Media 1 week 3

Young African Americans Drinking All the Time??

I found an article online discussing the stereotype that African American youth drink alcohol more than Caucasian youth. This however might not be true.





The research was done by Dr. Epstein and Dr. Botvin. They took surveys of 2,000 (mostly African American) teenagers from 13 inner-city junior high schools in Hew York City over the course of three years. What they found was that seventh graders are better able to be aware of the advertising on the radios and television but are more resistant than the ninth graders to drink alcohol. This means that the stereotype of African Americans learning how to drink young and always drinking in the future, does not seem to be correct.





I feel that this is a good thing. This just shows that stereotypes are not always correct. This resorts back to last week's question about the Cleveland Indians. That was discussing stereotypes of Native Americans. This does not always mean that every native American is a savage and the article that I found does not always mean that African Americans are drunk deadbeats either. The advertisements make African Americans seem like they drink a lot. If you look at the Boone's Farm picture (above left), you will see two black shadows. This to me does not seem like it is a white girl and a white guy dancing. They are appealing to the African American race. They are trying to make it seem like drinking is a blast and you can dance the night away if you want to by drinking our product. This is just making people think that they can do whatever they please while drinking, and it also encourages younger people to drink like the students at the inner city New York Schools.





I was glad that I stumbled across this website because I feel like I needed to share that with whoever reads my post. (Right now it is just Melissa, but when class is done I am going to make my website public so others can read and leave comments.) African Americans get a bad break on things such as alcohol abuse and etc. I think it is time that other people know the truth. It is not the African Americans themselves making it seem like they are all alcoholics, but the media that makes it seem that way by making commercials or other advertisements focus on a certain race.





the website that I got my facts from was (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/99260.php)


The website that I found the picture at is (http://www.wearyourbeer.com/images/Boone_Farm_Fever_Black_Babydoll2.jpg)