Topic:Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: A Diminished Tribute to the Civil Rights Leader
Source:Linda Holtzman, Associate Professor, Department of Communications, Webster University, St. Louis, Mo., E-mail: [email protected]
Date: January 10, 2001
What is the significance of Monday, January 15th? To most, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day's single greatest importance is a break from work--an extra day off toward a "long weekend." Many Americans have lost sight of the cultural importance of the holiday, which is to pay tribute to the most important civil rights leaders in our country's history.
"The broader social context of the holiday is lost on a culture that primarily is informed through entertainment and the media," says Linda Holtzman, professor of communication at Webster University and expert on social class messages in the entertainment media. "I think what Martin Luther King would want most as a tribute to him and the many others who lost their lives fighting racism is evidence of our daily commitment to get at the root inequalities of racism -- essentially--to carry on and finish his work and not rest until its done."
In her new book, "Media Messages: What Film, Television and Popular Music Teach Us About Race, Class, Gender, and Sexual Orientation" (M.E. Sharpe: New York, 2000), Linda Holtzman invites readers to take a quiz that will identify how multi-cultural their values and views really are. The results are not surprising: 90 % of those taking the quiz found out just how strongly they live a unicultural existence.
Holtzman is an associate professor of communications at Webster University in St. Louis, and her new book is an outgrowth of her study and personal experience on the influence of mass media on its audiences. In the book, she analyzes biases promoted by entertainment and media. What separates this book from others is that it 1) contains scores of self-diagnostic tests that individuals can use to learn more about their own biases, 2) is rich with Professor Holtzman's personal experiences about how she discovered her own biases and how she has dealt with them, and 3) cites eye-opening examples from television, film and music to support her research.
Contact:Christine Wells, media relations coordinator, Webster University, (314) 961-2660 ext. 7624, or Sara Mortimer, Halstead Communications (212) 734-2190
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