Case Study
“Thug!” “Ghetto!” “Urban!” “Inner City!” “Gang Related”!” These words are used by the news when reporting about the black community. “Thug is basically the new N-word these days. Outlets are using this word to describe Blacks, who are excited, rowdy, loud, or in the case of Trayvon Martin, just existing while black.” (Doggett, ❡2) When black people storm the football field after winning the big game, they are labeled aggressive. College kids when they storm the football field are labeled passionate or dedicated. How the media portrays black families, and specifically black fathers, is what brought me to create this thesis project.
My thesis project is a children’s book titled, “Just Like My Dad” This book is about a toddler between the ages of 3–8 by the name of Terrance who wants to be just like his dad. Terrance watches everything his dad does; from how loud he yawns to reading the newspaper. Terrance wants to dress, walk, talk, and work just like his dad. While conducting early research, I came across one book with the same title, but the father-son relationship is portrayed by lions. The other book titled “Just Like Dad” is a Berenstain Bears book with, of course, bears as its characters. Other books portrayed animals like penguins and more bears, but I saw no clear-cut black families. The last book that caught my eye, the cover, showed a black father holding his son, but his head was cut off by the composition. This research told me there was a space to really showcase the father and son operating together in a fun manner for an audience of sons, fathers, and the rest of the family.
If you want to read the rest of my thesis case study, you can find it here:
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