I recently watched on PBS, the 1969 Student Takeover of the Community College of New York by the Black and Brown students who attended there. The title was “The Five Demands.” On February 6, 1969, the Black and Puerto Rican Student Community presented these “Five Demands” to City College President Buell G. Gallagher for a separate school of Black and Puerto Rican studies. In February 1969, proposed budget cuts, if implemented, would have eliminated the SEEK Program and frozen non-SEEK admissions. President Gallagher threatened to resign if these cuts were approved, and more than 13,000 CCNY students rallied in support in Albany. Even with these actions, the university received $29 million less than it had requested. The open admissions program was never going to happen because the powers that be knew beforehand that the budget would be cut. It was all about the color.
S.E.E.K. – Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge was a program created to warmly welcome and support talented and motivated high school graduates from New York who face economic challenges, encouraging them to pursue their education at CCNY. The program provided academic support, tutoring, financial aid, including help with books and transportation, personalized guidance, career development, and networking opportunities. It had the potential to be an incredible program. However, like many initiatives aimed at progressive education for people of color, it was limited by budget constraints that prevented its realization. While I could delve deeper into this topic, I will refrain, as it isn't the focus of this paper. It’s all about the racists’ slants the media use to project their stereotypes of people, rather than actually telling the truth that they are afraid and unwilling to understand others they don’t want to know.
The topic I wish to address is the biased portrayal of the takeover by the New York newspapers. The televised reports depicted one narrative concerning the rioting by Black and Brown individuals; however, eyewitness accounts revealed an opposite scenario. In reality, it was white students who were assaulting Black female students, and Black males intervened to protect and defend the women. The televised reports also bore similarities to the conduct of white mobs in the southern United States. The real instigators were the white males who were determined to maintain the status quo. This constitutes the focus of my article. Regarding the Five Demands, please refer to the CCNY website for more information.
Social and news media were initially intended to be an excellent tool for connecting people worldwide. In this place, individuals from different countries, backgrounds, and traditions could share their experiences and perspectives instantly. However, beneath this surface of connection, there's an inconvenient truth: social media platforms often end up reinforcing cultural hierarchies, spreading stereotypes, and fostering biases against cultures that don’t fit the dominant narratives. Sadly, this isn’t always accidental; it’s often a result of algorithms, profit motives, and even political agendas working behind the scenes.
One of the most visible forms of bias is the unequal amplification of voices. Posts and content from Western nations, particularly the United States and Europe, are more likely to gain global traction. At the same time, equally significant cultural expressions from Africa, Asia, or South America struggle to gain visibility. Algorithms privilege what is familiar to the largest advertising markets, making “cultural popularity” less about authenticity and more about monetization. In effect, this creates a digital cultural imbalance, where specific ways of living are normalized while others are marginalized or ridiculed.
There is also a deliberate shaping of narratives. Platforms have faced criticism for allowing harmful stereotypes to spread unchecked, from caricatures of Middle Eastern culture to distortions of African history. In some cases, content moderation policies are unevenly applied: imagery or speech critical of Western powers may be flagged as “hate speech.” At the same time, degrading portrayals of non-Western cultures are ignored or even pushed forward as entertainment. This selective enforcement reflects not just cultural insensitivity but a structural bias embedded in the digital ecosystem.
Furthermore, social media and news outlets often bias their content to align with geopolitical interests. For example, stories that reflect poorly on certain governments are sometimes downplayed or suppressed, while those that reinforce dominant political narratives are boosted. This manipulation fosters mistrust and misunderstanding between cultures, leading users to absorb a distorted version of global reality. It is not simply about ignorance—it is about intentional design, where algorithms and moderation policies are written to prioritize particular cultural and political interests.
The consequences are significant. Bias in social media and the news deepens cultural divisions, fuels xenophobia, and conditions users to accept cultural stereotypes as truth. It creates a digital echo chamber where cultural “others” are not celebrated for their diversity but portrayed as strange, dangerous, or irrelevant. If unchecked, this deliberate bias risks turning social media from a bridge between cultures into a weapon of division. Who has the power to hold those in power accountable? The people do but won’t. Ask yourself why.
Ultimately, addressing social media and news bias requires both accountability and education. Platforms must adopt transparent policies that treat all cultures with dignity and fairness, while users must learn to question the narratives presented to them. Cultures are not commodities, nor should they be filtered through the lens of profit and political convenience. The true promise of social media and the news lies not in uniformity, but in celebrating the vast diversity of human expression. Only by confronting deliberate bias can we reclaim that promise.
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