Marketing Crap to Black Youths

I had a very interesting discussion in class over the weekend about the entertainment industry and its effects on our youth.

In class, there was simulation where we are to act as an executive for a clothing company. This clothing is using an artist (Daze) to endorse a new clothing line. This artist’s music details violence and glorifies the gangster lifestyle. This company wants to market the clothing in urban areas, basically black neighborhoods. The main target group is 15-30 year olds but they are also marketing to inner city youths 12-25 years old.

My issue with this simulation is that the clothing line is targeted to under-aged youths. I am a firm believer in people are responsible for their actions but when it comes it children it’s a different story. Kids are very impressionable and their brains are still developing and if there is no one to give proper guidance, they end up in serious trouble.

I got into a rather heated discussion with a black female in my class (S.O.S.). I renamed her S.O.S because she needs help.
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You are all about making the money. I near about fell out laughing at the First Amendment reference. It’s so true though.

Then I started to think about it and I realized I wouldn’t want my kids exposed to 50 Cent or any of those thugs that constantly sell records with deplorable messages.

This is one of those simulations where I wish it gave me the option to quit my job because I’d do it in a heartbeat. I have no desire to sell trash like this.

Shavonne
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Right, the whole point of business is making money. And I felt these dilemmas weren't severe enough to warrant not making as much money as possible on something that nobody will care about in 18 months.

These ethical dilemmas weren't very tough choices at all to make. It would be a different situation if the jackets were made out of baby seal fur and sewn together by 8 year olds chained to sewing machines in Bangladesh, but I digress.

I understand not wanting your kids exposed to certain things, but that is your job as a parent to make those decisions. I'm sure many parents felt the same way when Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Led Zepplin became the rage. Millions of people enjoy and are willing to spend money on those thugs so they will always be around.

I wouldn't mind selling clothes at all, even if they featured someone like Daze -- it's no big deal to me. I can only think of the tobacco industry off the top of my head as far as companies I wouldn't work for.

INDIVIDUAL #1
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The Beatles, Elvis, etc., didn’t sing about killing people so I’m not quite seeing your analogy. But I digress.

I wouldn’t work for a cigarette company either, but at least cigarettes come with a warning of the harmful effects of smoking. Music doesn’t come with a warning. I would like to see a warning on an artists music like Daze that said something like:

“WARNING: Studies have shown people who listen to this music are more likely to commit crime, serve time in jail, have children out of wedlock, drop out of school, collect welfare, and/or end up dead by the time they are 25 years of age.”

SHAVONNE
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My point was that people freaked out when their kids started listening to rock 'n' roll music. Remember when Elvis was on Ed Sullivan and they only showed his face because his gyrating hips were viewed as obscene?

Cigarette warnings are based on actual scientific evidence; your rap music warning is based solely on stereotypes. There is a explicit content warning on CDs, but I don't know anyone that still buys CDs.

INDIVIDUAL #1
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I am 45 so I don't know how many of you really remember this...but little richard (pre PRINCE was so scandalous) You guys must know what is GOOD GOLLY MISS MOLLY really all about!

back then the phrase rockin' and rollin' was the slang way to say having sex....think about it...that's the reason rock and roll became the term for that kind of music....every song was about sex!!!

We're all getting uptight about some of the stuff today...little richard was DAZE in the 50's!

Good Golly Miss Molly
Little Richard

Good Golly Miss Molly, sure like a ball.
Good golly, Miss Molly, sure like a ball.
When you're rockin' and a rollin' can't hear your momma call.

From the early early mornin' till the early early night
You can see Miss Molly rockin' at the house of blue lights.
Good golly, Miss Molly, sure like a ball.
When you're rockin' and a rollin' can't hear your momma call.

Well, now momma, poppa told me: "Son, you better watch your step."
If I knew my momma, poppa, have to watch my dad myself.
Good golly, Miss Molly, sure like a ball.
When you're rockin' and a rollin' can't hear your momma call.

I am going to the corner, gonna buy a diamond ring.
Would you pardon me if it's a nineteen carat golden thing.
Good golly, Miss Molly, sure like a ball.
When you're rockin' and a rollin' can't hear your momma call.

Good golly, Miss Molly, sure like a ball.
Good golly, Miss Molly, sure like a ball.
When you're rockin' and a rollin' can't hear your momma call

INDIVIDUAL #2
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I don’t think I’m getting uptight when there are 15 year olds serving time in prison for murder but if I am, I’ll be the first person at the doctor’s office on Monday getting an enema.

There are good parents that teach their children the difference between right and wrong and then there are the parents that teach their children absolutely nothing, which is why there are people like Daze (who was probably raised in a fatherless home). Who will teach children the difference between right and wrong when their parents do not know how or do not want to?

While we’re on the subject of sex, here is the address of an article as well as an exert I found on out of wedlock births in the U.S.

http://www.brookings.edu/comm/policybriefs/pb05.htm

“Since 1970, out-of-wedlock birth rates have soared. In 1965, 24 percent of black infants and 3.1 percent of white infants were born to single mothers. By 1990 the rates had risen to 64 percent for black infants, 18 percent for whites. Every year about one million more children are born into fatherless families. If we have learned any policy lesson well over the past 25 years, it is that for children living in single-parent homes, the odds of living in poverty are great. The policy implications of the increase in out-of-wedlock births are staggering.”

I know there’s no link between Richard’s music or any other artists and the rise in premarital sex especially in urban neighborhoods, but you can’t deny the correlation with social decay.

The problem in America, is we tend to put band-aids on gunshot wounds when we should be trying to prevent the gunshot wound.


Shavonne
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I totally agree...I guess my point was not clear....

The music industry will always be seen as the cause of the problems in society when in fact it may simply be writing about what is happening in society at the moment.

Little Richard was writing about sex and as the children became adults from his generation there were many new social mores that allowed sex.

I also think that many more white babies would have been born in the story that you read if that group had not had easier access to abortion. I am sure that many of the babies born out of wedlock were born because the mother could not afford an abortion not because she was against it morally.

Just as today we write more openly about killing and death does that mean it is now ok to do it or does that mean we simply accept it and as a result, just as 20-30 years after Little Richard's songs people just hop into bed.

Frankly if aids had not showed up I am sure we as a society would have not been into abstinence or talking about the virtue of virginity.

INDIVIDUAL #2
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Black women are 3 times more likely to have an abortion that white women.

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html

13 million+ black babies have been aborted since 1973. That’s a quarter of the black population today!
http://blackgenocide.org/black.html

So it’s not about one group being able to afford an abortion and not the other. Abortion clinics are primarily located in black neighborhoods but that’s not the issue either. The issue is marriage.


http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1077/is_1_59/ai_110361377

“The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies reports that by the age of 30, 81 percent of White women and 77 percent of Hispanics and Asians will marry, but that only 52 percent of Black women will marry by that age. Black women are also the least likely to re-marry following divorce. Only 32 percent of Black women will get married again within five years of divorce; that figure is 58 percent for White women and 44 percent for Hispanic women.”

I’d like to remind you that the population sizes are not the same. One is significantly larger than the other yet the smaller population is having abortions at 3 times the rate of the other.

America is becoming more and more conservative. This shift has more to do with the fear of G-d than the fear of AIDS.

http://andreaweckerlecopywriting.typepad.com/new_millennium_pr/2006/03/
declining_birth.html

SHAVONNE
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Shavonne,
I feel many things are wrong with our society. These problems were not created because of music or any other form of entertainment. We make choices. The beauty of life is God gives us the free reign to make these choices.

I understand what you are stating. However, when has our world been without negativity. We had to deal with slavery/oppression, women being seen as second class citizens and not being allowed to vote, blacks are still trying to gain acceptance in our society.

If music is raising or influencing your children to act irresponsibly, the truth is the parents are not disciplining or raising their children. Most of the record execs of these companies are the individuals pushing the negativity along with the artists. So, don't just hold the musician/artist accountable, you should also hold the record execs accountable. Most of them are men with children!

My grandmother was married and had a baby by the time she was 15/16 (this was considered the norm back in the early 30's or 40's). She has 9 children and her husband worked continuously and he was abusive. Despite whether a child is born into wedlock or out of wedlock, parents can still be parents. If the parents are not married, you can still develop a loving and supporting relationship with your children.

I know of many people whom had both parents in the home and they still have issues.


S.O.S-
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“So, don't just hold the musician/artist accountable, you should also hold the record execs accountable.”

I am thinking about the executives. Artists like Daze can’t make music if executives would stop promoting them. That’s why if the simulation had given me a choice to quit rather than promote Daze’s clothing or music, I would have quit. Executives (and apparently Alex) are willing to make as much money as they can off of this and that’s not right.

“And I felt these dilemmas weren't severe enough to warrant not making as much money as possible on something that nobody will care about in 18 months.”

Alex is right. No one will care about Daze 18 months from now, however, Daze’s and other artists’ glorification of the criminal lifestyle will last a lifetime.

“If the parents are not married, you can still develop a loving and supporting relationship with your children.”

See this is another issue with families today, especially black families. If it takes two people to make a child, then two people should be raising the child. The black community is all too willing to normalize immoral behavior i.e., having children out of wedlock despite the fact that studies have consistently shown “ that for children living in single-parent homes, the odds of living in poverty are great.”

http://www.brookings.edu/comm/policybriefs/pb05.htm


“Since 1970, out-of-wedlock birth rates have soared. In 1965, 24 percent of black infants and 3.1 percent of white infants were born to single mothers. By 1990 the rates had risen to 64 percent for black infants, 18 percent for whites. Every year about one million more children are born into fatherless families. If we have learned any policy lesson well over the past 25 years, it is that for children living in single-parent homes, the odds of living in poverty are great. The policy implications of the increase in out-of-wedlock births are staggering.”
A black woman can be a great parent by herself but there is no substitute for a father figure. And it doesn’t change the fact that probably majority of the people serving time in prison came from fatherless homes. If a black woman can’t find a descent husband, then she just needs to keep a nickel between her knees until she does.

“We make choices”

Folks want to argue about people and their right to make bad choices and that’s great. However, when people make bad decisions and get caught they should suffer the consequences instead of getting a slap on the wrist because after all, their bad decision was their choice.

“when has our world been without negativity. We had to deal with slavery/oppression, women being seen as second class citizens and not being allowed to vote, blacks are still trying to gain acceptance in our society.”

Just because things were bad in the past does not negate our obligation to fix the future. You can continue to look at the past with your back to the future, or you can turn around and look towards the future. The past is really out of our hands. There is nothing we can do about it but we have some control over the future and I think that’s what we should be looking at.

SHAVONNE
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Shavonne,

Honestly,,,when has the black family really be a family. We were indoctrinated and have had to assimilate. When we valued family...it was ripped from us. We have endured. I do look to the future, but I am not going to be idealistic.

My father was not in the home, but I still had father figures...they are called uncles.

Many black families were nuclear and collective. We took care of one another. I really think this is the issue within our community.

S.O.S
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Again, you’re dwelling on the past and making excuses.

“When we valued family...it was ripped from us.” This did not happen to you or to me. It happened to our ancestors. We have an opportunity to change the present and the future-we can’t do anything about the past.

My father was not in the home either. And I didn’t have uncles around to take his place. My mom had me out of wedlock and I still don’t think it’s right or okay or normal. I refuse to bring any child into the world until I’m married. I refuse to have a child with a man that does not want me or my baby. I know that marriages don’t always work but it’s not an excuse to not get married.

Shavonne
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Shavonne,
I can respect your opinion and choices. However, please remember that some things we view in this society as negative could possibly be a "blessing".

I too had planned to marry and have a beautiful family before I had my daughter. Her father and I was in a relationship.We had protected sex, but the condom was not enough. It came off during the act. I was not sure I would become pregnant. Of course, I found out later that I was pregnant. However, once I became pregnant by her father (while in college), he wanted to marry but I found out he was cheating. We talked about it. If I did not marry him, he wanted me to abort.

I was not going to marry him because I knew in my heart he was not ready for such a commitment (two wrongs don't make it right). However, something from within told me to have my daughter.

I am happy God bestowed upon me something so wonderful...to give the gift of life. I will never....ever regret giving the gift of life to my beautiful daughter. Nothing can replace her beauty, personality, and love. She only strengthens me to overcome challenges. I enjoy being a mother.

This world is not a Utopia. We are here to live and learn. Our paths in life are already determined. Life is what you make it. We all have the power to change things. Most importantly, my belief and faith in the Highest Power...I will always overcome any challenge or obstacle.

Family is what you make it. Many people don't have family, but friends become family.

Although you feel that what happened to our ancestors don't affect us...I beg to differ. However, that's another discussion and does not deal with these dilemmas.

S.O.S
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I don’t deny the effects of slavery, I’m simply saying why dwell on it? We are free people and to continue to use practices used by slaves doesn’t make sense. Slaves didn’t have a choice, we do and to choose to function like slaves doesn’t make sense. The reason slavery still effects the black community is because folks won’t let it go. Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. It doesn’t work and it’s counter productive.


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Shavonne