News

African Americans don’t fit in a tidy box of similar habits and attitudes.

DAN KLORES COMMUNICATIONS

Eight-three percent of African Americans describe themselves as Christians, though only 41 percent attend church at least once a week according to a survey commissioned by Radio One.

Blacks have wiped out the digital divide, youngsters respect their elders and most are optimistic about the future, according to the findings of a study commissioned by Radio One, a Lanham, Md.-based communications company that owns two radio stations in Charlotte. Yankelovich, a Chapel Hill marketing firm, conducted the interviews of 3,400 African Americans.

“While people are less inclined these days to think that all blacks are the same, they really do not understand the diversity within the African American community,” Radio One founder Catherine Hughes said. “Blacks share many commonalities regardless of age, income and geography, but there are also differences — that suggest a new understanding of the past and a more optimistic sense of the future. We’re confident that black Americans – and all Americans – will find the results of the survey useful and in some cases surprising, given perceptions about black life that are still pervasive in our country.”

In essence, the survey found there’s more to African American life than meets the eye. Indeed, blacks are nearly evenly divided on how they prefer to be described – 42 percent prefer to be called black while 44 percent favor African American.
The survey finds a mix of viewpoints through samples of 11 demographic groups. The survey, taken last October and November, includes teenagers and seniors up to age 74.

The survey identified specific segments within Black America today, ranging from Connected Black Teens, Digital Networkers and Black Onliners at the younger end, to Faith Fulfills, Broadcast Blacks and Boomer Blacks at the older end.
“We wanted to know in detail who we are, what we want and where we are going,” said Alfred C. Liggins, Radio One’s CEO and president.

A segmentation analysis identifies differences among African Americans on topics ranging from what it means to be black today, expectations for the future, consumer trends, media preferences and confidence in faith, government and financial institutions.
In the Connected Black Teens segment, for example, 25 percent of respondents say they are saving to start a business. Among Digital Networkers, the majority of whom are in their 20s, 45 percent are already saving for retirement.

Among the findings:

• The average household includes three people, with half living in a single family home. Half of respondents live in cities. Among 29- to 74-year-olds, a third are married.

• 61 percent are parents, 5 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds are parents, and half of all parents are single.

• 83 percent have health insurance, a majority (66 percent of women, 52 percent of men) has family doctors, and 40 percent of blacks who go online search the internet for health and medical information.

• 83 percent describe themselves as Christian, though only 41 percent go to church at least once a week. Seventy percent of women and 59 percent of men believe that faith in God is more likely to help them recover from a serious illness.

• 24 percent said they had been personally discriminated against in the past three months, and 82 percent said they believe it is “important for parents to prepare their children for prejudice.”

• 67 percent overall said they believe the history of slavery is a key way in which blacks are different from other groups, but one-third also say that too much emphasis is put on the oppression of blacks.

• The digital divide has faded. 68 percent of those surveyed are online (compared to 71 percent of all Americans), and two-thirds of them shop online. Among teens, over 90 percent are online. Southerners are least likely to be online (63 percent).

• 72 percent want to learn more about how to invest. 50 percent believe banks and other financial institutions do not understand their needs; and only 8 percent trust credit card companies.

• 21 percent shop for fun frequently and 19 percent said they have to have what they like even if it costs more than they would like to spend.

• The education system and black media are most trusted to treat blacks fairly (30 percent) compared to 24 percent for the healthcare system, 12 to 16 percent for police, government, and mainstream media, and 8 percent for credit card companies.

On the Net:

Black America Today study

www.blackamericastudy.com

Comments