representation of young black men

Gramsci's theory of hegemony: relevant to the exploration of racial representations in the media. It focuses on culture and ideology.
Many of the racist images on past television and cinema are now fading from western screens. These can be explained in hegemonic terms in relation to colonialism and white supremacy. His notion of hegemony can be used to identify elements of the old racist stereotypes and new and the representations of racial minorities in current media.

Hall points out racist stereotypes which have evolved in the media of a less liberal society. He points our three base images of the grammer of race employed in old movies. 1) slave figure. eg dependable, loving Mother with the rolling eyes who is attached devoted to "his" master. The message given here is that the slave is someone who is willing to serve their master and wait on him. Their devotion allows a white audience to displace any guilt about their history of colonialism and slavery.
Consequence: relates to Gramsci's idea of spontaneous  consent, where individuals voluntarily choose to accept the world view/ hegemony of the dominant group.

Stephen Lawrence Inquiry: Report by Sir William Macpherson of Cluny

Institutionalised Racism. The inquiry found that Unwitting racism can arise because of a number of different reasons.

• The lack of understanding, ignorance or mistaken beliefs.
• From well intentioned but patronising  words/actions.
•  From unfamiliarity with the behaviour/cultural traditions of people or families from miniority ethnic communities.
• Racist stereotyping of black people as potential criminals/troublemakers.

Sir Paul Condon at the time Police Commissioner stated that he recognised individual officers can be and are overtly racist. 
Mr Panton, the barrister acting for Greenwich council argued that if the colour of the victim and the attackers was reversed then the police would have acted differently.
Conclusion: Must be a change so that there is a genuine partnership between the police and all sections of the community.
Part 2 of the inquiry. One universal area of complaint was to do with the use of police powers of stop and search as stats for 97/98 showed that black people were on average 5 times more likely to be stopped and searched by the police than white people. Black people are also more likely to be arrested than white or other ethnic groups.

The media re-present groups, however, no media representation can be neutral. Representations are shaped usually  by genre, the target audience and the dominant ideologies in society.
Some critics would argue that representations reinforce dominant idelogies in society, ideologies of gender promote sexist  representations of women. These ideologies create inequalities and subordination appear natural. <---- STUART PRICE. A-Z MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION HANDBOOK.

Others would argue that representations in the media can challenge dominant ideologies in society.