Race Matters West ( West, 1993 )

Cornel West, in his book Race Matters West (West, 1993) says that the visibility of young blacks as athletes and entertainment figures in American popular culture are Afro- Americanization of white youth:

The Afro-Americans of white youth has been more a male than female affair given the prominence of male athletes and the cultural weight of male pop artists. This process results in white youth- male and female – imitating and emulating black male styles of walking, talking, dressing and gesticulating in relations to others. The irony in our present moment is that just as young black men are murdered, maimed and imprisoned in record numbers, their styles have become disproportionately influential in shaping popular culture.