Edward Forty Hands, Billy Dee Williams, hip-hop - these are just a few of the things which come to mind when I, and possibly you, think of malt liquor. As almost anyone who has gone to college could attest to, malt liquor is part of the fabric of college life for a large portion of people.

While so much of our collective knowledge and understanding of malt liquor is based on what mass media and advertising has taught us, a new study at the University of Minnesota funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has revealed new statistics regarding malt liquor advertising and consumption. The study focused on low income neighborhoods in 10 cities where the researchers gathered statistics on homicides, the number of liquor licenses in the neighborhoods, and the ways in which alcohol, and malt liquor in particular, are advertised and made available.

What the researchers found is that poor African American neighborhoods had the greatest concentration of access to malt liquor, malt liquor advertising and also showed higher murder rates. One of the researchers, Rhonda Jones-Webb said, “It may be that the availability influences consumption of these products which in turn influences homicide rates.”

Further studies will have to determine the extent to which malt liquor consumption plays into incidents of violence and murder rates, but I think it is fair to say that malt liquor consumption is symptomatic of the kind of environment which could lead to violence, just as poverty and unemployment are. The statistics in the study reflect the fact that advertisers began tying malt liquor into the African American community and culture in the 1980’s – partially in thanks to our friend shown above, Billy Dee Williams.

As young people who probably have not lived in the kinds of neighborhoods where this study took place, it is important for us to understand that while malt liquor exists as a means for fun and a part of the college lifestyle to us, for a larger segment of the population who consume malt liquor, it is a symbol of exploitation and racially motivated lowered expectations. I will leave it to the philosopher kings, Public Enemy, to have the last word on the subject. From their album Apocalypse ‘91: The Enemy Strikes Back, here are a few excerpts of the song “1 Million Bottlebags”:

“One million bottlebags count ‘em
Think they can bounce the ounce
And it get ‘em
Yo black spend 288 million
Sittin’ there waitin’ for the fizz
And don’t know what the f*ck it is

He’s just a slave to the bottle and the can
‘Cause that’s his man
The malt liquor man

Liquor man with the bottle in his hand
He give the liquor man ten to begin
Wit’ no change and he run
To get his brains rearranged
Serve it to the home they’re able
To do without a table
Beside what’s inside ain’t on the label
They drink it thinkin’ it’s good
But they don’t sell the sh*t in the white neighborhood
Exposin’ the plan they get mad at me I understand
They’re slaves to the liquor man

Genocide kickin’ in yo back
How many times have you seen
A black fight a black
After drinkin’ down a bottle
Or a malt liquor six-pack
Malt liquor bull
What it is is bullsh*t
Colt 45 another gun to the brain
Who’s sellin’ us pain
In the ‘hood another up to no good
Plan that’s designed by the other man
But who drink it like water
On and on till the stores reorder it
Brothers cry broke but they still affordin’ it
Sippin’ it lick drink it down oh nooo
Drinkin’ poison but they don’t know”