How does Sapphire put across a collective identity of black british people?

Within the film black people are looked at as being criminals and treated and forced to feel like one. In this case they are not and a white woman who no one believed could be is the criminal. The black people stand together and are always made to look suspicious through their actions and performance for example when John runs away from the police at the club you almost definately think it is him. They are seen to show the same jnterests as white people and also want a relationship with them but the older white people will nto allow this.

Investigation of Britain 1948-1962

In 1948 The SS Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury in England. The boat first docked in Jamaica to pick up thousands of service men that had fought in the war along with some women. During the 1950’s a large number of West Indians/Asians and Pakistan people came over and immigrated to Britain. Within the 50’s it become noticed that young people gained a significant disposable income and Youth culture became more distinct introducing the “Teddy boys” ( A group of young men who wanted to look different than teenagers). During 1958 the Nottinghill riot took place. It was a riot between black and white people that started on 29th August and was caused due to a gang of white members attacking a Sweedish lady.

BBC Radio 1

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/1xtra/tx/documentaries/black_british.shtml





















CLIP WOULD NOT LOAD!

1958 Notting Hill Race Riots

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpRZtX1Ni7Q&safe=active

Within the clip, black people are being represented as a disruption towards white people and their country through the use of violence and rioting. Racism is being represented as a key subject throughout the as They refer to black people as something ‘New and ugly’ and suggest the term ‘mass interbreeding’  basically saying  that black and white people having a child together will affect the London’s west end in the long term. It talks about removing ‘the problem’ and speaks about them as if they are a disease and not human.

Definitions

IDENTITY:

Wikipedia

‘In psychology and sociology, identity is a person's conception and expression of their individuality or group affiliations (such as national identity and cultural identity). The concept is given a great deal of attention in social psychology and is important in place identity. 

This definition of identity labels the subject as a theory. This means that identity is a way that someone is able to identify someone and notice who they are through their looks, actions and feelings. This applies within the media when you want to notice a specific character or celebrity who have some sort of mark that allows you to recognise them, for exam Lady Gaga and her surrealistic values. 

COLLECTIVE IDENTITY:

http://collectiveidentity.net/node/10

'The concept of a collective identity refers to a set of individuals' sense of belonging to the group or collective. For the individual, the identity derived from the collective shapes a part of his or her personal identity. It is possible, at times, that this sense of belonging to a particular group will be so strong that it will trump other aspects of the person's personal identity. To put it another way, Collective Identity is the idea that through participating in social activities, individuals can gain a sense of belonging and in essence an "identity" that transcends the individual. Therein are the rewards and risks of Social Networking. One can derive great satisfaction and sometimes great risks from participating. Within a typical collective, agreement is often valued over debate, though even more often fierce battles may erupt.’

Collective Identity is connected to identity but instead it is when the type of identity that informs our decisions of how we fit in to groups of people/sub cultures. This means that when we see certain stereotypes or categories we automatically think of things that relate to that person as it would appear to be typical. For example you would expect scottish people to wear kilts and expect irish people to enjoy drinking guinness. 

MEDIATION:

Wikipedia

‘Mediation, as used in law, is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), a way of resolving disputes between two or more parties with concrete effects. Typically, a third party, the mediator, assists the parties to negotiate a settlement. Disputants may mediate disputes in a variety of domains, such as commercial, legal, diplomatic, workplace, community and family matters.’

Mediation is when there are three versions of a specific story and there is never a true version. This basically means that the media is permanently a lie. An example of this is the Oscar Pistorus trial as they are not sure whether they put his legs on before he shot her. 

REPRESENTATION:

Wikipedia

‘A social representation is a stock of values, ideas, metaphors, beliefs, and practices that are shared among the members of groups and communities. Social Representations Theory is a body of theory within Social Psychology and Sociological social psychology. It has parallels in sociological theorizing such as Social Constructionism and Symbolic Interactionism, and is similar in some ways to mass consensus and Discursive Psychology.’ 

Representation is a way of portraying something or someone in a way to represent a certain  topic, place or situation. You can represent a person, a location or even a time period. You can portray hidden meaning through representation as you can then break it down and find out what it actually means. For example a representation of a chav would be someone wearing a tracksuit, burberry hat who sits in the park drinking alcohol. 

HEGEMONY:

Wikipedia

‘Hegemony is an indirect form of government of imperial dominance in which the hegemon (leader state) rules geopolitically subordinate states by the implied means of power, the threat of force, rather than by direct military force.’

Hegemony is when someone with high authority dictates which is normal in specific countries or period of times. A example for this is the media is newspapers and music videos. If you look at the back of a newspaper you are expected to see football as it is a traditional British sport. 

COLONIALISM:

Wikipedia

‘Colonialism is the establishment, exploitation, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. Colonialism is a set of unequal relationships between the metropole and the colony and between the colonists and the indigenous population.’

Colonialism basically means when a group of people move to a certain place and almost take over. For example if a group of Muslims immigrated to the UK and there began to be more muslims than the original culture then they are colonists. 

POST-COLONIALISM:

http://www.adamranson.plus.com/postcolonialism.htm

‘Post Colonialism is a term which refers to a broader understanding of the modern representations of race and ethnicity and the history of these representations.'

This is when colonisation ended. 

SYNCRETISM:
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/sycretism 

‘The attempted reconciliation or union of different or opposing principles, practices, or parties, as in philosophy or religion. Grammar . the merging, as by historical change in a language, of two or more categories in a specified environment into one, as, in nonstandard English, the use of was with both singular and plural subjects, while in standard English was is used with singular subjects (except for you in the second person singular) and were with plural subjects.’ 

This means when two things come together and share the same beliefs and thoughts to try and make something right. In terms of the media this word can be used for when two different people come together against certain arguments whether it is due to social, political or economic values. For example in BBC one's Eastenders all cultures and religions are seen socialising and doing things together. They are not restricted to certain jobs or activities that would be stereotypical but go with what makes them happy.  

YOUTH SUBCULTURE
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/youth+subculture

‘A minority youth culture whose distinctiveness depended largely on the social class and ethnic background of its members; often characterized by its adoption of a particular music genre.’

This basically means when people join specific groups to enable their self to fit in and be a part of it.  They will change their ways and beliefs to act similar to the others. An example of this could be a emo, chav, indie, grunger etc. Within the media Sub cultures could be used to represent a time in history or age. They could be used to portray the comparison between sub cultures and different people and how some act different than others.

URBAN MUSIC

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/urban+music

Musical genre of the 1980s and '90s defined by recordings by rhythm-and-blues or soul artists with broad crossover appeal. Urban contemporary began as an American radio format designed to appeal to advertisers who felt that "black radio" would not reach a wide enough audience.' 

Urban music is a type of music that stands out from others. It mainly appeals to a black culture and has developed into some of the greatest music in the modern day. It can be used in the media to be a representation of black people or to portray they will be a main subject within the media you are viewing.

Black Britain