Liquid Crack

Known as "liquid crack," malt liquor is the trash of American brews. It is disguised as good old American beer. However, malt liquor's alcohol content is twice as high, and its concentration of corn syrup and other sweeteners serves to raise the intoxication process. Even beer industry documents refer to malt liquor as "high octane."

A 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor, which is usually a serving for one drinker, has the same amount of alcohol as five shots of whiskey. Its effect often times lead to violent and even murderous actions.

Malt liquor is also the cheapest legal high you can get. Selling exclusively in poor area corner stores for as little as $1.39 for a 40-ounce bottle, King Cobra, for example, goes for about the same price as soda water.

In the United States, malt-liquor drinking has been most often associated with the African-American community. Black consumption of all malt-liquor brands in this country is estimated at 28 percent, but it is considerably higher for such high-profile malts as Olde English 800 and St. Ides. A marketing brochure for Olde English once noted that the product is "brewed for relatively high-alcohol content (important to the ethnic market!)." And spokespersons for St. Ides ads are almost exclusively African-American rap artists.

"Black consumption of all malt-liquor brands in this country is estimated at 28 percent..." -- "Malt Assault" by J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

"Although African Americans are only 14% of the population, they are reported to consume 30% of malt liquor beers." -- Knowledge, Attitudes, and Malt Liquor Beer Drinking Behavior Among African American Men in South Central Los Angeles by Didra Brown Taylor, p. xvi and p.136

"... while malt liquor accounted for only 3% of total beer sales in 1989, up to 32% of its sales are in African American communities (Alaniz & Wilkes, 1998)." -- Knowledge, Attitudes, and Malt Liquor Beer Drinking Behavior Among African American Men in South Central Los Angeles by Didra Brown Taylor, p. 27

"Although malt liquor is only 3% of total beer sales, up to 32% of its sales are in the African American communities." -- Newsweek, 1989

"According to the Institute on Black Chemical Abuse, African Americans consume one-third of all malt liquor although they constitute only 12% of the population." -- Knowledge, Attitudes, and Malt Liquor Beer Drinking Behavior Among African American Men in South Central Los Angeles by Didra Brown Taylor, p. 4

"Given that African American men drink a third of all malt liquor beer..." -- Knowledge, Attitudes, and Malt Liquor Beer Drinking Behavior Among African American Men in South Central Los Angeles by Didra Brown Taylor, p. 158

"Miller Brewing Co. has estimated that blacks buy 66% of the nation's malt liquor." -- "Marketing Malt Liquor in Beer's Clothing" by Bill Kurtz, August 2, 2001

"Urban blacks make up almost 75% of the malt liquor market." -- Indiana Prevention Resource Center at Indiana University, 1998

"According to industry statistics, young, urban, African Americans make up 74% of the malt liquor market." -- Rob Nelson, "Liquid Crack," about.com

"I guess you could say that malt liquor is like a beer that makes you want to break stuff." -- Tim Teichgraeber, wine critic.

More On The Profit from Poverty Below.

Poor people and their neighborhoods are targeted. Neighborhoods of the poor are targeted by wing clippers that will not allow low income people a chance to fly away. There are traps and somebody is going to get caught. Poor can survive. It is damn near impossible for them to strive.
This ugly truth was brought to the publics attention when hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast. Many American became enraged about how the poor black people on T.V. were being treated. Thousands of press conferences detailing the horrors of The Superdome and the raw tales of survival brought many Americans to their knees. Why did this happen? How could this happen? I got news for you. Katrina had some accomplices. Katrina did not put the poor in the immobile position they were in. Katrina did not hold them still and force them to face her wrath. Katrina was just a hurricane. We knew Katrina was coming. We knew that New Orleans was ripe for a flood. However, what we also knew is that poor people are pimped out everyday. Because of this, they are easy targets.

The less affluent sides of town are magnets for predators. They are magnets for the check cashing places. They are magnets for the pawn shops. They are magnets for the Day Labor operations. There are no Dollar Stores where the poverty is high. Instead there is the Family Dollar or the Dollar General offering a few things for a dollar while the majority of their merchandise is cleverly over priced. The cheap wines and malt liquors crowd the neighborhood stores while never appearing on the other sides of town. You can buy a car if you are poor. You can buy a $500 car for $5000 at the bad credit everyone rides weekly payment car palace. Don’t have enough money for a whole pack of cigarettes? In the poor neighborhoods you can buy a single cigarrette.

The poor are a captive audience for those who want to make a quick dollar. That is what made Katrina so powerful. The strength of Katrina was in no way responsible for the complete tragedy. Katrina is no match for the greed that lurks over the poor. It was an emergency long before Katrina came. Most of us just did not know it. However, maybe we did know it.

Maybe the problem is we just did not care to know it. Maybe it was covered up well. Maybe it is acceptable to have captivated audiences for things like check cashing places, mad dog 20/20 and pawn shops as long as a hurricane doesn’t come along and showcase how unleveled our playing field really is.