The Myth and Propaganda of Black Buying Power
- 2h 13m
- Jared A. Ball
- Springer
- 2020
This Palgrave Pivot offers a history of and proof against claims of "buying power" and the impact this myth has had on understanding media, race, class and economics in the United States. For generations Black people have been told they have what is now said to be more than one trillion dollars of "buying power," and this book argues that commentators have misused this claim largely to blame Black communities for their own poverty based on squandered economic opportunity. This book exposes the claim as both a marketing strategy and myth, while also showing how that myth functions simultaneously as a case study for propaganda and commercial media coverage of economics. In sum, while “buying power” is indeed an economic and marketing phrase applied to any number of racial, ethnic, religious, gender, age or group of consumers, it has a specific application to Black America.
About the Author
Jared A. Ball is Professor of Communication Studies at Morgan State University, USA. He is the curator of imixwhatilike.org, an online hub of multimedia dedicated to the philosophies of emancipatory journalism and revolutionary beat reporting.
In this Book
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Introduction
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Propaganda Versus Economics—Constructing a Myth
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Buying Power Not Protest—The Myth Prevents Unrest
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The Myth’s Modern Purveyors—Reviewing Selig and Nielsen
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The Myth at Play—The Oh So Suitable Environment
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Freedom Was the Call but “Instead, They Got a Bank”
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Conclusion—Policy and Organization Versus Economics
