ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some critical socioeconomic and market-related issues concerning the African American community, which is a dominant segment of the US population. As is well known, this minority community has been a focus of study across several disciplines and by several historians and social scientists. The chapter refers to some recent scholarly work in the field of consumer and marketing research that speaks to the issues of cultural ambiguities and multiracial identities, as well as consumption patterns, among African Americans. In recent years, if not decades, have witnessed the emergence of a variety of social and cultural discourses questioning the prevailing societal orthodoxies. The chapter refers to the discourses of feminism, postmodernism, orientalism, post racialism, and sexual liberation, among others, addressing the regimented social ordering of communities. The chapter analyses of ethnic minorities, followed by a discussion on issues of social, cultural, and economic capital, which form the basis for the study.
