Media figures discuss portrayal of blacks

When Debra Langford decided to make small talk with two old white men at an NAACP function, she did not know that she was about to get a job at animation studio Hanna-Barbera.

Langford spoke on imagery and media at Friday's Whitney M. Young Conference, at which she joined other black media personalities to discuss blacks in the entertainment industry.

The conference, which has been sponsored by the African-American MBA Association at the Wharton School, sought to design and implement programs that will aid the economic development of the black community.

Langford's panel also featured Suzanne de Passe of de Passe Entertainment, Len Burnett of Vibe magazine and Ray Goulbourne of the BET network and tackled the question of how opportunities have improved for blacks in the media and entertainment business over the years.

"It's getting better at such a glacier pace," de Passe said.

As a case in point, Langford related an experience at the Black Movie Awards, saying that officials could honor five black movie actresses in leading roles and could only come up with three nominees.

The crowd, made up mainly of young professionals, asked the panelists a series of questions, including how much responsibility they bear for the perceived negative portrayal of blacks in the media.

Goulbourne placed some of the blame for any negative portrayals on viewers.

"Don't support negative images of yourself, then blame the programs," he said.

He went on to say that inadequacies in methods of measuring the audiences for black entertainment could skew perceptions of how many blacks watch "PBS-type" programs on BET.

The conference has been held annually since 1973 to honor Young, who dedicated his life to empowering blacks to achieve success in business and politics.

Other panels similarly addressed issues of health care, finance and wealth management.

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