It won't be a popular opinion here....but I really don't think my 5 year old is bombarded by exclusively white images and negative stereotypes of black people. His cartoons are not like the cartoons of our childhood. There is a clear attempt to provide diversity nowadays and I DO think that's a big deal. I think the academic liberal movements in the 90's that were characterized as being 'politically correct' have had a positive impact. I'm much more concerned with what my 10 year old sees because I think those arguments have more validity as he begins to get exposed to music videos and more adult-orientated movies/shows. I honestly don't think there's any stereotypes or race-exclusion in my 5 year old's media whereas I do think those things (particularly the stereotypes) exist in my 10 year old's media.

The image problems with Jesus and Santa aren't comparable imo. The white Jesus image has been falsified and I wouldn't put it on our living room wall. Santa's image can't be falsified and he's on the advent calendar on our fridge. We also have a black santa doll and like I said, our kid visited a black santa last year. A society in which white people are a majority is going to have fictional characters and mythologies who look like white people. I don't think there's anything particularly sinister about that. However, when those fictional characters and mythologies do not accurately represent the population and become too one-sided...parents should interfere to make sure their kids can see themselves in their surroundings. I'm pretty confidant that my 5 year old IS seeing himself in his media because kids stuff has really improved. I know this....I would have interfered with what he's exposed to alot more during the 80's.