Cary Darling

About the author: Cary Darling is an entertainment writer for the Miami Herald.

The portrayal of black men on reality TV is stereotypically racist. Black men are shown as either angry and violent, lazy and stupid, or sexually aggressive and dominating. Reality TV shows do not show a wide spectrum of black men—educated, uneducated, athletic, quiet, or politically active—but depend on a few predominately unpleasant types for representation. Further, there is rarely more than one black male participant at a time on a reality show, no matter how many races are represented. Due to the pervasive nature of racism in America, producers of reality TV shows may not even be aware that they are seeking stereotypes when they choose black male participants. However, that is no excuse for allowing racial stereotyping to...