Introduction In popular culture, particularly in American television, representations of African Americans are often based on a number of stereotypes. Representation is the production of meaning through language or systems of meaning. In the media, dominant stereotypes of African Americans include the sapphire, the raccoon, the jezebel, and the buck. These stereotypes originated during the minstrel period of the 1830s by white actors in blackface. Although classic black stereotypes originated during this period, today they have moved from the stage to the small screen. Television is a complex site of power where African Americans themselves have enacted these aforementioned stereotypes, particularly in the situation comedy genre. African Americans have enacted these stereotypes over the years because they have traditionally had little control over programming decisions in the television industry and these were the only roles created for them. With the rise of reality television programming in the late 1990s and early 2000s, these reality shows also incorporated older stereotypical portrayals of African Americans. A recent example is the reality show Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta. Because of its staged version of real life and the importation of stereotypical portrayals – such as black characters who fight and are hypersexual –, viewers have questioned the show's credibility for its reality. In this article, I review the literature on stereotypical representations of Black people and examine Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta to answer the following question: To what extent do audience members perceive cast members as authentic and/or stereotypical? About Love and Hip Hop: AtlantaLove and Hip Hop: Atlanta is a spin-off of Love and Hip Hop: New Yo......middle of paper......seeing these types of programs can be helpful when we try to explain the impact and social effects they have on them. Dubrofsky and Hardy (2008) discuss how reality television is managed through the use of surveillance and authenticity. These studies suggest that scholarship must express “the complexity of surveillance and notions of authenticity as they intersect in the manifestation of racial identities” (Dubrofsky and Hardy, 2008 p. 373). This can be helpful when studying Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta because it will test notions of character representation versus true identity. This research will not only discuss how identity is constructed, but will express the ways in which viewers interpret it. This is important for communication studies because it will provide a platform for members of the public to be critics of identity where scholars and other academics usually dominate.