African American Consumer Culture

Over the last century there has been an increase in not only the amount of leisure activities available, but also an increase in the amount of influence these activities have towards the economy. These increases came as a result of the revolutionary minds that have changed the way leisure is looked at forever. From the Industrial Revolution to the Civil Rights Act, change has been a huge aspect to the success and growth of this nation. Change has also brought differences in consumer culture in regards to race using sports and shopping as a form of leisure. Race in consumer culture has become very important because there are different trends, tastes, and preferences that differ from race to race or ethnicity to ethnicity. This essay analyzes

In our society, sports are the powerhouses of revenue. The sports industry is a multi billion-dollar industry that has return investments at high rates. A major part of this boom in the sports industry was the allowance of African-Americans to participate in professional sports. They were always a part of the success of these sports in some way, shape or form but were never allowed to participate. According to Wiggins (2014) African slaves were used in the growth the nations first popular spectator sport in horse riding dating back to the late 1700s (p. 182). As history progressed and African-Americans began the long fight for basic civil rights, the ability to participate in professional sports was granted to African-Americans and this revolutionized and changed the game to the ones we know today. Because the opportunity to be an athlete was very limited during the early years of this sport integration period, many black athletes such as Marshal ‘Major’ Taylor went on to other countries to dominate their sports (Wiggins, 2014, p.185). At the turn of the 21st century it became evident that African-Americans were an essential part in the popularity of sports as well as the successes of them. The success of these athletes brought them a platform like none other and players such as Michael Jordan took full advantage of that. The Jordan Brand is one that has thrived solely off the success of arguably the greatest basketball player of all time in Michael Jordan. The effect that this has had on the market, community, and the sports world is astounding. The list of athletes that has taken advantage of this stretches from sport to sport and team to team. African-American athletes