Watching Race

Watching Race

Television and the Struggle for Blackness

Herman Gray

Table of Contents

$20.00 Paper
ISBN: 0-8166-4510-8
ISBN-13: 978-0-8166-4510-7

A classic examination of the cultural relationship between television and race—with a new introduction!

In the late 1980s and early 1990s television representations of African Americans exploded on the small screen. Starting with the portrayal of blacks on series such as The Jack Benny Show and Amos ’n’ Andy and continuing through The Cosby Show and In Living Color, Gray shows how the meaning of blackness on screen has changed through the years.

“Finally, a book that moves out of the prison house of stereotypes, beyond the common yet simplistic dichotomies of ‘positive’ versus ‘negative’ images. Herman Gray brilliantly and persuasively turns our attention to the more complicated issue of the politics of representation.” —Robin D. G. Kelley, New York University

“This is a complex, subtle, and very important book. Gray argues that television is the site where key racial moments (Rodney King, Hill-Thomas hearings, Simpson trial, Los Angeles riots) have been staged and interpreted for the American public.” —Contemporary Sociology

“Herman Gray’s absorbing book offers incisive analysis of the important, often fierce battles being waged in the black-and-white representational landscape of commercial television.” —Patricia Williams, author of The Alchemy of Race and Rights

Herman Gray is professor of sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is also the author of Producing Jazz and has appeared in the documentaries Color Adjustment and Signal to Noise.

224 pages | 5 7/8 x 9 | 2004

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments
Introduction

1. Black Cultural Politics and Commercial Culture
2. Reaganism and the Sign of Blackness
3. African American Discourses and the Sign of Blackness
4. The Transformation of the Television Industry and the Social Production of Blackness
5. The Politics of Representation in Network Television
6. It's a Different World Where You Come From
7. Frank's Place: Possibilities, Limitations, and Legacies
8. Spectacles, Sideshows, and Irreverence: In Living Color
9. Jammin' on the One! Some Reflections on the Politics of Black Popular Culture
10. Margin (in)to Future: From a Racial Past to a "Different" Future

Notes
References
Index

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Watching Race *Television and the Struggle for Blackness* Herman Gray Table of Contents		$20.00 Paper ISBN: 0-8166-4510-8 ISBN-13: 978-0-8166-4510-7
A classic examination of the cultural relationship between television and race—with a new introduction! In the late 1980s and early 1990s television representations of African Americans exploded on the small screen. Starting with the portrayal of blacks on series such as The Jack Benny Show and Amos ’n’ Andy and continuing through The Cosby Show and In Living Color, Gray shows how the meaning of blackness on screen has changed through the years. “Finally, a book that moves out of the prison house of stereotypes, beyond the common yet simplistic dichotomies of ‘positive’ versus ‘negative’ images. Herman Gray brilliantly and persuasively turns our attention to the more complicated issue of the politics of representation.” —Robin D. G. Kelley, New York University “This is a complex, subtle, and very important book. Gray argues that television is the site where key racial moments (Rodney King, Hill-Thomas hearings, Simpson trial, Los Angeles riots) have been staged and interpreted for the American public.” —Contemporary Sociology “Herman Gray’s absorbing book offers incisive analysis of the important, often fierce battles being waged in the black-and-white representational landscape of commercial television.” —Patricia Williams, author of The Alchemy of Race and Rights Herman Gray is professor of sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is also the author of Producing Jazz and has appeared in the documentaries Color Adjustment and Signal to Noise. 224 pages \| 5 7/8 x 9 \| 2004 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Black Cultural Politics and Commercial Culture 2. Reaganism and the Sign of Blackness 3. African American Discourses and the Sign of Blackness 4. The Transformation of the Television Industry and the Social Production of Blackness 5. The Politics of Representation in Network Television 6. It's a Different World Where You Come From 7. Frank's Place: Possibilities, Limitations, and Legacies 8. Spectacles, Sideshows, and Irreverence: In Living Color 9. Jammin' on the One! Some Reflections on the Politics of Black Popular Culture 10. Margin (in)to Future: From a Racial Past to a "Different" Future Notes References Index