MEDIA TO LEAD OR LAG

I was recently debating with a friend of mine over the role of media in racial progress. I had offered her a hypothetical situation: let’s say 3% of judges in America were Asian/black, and that you thought that was too low; if you had your way, what percentage of judges featured on TV shows would you want to be Asian/black? Both of us might agree that in real life, the number should be higher, but on TV her vote would be for less than 3%, even zero; my vote would be for more than 3%, even way more.

As an Asian-American who is sensitive to the fact that there isn’t a whole lot of vocational or personality diversity of Asian-Americans in the media, I would want Asian-Americans to be disproportionately represented in roles in which they have been historically under-represented in mass media, just to give the common person a more well-rounded image of Asians in America. In contrast, as an African-American who is sensitive to the fact that blacks are significantly under-represented in positions of power in real life, my friend would prefer that there be no black judges on TV, for the existence of a fair or disproportionately high percentage of black judges on TV might give the common person the notion that there is no under-representation of black judges in real life.

Different perspectives, similar goals, differing opinions. What are your thoughts?