The Four Stages

For our research on the role of race in television, Alex and I decided to examine Cedric Clark's four stages of minority representation. In doing so, we were able to identify clear examples of programs that incorporated aspects defined within the four stages. As I got to writing the paper, it became utterly clear just how many aspects of our society today fall under the stages of non-recognition, ridicule, regulation, and respect.

So rather than working on the paper (whoops), I began searching for other research that has been conducted on Clark's stages. As you would imagine, there's a decent amount. But one study really stood out - a study on Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail. Now I must admit that I've never seen any of the Madea films, but I do recall discussing Perry in class as we talked about Spike Lee. Anyhow, what was so interesting about this study was that the researcher, Theodore Harrison III, altered the original four stages in order to fit the portrayal of african americans in Madea. Keeping Clark's name for each stage, Harrison changed the definitions. For example, the respect stage was redefinied as a "Minority criminal characters in question are portrayed no differently than any other racial group in the criminal justice system, true disparity not always readily apparent."

Clearly by what we've talked about in class, our society has yet to arrive at this stage. Just flip on the news and you'll be guaranteed to hear a story about a black man who was shot with some type of details suggesting he was in a gang. But anytime a white man is shot, it's a breaking new stories with little to no emphasis placed on the reason for the shooting. 

It's just scary how these four stages, revised or not, are still applicable today. Clark theorized the four stages in the 1960s - a half century ago, yet we're still sitting here, many of us unfazed by the representation of minorities in pop culture.