sracist, class-stratified society. The police are primarilyconcerned with the protectionof property,and in thisrole theyoften come into conflictwith strikingworkers, the black community,and otheroppressed

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minorities.Among African-Americans,the issues of police brutalityand unequal treatmentunder the law are criticalcivil rightsissues. It is, therefore,of signalimportance that violent TV programmingusually attempts to portrayonly the most positiveor favorableimage of the police and theirrelation to theblack community.For example,in a 1969episode of"The FBI," a blackFBI agentleads a "treacherousghetto" search for Nate Phelps (Billy Dee Williams),who is wantedfor murder and robbery.In thissequence, the FBI agentemerges as the hero,while the formerathlete is portrayedas nothingmore thanan insensitivekiller; and thelarger socio-political question of how a handsomeblack man withhigh status in the black communityis transformedinto a pettythief and killer is ignored(TV Guide, 1969a: A-32). The contentof violent TV programsalso seemsto promote the idea that violence used in defenseof the status quo is morallyif not legally justified, and sociallynecessary. Indeed, the presumedneed to protect"society" from behaviors (and characters)which are simplisticallyportrayed as antisocial,is the centraltheme that runs throughout the historyof violent TV programs:the hero has to be violentbecause theforces of evil will stop at nothingto destorydemocracy and/or the Americanway of life. The underlyingassumption is thatgood and evil are naturallyand everlastinglyat odds, and thatto obliteratethe forces of evil violencemust be employed.Since the heroesrepresent the forces of good, theyare givensocial sanctionto use violencein orderto subdue theevildoers, and this sanction also serves to morallyjustify or purifytheir violentacts. Consequently,in shows like "Barnaby Jones," "Wells Fargo," "Peter Gunn," "Hawaii Five-0," "77 Sunset Strip,""The Man fromU.N.C.L.E.," and "Kojak," theheroes werealways forgiven, regardless of the degree of violence used in theirescapades, and theywere allowed to achievea happy ending. Violent TV programming,especially when it featuresa surrogatehero, also promotesthe principlethat any citizen who defendsthe establishedorder has a rightto use violence

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against"public enemies." For example,in theJanuary 7, 1970, episode of "The Virginian,"the dowry of Mary Charles Marshall(Elizabeth Hubbard), a Southernlady who has come West to marry,is stolenby robbers.Rather than reportthe crimeto the authoritiesand wait forthem to apprehendthe criminals,Mary Charles and herfriends take matters into their own hands and pursuethe robbers(TV Guide, 1970a: A-66). Furthermore,independents and surrogateswere even allowed to set theirown crime-fightingagendas, to definejustice and injusticeand criminalactivity in theirown terms,on thebasis of theirown personalexperience, and withoutspecial training in or knowledgeof thelaw. This formof agenda-settingis the essenceof vigilantism, in whichthe community decides that its own abstractconceptualization of law and moral orderhas been violated,and thentakes summary action. Agents, on the otherhand, weremore restricted.They were generallygiven orders to follow, and were expected to operate withinthe traditionalconstraints of the law enforcementsystem. Nev- ertheless,independents and surrogates-liketheir agent counterparts weregiven social sanctionto use violenceagainst the "public enemies."Thus, the "Lone Ranger" was allowed to shoot and kill because he broughtlaw and orderto the Old West, and Superman's various violent acts were tolerated because the charactercame to earth to fightfor truthand justiceand the Americanway of life. It is essential,at thispoint, to ask who the targetsof these socially condoned acts of violence were, and which social groups were portrayed as the forces of evil. The most conspicuous targetsof TV violence, of course, were those persons who murdered,robbed, or assaulted people, or committedcrimes against property. But violentTV program- mingdid notstop there: also presentedas legitimatetargets of social violence were certain individuals,groups, and or- ganizationsthat fought for their own ideas ofsocialjustice and reform.To obtain sympathyfor the suppressionof social dissenters,opponents of the establishedorder were cast as evildoerswho would stop at nothingto achieve theirevil or

This content downloaded from 128.205.118.121 on Tue, 7 May 2013 16:39:09 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 122 JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES / DECEMBER 1983 fanaticalgoals, and any formof aggressionthey used against theestablished order was portrayedas wrongand intolerable. CommercialTV seriesin thisperiod were seldom writtento cast sympathywith the opponents of thesocial, political,and economic elites. For example, a 1969 episode of "The Mod Squad" called "The Confrontation"involves an explosive situationat a campuswhich has beenthe scene of much student unrest.A black studenthas been murderedon campus,and black militantsbelieve that the police are responsible(TV Guide,1969b: A-57). This episode, aired at a timewhen student militancywas at a peak, portrayedthe militantsas angry, violent,and unreasonablevillains. Linc (ClarenceWilliams), a black undercoveragent, emerges as thehero, and bloodshedis avoided as thepolice are clearedof any wrongdoing. In a similarstory on "Ironside,"entitled "The Machismo Bag," a "rabid militant"called Monolo Rodriguez(A. Mar- tinez),who resentsthe way Mexican-Americansare treatedas second-classcitizens, has organizeda militantgroup called the Red Berets-a highlyvocal group of dropout Chicanos- whichis chargedwith conspiracy to committreason. Ironside bringsthe groupto justice as the police emergeas heroes.In one episode of "Adam-12," Malloy and Reed assist in the captureof a "sociallyconscious" sniper. This episodefeatures the work of the Los Angeles Police Department'sspecial weaponsand tacticsteam that was createdto fightcrime in the streetsand black revolutionaries(TV Guide, 1970b:A-12). In the same way,native Americans were portrayed as bad guys,even thoughwe all know and historianshave always known thatit was thewhite colonists who waged war against the indigenouspopulation, then broke the treatiesthey had made withthem and tooktheir lands. Yet on television,Indian violence against whitesoldiers was rarelypresented as po- liticallyor morallyjustified. It should hardly be surprising,then, that commercial televisionalso failedto developany violent programs showing black leaders fightingwith aggressiveheroism against the forces of racism and discrimination;or showing workers

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waginga courageousstruggle against the repressive tactics of powerfulemployers; or showingpoor welfarerecipients strug- gling against the insensitiveand inhumanepolicies of city governmentsand landlords.Instead, progressive blacks were cast as irrationalrevolutionaries, white leftists as terrorists, and native Americans as perfidious,marauding, vengeful tribal renegadeswho made war on innocent,peace-loving pioneers.Those who struggledagainst the power elites or the statusquo alwaysfailed and, never achieved a happyending- unless, of course, they realized the error of their ways, repented,and unitedwith the established order, like the "good Indian" who becomes a scout and fightsagainst his own people. Even in thepopular series "Daniel Boone," his Indian companion lived and worked among whites, and in one episodehelped Daniel rescuetwo whites from "hostile Indians" (TV Guide, 1970c:A-23). On the internationallevel, the forces of evil were characterized as countriesthat the United States government consideredunfriendly. This generallymeant third-worldor Eastern European countriesthat were opposed to colonial imperialismor Western capitalism. These countrieswere portrayedas dictatorshipsthat violated human rightsand posed a threatto world peace, so that theirgovernments needed to be destablizedor overthrown."I Spy," "Mission: Impossible,""Get Smart,"and "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." were all built around thisgeneral theme. For example,in a February 8, 1970, episode of "Mission: Impossible," the Mission Impossibleteam attempts to overthrowan unfriendly governmentby drivingits leader insane (TV Guide, 1970d: A-30). In anotherstory, the Mission Impossibleteam works withthe U.S. State Departmentto help an oustedright-wing dictatorregain power (TV Guide, 1970b:A-10). Even theFBI is allowed occasionallyto become involvedin TV's world of internationalintrigue. In one sequence,Erskine (Efrem Zim- balist,Jr.) poses as a communistagent and helpsa communist official and his wife escape, with top-secretgovernment documents,from East Germany(TV Guide, 1970c:A-26). In

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each ofthese shows, the storyline is writtenso thatthe audience willignore the violent and unlawfulactions of the heroes and givemoral sanction to theviolation of theterritorial rights of othercountries.

SOCIAL CONFLICT, SOCIAL CONTROL, AND TV VIOLENCE

This paper'sargument that television violence was used as a tool ofsocial controlis perhapsbest supported by the fact that theeffort to getthe mass viewing audience to accepttelevision's conception of violence and the law enforcementsystem is particularlymanifest during periods of social unrest(Alley, 1979;Clark, 1969). For example,between 1958 and 1962,there was a sizable increasein violentTV programming.These were theyears when civil rights workers sought to winenforcement ofthe 1958 Supreme Court ruling that outlawed segregation in public transportation.During the period 1962-1965,however-a periodof relative social calm-there was a reductionin shows that featuedviolent themes. From 1965 onward,the upturnin social unrestwas followedby increases in violentTV programming.This was theperiod of urban rebellions, and of theblack power and antiwarmovements. During this period of risingmilitancy, the police were frequenttargets of public criticism(Conyers, 1981; Sherman,1980). Chargesof police brutalityand theuse ofexcessive force were particularly sharp followingthe murders of Fred Hamptonand Mark Clark,and the deaths at Attica, Kent State, Jackson,North Carolina A&T, and the protest rally at the Democratic National Conventionin Chicago. By the fall of 1975, televisionhad produced22 police-detectiveseries with high Nielson ratings TV Guide: Southern Ohio Edition, January-March,1964- 1975). The new violent shows, however, did not depict anythingresembling the real-lifemilitant movements of this period. Coupled withthe increasein violentTV programswas a change in the genreof these shows. Prior to the 1960s,the

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Westernhad been the primaryvehicle for teaching the mass viewingaudience about violence and the law enforcement system,but cowboysand the Old Westwere too farremoved fromthe mentality of the 1960sto serveas effectivevehicles for conveyinga positive image of the police and the law enforcementsystem. By 1964,Westerns had diminishedto four, and withinten years they had completelydisappeared. So, to strengthenits socializingrole duringthis era of social unrest, televisioncreated a new seriesof socializingprograms with violent protagonistcharacters to suit the new anti-segre- gationistmood whichwas beginningto sweepthe country (TV Guide: SouthernOhio Edition,1960-1976). In thesenew violent TV shows,every social and racialgroup was represented.Blacks, whites,Hispanics, Asians, Indians, women,elderly, youth, and handsome and ugly characters were transformedinto heroes who foughtto maintainthe status quo. "Ironside,""Longstreet," "Barnaby Jones,"and "Cannon" provedthat the handicapped,the elderly,and the overweightcould also be heroes. "I Spy" and "Mission Impossible" broke the color line, while "Police Woman," "Charlie's Angels,"and "The Bionic Woman" attemptedto silencefeminist criticism. The messagewas clear:Anyone who defendsthe statusquo can be a hero,and will be givensocial sanctionto use violence and even deadly force.This is the broad conceptualframework within which the relationship between televisionviolence, the black superhero,and the politicalsocialization of the African-American must be under- stood.

THE VIOLENT BLACK SUPERHERO

During the 1950s blacks were virtuallyexcluded from television.When they did appear,it was usuallyas entertainers, bumblingidiots such as StephenFletcher, or devotedservants such as Rochesterin the"Jack Benny Show" or WillieBest in "Life of Riley." The only seriesin whichblacks starredwas

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"Amos 'n Andy," a programderiving from an older radio show, in which the characterswere so insultingthat the NAACP demandedthat it be taken offthe air (U.S. Com- missionon Civil Rights,1979; Clayton,1961). At thepeak ofthe civil rights movement, blacks demanded thattheir image on televisionbe changedfrom the demeaning stereotypesof the 1950s. Television responded with the creationof the violent black superhero.Since theintroduction of the "I Spy" seriesin 1965, blacks have been portrayedas violentsuperheroes whodefended the white establishment- in over 95% of the dramaticseries in whichthey have been regularlyfeatured. Northcott et al. (1975) found,in a studyof theTV portrayalof blacks and women,that blacks were cast as policemenmore often than any othersingle occupation. Even inthe seemingly innocent show "Julia," the connection between blacksand thelaw enforcementsystem was firmlyestablished. Julia was employed by the Defense Department;and the photographof herhusband, who had been killedin Vietnam, foundits way intomost programs. Her bestfriend's husband was a policeman,too (Clark, 1969). It is indeed ironicthat blacks, who have benefittedleast from American society, shouldfind themselves overwhelmingly portrayed on television as thesuperguardians of thatsame society. Surprisingly,the classificationscheme used in our initial analysisof violent TV superheroes-agents,independents, and surrogates-was not very useful in the more detailed ex- aminationof the role of black TV superheroes.Because ofthe large numbers of blacks who were portrayedas directly employed by the law enforcementsystem at one level or another,a classificationsystem had to be developed which would allow a more concise occupationaldescription of the black superhero.Table 4 provides a selective sample of programsthat featured the violent black superhero. Ten of the thirteenshows listedin Table 4 featuredblack heroeswho wereagents directly employed by the militaryor some organizationdevoted to law enforcementat eitherthe local, national,or internationallevel. In theother three shows,

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TABLE 4 Selected Programs that Feature ViolentBlack Superheroes

Program Name of Character's Classification Series Performer Occupation

POLICE: NYPD RobertHooks Detective Ironside Don Mitchell Detective Rookies GeorgeBrown Policeman The Mod Squad ClarenceWilliams Policeman Get ChristyLove Teresa Graves Detective

INTELLIGENCE: I Spy Bill Cosby Spy MissionImpossible GreggMorris Spy

ARMED FORCES: Hogan's Heroes Ivan Dixon Soldier Land of Giants Dan Marshall Co-pilot(future setting) Star Trek MichelleNicholas Communications Officer(future setting) Julia DiahannCarroll Nursefor Defense Dept.

INDEPENDENT AGENTS: Shaft RichardRoundtree PrivateInvestigator Outcasts Otis Young BountyHunter

SOURCES: Clark (1979); and TV Guide: Southern Ohio Edition. the blacks wereindirectly connected to the police force.This meant that the violentblack superherooperated under the specific ordersof whites,and was expectedto carryout his or her duties within the traditional constraints of the law enforcementsystem. "Shaft" and "The Outcast"were the only independentslisted in our sample,and theseindependent law enforcementofficer heroes were portrayed as superguardians of the whiteestablishment who acted withat least the tacit consent of the law enforcementsystem. The activitiesof "Shaft"provide a typicalexample of the escapades ofthe black independent.Shaft operated primarilyin the white world, wherehe used his witto outsmartclean-cut, white-collar-type thievesand othersimilarly portrayed criminals. For instance, in "The Capricorn Murders" episode, Shaft followed "the

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bloody trailof ruthlessexecutives and the pricelessnecklace theystole" (TV Guide, 1974:49). It is ofsignal importance that there were no blacksurrogates amongthe violent black TV superheroes;and it is essentialto notethat surrogates operated completely outside the bounds of traditionallaw enforcement,and used theirown judgement in defininginjustice and tyranny.The totalabsence of surrogates among black heroes suggeststhat TV was fearfulof en- couragingvigilantism among African-Americans. Instead, by keepingblack heroes closelylinked to the law enforcement system,TV conveysthe messagethat blacks can use socially sanctionedviolence only when they are operatingin defenseof thestatus quo and are actingunder the direct orders of whites. The absence of invinciblesuperheroes such as Superman, the Bionic Woman,Wonder Woman, or the Hulk amongthe violent black TV heroes is also significant.Gerbner and Signorielli(1979) argue that TV violence representsa dem- onstratedmeasure of power among social groups:Who can get awaywith what against whom? How secureare differentsocial typeswhen confronted with conflict and danger?What hier- archiesof riskand vulnerabilitydefine social relations?The invinciblesuperhero represents the ultimate status and source of powerin thesymbolic world of television violence. Because of theinvincible character's awesome power and superhuman force,all othercharacters are dwarfedby theirpresence. No matterhow violent and aggressivea blackTV heromight be, he or she would be no matchfor a whiteinvincible superhero: Supermanwould overpowerShaft; Wonder Woman would overpowerChristy Love; the Hulk would overpowerScott (Bill Cosby). Thus, even when cast in the role of social superguardians,blacks are not given the same status and poweras theirwhite counterparts. In 1974,"Hawaii Five-O," "Police Woman," and "Kojak" introduceda new genreof black hero: the criminalwho has turnedinformer and supportsthe law enforcementsystem. In these programs,black pimps,prostitutes, and dope pushers were recruitedas informersto aid-unbelievably in the

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struggleagainst crime. In exchangefor collaborating with the police, these black criminals were given immunityfrom prosecutionand were even allowed to continuetheir illegal activities.Because of the success of such programming,the blackpimp and hustleras policeinformer became regular stars on "Baretta"and "Starskyand Hutch."The social messagein these programs seemed to be that black criminals who cooperate withthe police will be allowed to remainon the streetsand to continueto preyon blackpeople. That television would take thistype of black criminal,who usuallycommits black-on-blackcrime and has a verylow status inside the African-Americancommunity, and somehowtransform him intoa heroiccharacter, was worsethan ironic: it was an insult to black communityvalues. Historically,school teachers, lawyers,doctors, ministers, and businessmenhave held the higheststatus in the black community. Policemen, on theother hand, have held low occupational status in the black community(Miere and Rudwick,1976; Brown, 1974), because the police have generallybeen viewedas extensionsof the white powerstructure that oppresses black people. No black pimp, hustler,or dope pusher-typecriminal would ever be likelyto be accorded hero status by the African-Americancommunity merelyfor collaborating with the police. According to historiansBerry and Blassingame (1982), blacksin the1960s and 1970sviewed the police as a whitealien armyoccupying their neighborhoods. Although blacks made up between27 and 63% of the 1970 populationsof Detroit, Atlanta,Chicago, and Washington,D.C., forexample, they representedonly between5 and 21% of the police forcesin those cities;and the overwhelmingmajority of the police in theseurban areas werewhite males who livedin the suburbs. As BenjaminWard, Deputy Commissionerof the New York CityPolice Department,said in 1973,"Blacks in Americaare jailed firstand bailed last. The police discretionarypower is used leastin theghettos. Police thereare viewedas an armyof invaders,and in turn,the police oftenview black people as inferiors"(Berry and Blassingame,1982).

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White police not only viewed blacks as inferiors-they also frequentlybeat and killed them. During the 1920s, according to historian Arthur Raper, 50% of the blacks killed by whites were murdered by white Policemen. A Department of Justice study of reported cases of police brutality against private citizens fromJanuary 1, 1958, through June 1960, found that out of 1328 such incidents, 461 (34%) were against blacks (Berry and Blassingame, 1982). The novelist James Baldwin accurately describes black attitudes toward the police in Nobody Knows My Name (1961):

The onlyway to policea ghettois to be opppressive.None ofthe Police Commissioner'smen, even with the best will in the world, have any way of understandingthe lives led by the peoplethey swagger about in twos and threescontrolling. Their verypresence is an insult,and it would be, even ifthey spent theirentire day feedinggumdrops to children.They represent the forceof the whiteworld, and world'scriminal profit and ease, to keepthe Black man corralledup here,in his place. The badge,the gun in theholster, and theswinging club makevivid what will happen should thisrebellion become overt.... He movesthrough Harlem, therefore, like an occupyingsoldier in a bitterlyhostile country, which is preciselywhat, and wherehe is, and is the reasonhe walksin twos and threes.

In the world of television drama, however, the violent black agent and independent heroes were curiously color-blind in their approach to law enforcement. When other African- American characters challenged the status quo, they were suppressed and "brought to justice" by the black superhero policeman or agent. The black TV policemen and superspies were devoted to the maintenance of law and order, do- mesticallyand internationally,and in theirworld therewere no blacks or whites,just allies and opponents of the status quo in general and the white elite establishment in particular. The philosophy of the black violent TV superhero was clearly put forwardin an early 1970 "Dragnet" show in which Dale Evans, a black policeman, tells a group of would-be police recruits why he joined the department:

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I wantedto do somethingfor my country.... I wantedto do somethingfor my own people.... And I'll tellyou something else,some of our people talkabout the white man's law. There's no such thing;not whenBlack menlike you and me wearthis uniform-it'severybody's law [Clark, 1969:21].

Such explicitverbalizations of regulatory themes are onlyone part of the complex aggregatesystem of messagesthat was designed to legitimizethe status quo and to get blacks to identifywith the white establishment. In the mid-sixtiesand seventies,TV sought to allay the suspicionsof the black communityand convincethem that the police werereally their friends. For example,in the February 10, 1970,episode of "Felony Squad," Sam and Jimattempt to capturethieves in a neighborhoodthat has littlefriendship for the police. In the end, the police emergeas "good guys"who helppeople (TV Guide, 1970d).In severalother violent series of this period, including"The Mod Squad," "Get Christy Love," "NYPD," "Rookies,"and "Ironside,"the black viewing audience is asked to accept the policeman as its hero. Furthermore,in theworld of television violence, the black law enforcementofficer as an occupationaltype was also glorified and glamorized. He or she was portrayedas a heroic, successful,middle-class person, and the characteralways achieveda happyending. Because ofsuch character portrayals and storylines,black children may grow up wantingto become cops or superspies(DeFleur, 1969).In otherwords, violent TV programsmay encourageblacks to view "police work" as a highlyesteemed occupation and a realisticway out ofpoverty and theghetto. In thecontext of thelimited career opportun- itiesfor African-Americans, violent TV programmingfeaturing black police heroes attemptsto promotepolice work,along withsports and entertainment,as glamorousbut attainable (and "acceptable")routes to middle-classstatus and thegood life.It is also interestingthat these shows wereaired at time whenaffirmative action forced a numberof police departments to recruitblack policemen.

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CONCLUSION

The findingsof this study indicate that violence is not randomlyprojected on television.Rather, television violence is systematicallypresented within a frameworkwhich suggests thatpeople have an unquestionedmoral and/or legal rightto use violence,including deadly force, to protectthe status quo. Consequently,television dichotomizes violence into narrow legitimateand illegitimateusage categories.In the firstcate- gory,heroic violence that is used to defendthe white establish- mentagainst evil forcesis glorifiedand its userstransformed into superheroes.On the otherhand, aggressionagainst the statusquo is vilified,and usersof violence in thiscategory are cast as evildoerswho mustultimately meet with tragedy. Because of their historyas victims of oppression and exploitation,and especially because of their traditionof militancyand struggle,African-Americans have been a specific targetof TV's effortsto controlsocial conflictand change.In these efforts,black charactersin violent TV programsare generallyportrayed as policemenor collaboratorswith the law enforcementsystem, and these black TV personalitiesare projected as superheroesand social role models for black youth-even thoughthere are no policemenor informers in the pantheonof real-lifeAfrican-American heroes. Indeed, those blacks who have committedblack-on-black crimes, or who have emulated whites,collaborated with oppressivepower elites, and betrayedtheir own people, have been held in contemptby the black masses. Television, therefore,has attemptedto portrayas superheroesthe very individuals who have historicallybeen the most despised and hatedin theblack community(Levine, 1981).By presenting the black policeman, the black independentpolice ally, and even the black pimp- turned-informer,as superheroes,and the law enforcement systemas thecolorblind and altruisticguardian of all "decent" citizensin a democratic,just, and peaceable kingdomwhich is threatenedby a few rottenbad guys, and/or a few hostile foreigncountries, TV seemsto be attemptingsimultaneously

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to discourage the black community'shistoric struggle for social, political, ane economic reform,and to encourage insteadblack identificationwith the white establishment. It is withinthis framework of politicalsocialization via character portrayalsand storylines,that violent television programming can be seen to act as an instrumentof social control.

NOTES

1. In thisstudy, violence is broadlydefined to includeantisocial activities which rangefrom abusive or threateninglanguage or gesturesto thetaking of a humanlife; and, in thecontext of thisarticle antisocial behavior means any attempteddisruption of the statusquo, i.e., of establishedsocial, political,and economicinstitutions. The intentor capacityfor violence is consideredas importantas an actual act of violence: forexample, if a law officeror otherperson carries a gunbut never uses it, he or shewill stillbe considereda violentcharacter. 2. This is not to deny thatexposure to TV violence may stimulateaggressive behavioramong a small group of televisionviewers. However, the incrementsin violentbehavior possibly caused in theseindividuals by watching TV hardlyseems to justifythe vast numberof studiesthis subject has produced.This disproportionate focusseems all themore out ofbalance in lightof the many historical and sociological studieswhich have concludedthat joblessness and theworsening of living conditions are theprimary factors responsible for violence and crimeamong ordinarypeople. 3. Deadly forceis definedin thispaper as anyform of violence which knowingly leads to the killing,or significantrisk of killing,of anotherperson. 4. Barnouwdoes not use theterm docudrama. 5. Because the"age of revolt"(a termcoined by historians)had ended by 1976, and theera ofcable TV had emergedby this date, 1976was selectedas a cutoffdate for thisstudy. The analysisused in thissection of the study was based on theviewing of a numberof episodes of widelywatched prime-timeTV show series that featured violence.The shows used in thisstudy were originally aired between6 p.m. and 11 p.m., Monday throughSunday. A numberof seriesno longerbeing produced were viewed as rerunson daytimetelevision. Descriptions of all seriespresented in the Tables in thisarticle were studied in the programsection of TV Guide. 6. A number of these TV shows also have movie counterparts,and their charactersare reinforcedby the firmsthat are selectedfor TV presentation,and by "made-for-TV"movies. 7. TV Guide: SouthernOhio Edition,Vol. 17,November 16, 1969a,A-32. 8. Ibid., Vol. 18,January 7, 1970a,A-66. 9. Ibid., Vol. 17, November11, 1969b,A-57. 10. Ibid., Vol. 18,January 24, 1970b,A-12. 11. Ibid., Vol. 18 January26, 1970c,A-23. 12. Ibid., Vol. 18, February8, 1970d,A-30. 13. Ibid., Vol. 18,January 24, 1970e,A-10 14. Ibid., Vol. 18,January 26, 1970f,A-26.

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Henry Taylor is an AssistantProfessor of Historyand Black Studies at theOhio State University.He is also Directorof theCincinnati Urban Studies Project,which is studyingthe relationshipbetween the citybuilding process and thcformation, growth, and developmentof black Cincinnatibetween 1802 and 1980. ProfessorTaylor's publications include, "Toward a Historiography of Black UrbanHistory,"Afro-Americans in New YorkLife and History,July, 1980.

Carol Dozier is a communicationsspecialist who has workedwith Roselyn Carters WhiteHouse press staff and is currentlythe Public Information Officer for the Ohio Bureauof EmploymentServices, Columbus.

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