The Color of Change and the Norman Lear Center at USC’s study of crime television shows, “Normalizing Injustice,” found that the programs play a part in shaping skewed societal perceptions of the criminal justice system. The shows depicted wrongful actions, defined as 23 specific actions from lying and tampering, to coercion and intimidation, to overt racism, committed by people of color. Rashad Robinson, president, Color of Change, said, “For the last 20 years in this country, violent crime has steadily gone down and, at the same time, people think violent crime has gone up.” Lack of diversity among the writers and producers of the shows was also revealed. The findings were that 81% of showrunners were white men, and at least 78% of writers were white, with only 9% black.
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