ABSTRACT
Black Studies are often disregarded as being pitifully parochial, brazenly polemical, and persistently pessimistic. Black academicians rooted in the Black Studies tradition often employ an epistemological framework that directly challenges colorblind ideologies of popular opinion. The mere inclusion of Black voices in mainstream media is not enough. Excluding racial experts from a Black Studies paradigm risks diminishing the complexity of racial matters and perpetuating existing power structures built off racial hierarchies. Although the public is getting broader exposure to Black insights in moments of racial crises, it is receiving a limited view with regard to Black academic expertise. As more students graduate with degrees in Black Studies we seldom hear the critical and highly relevant perspectives that scholars trained in these interdisciplinary approaches can provide in mainstream media. In 2008, the research center Media Matters published a study on the lack of gender and ethnic diversity during prime time.
