To Spark Conversation On Race, MTV Removes All Color

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For the first time in its 34-year history, MTV will be without color. In an effort to “encourage its audience to have candid, confident and ‘color brave’ conversations on race,” the station is broadcasting in monochrome for 12 hours on Martin Luther King Jr Day, starting at 9 a.m.

“The device of turning us black and white is going to be really — visually — a jolt to say, you know what, there are differences and if we are going to ever get to a freer, more equal society the best thing we can begin to do is talk about them,” MTV President Stephen Friedman said.

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“We did a study and found that 73 percent of 14 to 24-year-olds believe that having more open, constructive conversations about bias will help people become less prejudiced, yet only 10 percent report having those conversations often,” Friedman told the Huffington Post. “That’s just not good enough.”

The nationwide study found that nine in 10 Millennials believe that everyone should be treated the same, no matter what their race. As far as interpreting the current state of affairs, 68 percent of those identifying as Democrats said they believed whites have more opportunities while just 40 percent of those identifying as Republicans held the same point of view. Two-thirds of respondents agreed that America is still a deeply divided place despite having a black President.

Read More http://thinkprogress.org/culture/2015/01/19/3612942/mtv-airing-in-black-and-white-for-first-time-in-network-history/