Is the media out to make us look stupid. nat newspaper

Re , your article about the Paxman/ Dizzie Rascal interview

0f course the media are out to make us look stupid. When haven’t they been?

The question should be, 'When is the media ever going to bother to represent us in the full scope of our merits.'

Before electronic media our first popular representations were the minstrels, of which you couldn't have gotten a more blatant display of intent

When electronic media came in and rascism was experiencing its first taste of restraint, it was the Aunt Jemimas and wide eyed Uncle Toms. From the 1930s to the late 1950s the most regular black faces were the mindless bush men of Tarzan films who were superstitious minions to a white messiah on their own turf, even though he himself was misplaced and alone.

The 60s and 70s were a staple diet of cops and car chases. The ' black guy' was always a small time crook who played basketball or worked at the local petrol station and knew some one who knew some one who was the episode's bad guy.

On this side of the shore it was legitamised stand up comics like Jim Davidson creating characters that we would have to be cast as at street level . One such being 'Chalky' .

Lenny Henry was granted the passage to success by re-enforcing negative stereotypes for a white palate that inherently wouldn't have to account for the content. The same rule of thumb applies to today's widespread commercialisation of the n word

A major breakthrough in filming was John Singleton's boys in the hood. Renowned for its drama, I’ll never forget the profound effect it had on me owed to a scene where two black males were having a conversation. It was in a car and they spoke of puberty and going to college , just the way we did when i was that age. Well never in my twenty seven years had I seen two black males on screen having a conversation that wasn't based on some degree of gangsterism or sexism or something anti-social

Black editorials such as Jet, ebony and Essence have been weekly parading black directors, lawyers and highly skilled professionals in their hundreds and for years. Yet mainstream media barely acknowledges the mere possibility of one every six months. Obviously, respect from the mainstream media is not something we should hold our breaths for

Dianne Abbott, in her opinion has made a statement yet said nothing. What on earth has street culture got to do with paying regular bills? But then she spends so much effort in trying to sound as though she was 'From the manor born', that she can hardly be grounded. The credibility she obtained as a vociferous left wing activist is an unrelateable image to the blubbering couch hog we see today pandering to white moderate political stances.

British rapper Sway is himself too young to realise that Dizzie Rascal is a twenty three year old who makes music for a focused teenage market. His latest offering including tracks with titles such as 'pussy'ole'.

Your Moira Stuarts, Oona Kings, Adrian Lester, to name but a random few

of the many more qualified potential representatives, who have had a broader political experience, at least seeing more eras of politics, who were alive when black people were being lynched in the USA and fought for civil rights. Eddie Nester, Geoff Schumann. Toyin Adegbo, These all articulate social and political observations, thrashed out across the social spectrum professionaly and daily

As was noted, Paxman's referrence, using Dizzie's quirky comercial name , Mr Rascal, illustrated the lack of intellectual maturity necessitated for the interview. The agenda for that lies squarely in the briefing room art the BBC