Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 20 replies, 21 voices, and was last updated 20 years, 6 months ago by
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What’s the deal with a lot of blacks drinking grape soda, Kool-aid and other weird, fruity drinks? I’ve worked in restaurants and delivered pizza, and it’s a strange phenomenon.
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Name : Trip, City : Columbia, State : MD, Country : United States,When I was growing up, the corner stores often sold cheaper, off-brand soft drinks, and they usually had a fake coke that was usually pretty nasty, but the fruit-flavored varieties were good and cold. Ever heard of Purple Passion? Didn’t think so. Mmmmmmm.
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Name : Geno, Gender : M, City : St. Paul, State : MN, Country : United States, Social class : Lower class,I think your generalizations are causing you to notice black customers in your restaurant too closely. A lot of blacks, whites, Asians, whoever like ‘fruity’ sodas and drinks. If you go to a Korean store, for instance, you will see a whole bunch of fruity beverages on sale. And I ask, what is wrong with that? As far as Kool-Aid, I believe this is a drink of choice for people who are poor or stingy. It is very cheap, it tastes better than plain water and it will give people a boost of Vitamin C.
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Name : Kristina, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 20, City : Washington, State : DC, Country : United States, Occupation : Transcriber, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Count me in as a subscriber to the phenomenon. I drink ‘grape soda, Kool-aid and other weird, fruity drinks’ often, as do my brother and many of my friends, and we are as white as can be.
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Name : Andres, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 25, City : Chambersburg, State : PA, Country : United States,African Americans in general do not drink a lot of grape soda, fruity drinks, etc. While SOME African Americans may, many do not. A higher proportion of African Americans in your average pizza shop may be drinking so-called fruity drinks and grape soda because that is what many people drink when they’re eating pizza: soda! Also, the majority of people who frequent your local pizza shop may be young, and young people may tend to drink more soda than old people. You really can’t generalize this to African Americans. I am African American and usually drink juice or water.
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Name : Cara-C, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 24, City : Boston, State : MA, Country : United States, Occupation : Television, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I used to work in a delicatessen years ago and noticed this as well. The blacks loved Hawaiian Punch. In fact, 95 percent of our sales of Hawaiian Punch were to blacks, even though the demographics of our customer base was 65 percent white/35 percent black.
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Name : Tom24123, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, City : San Diego, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : unemployed, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I think people drink what they like. My son likes Kool-aid, but I make it with a lot less sugar than called for. He also likes real grape juice, grape soda – basically fruit drinks in general. I worked in a pizza joint in Columbia and didn’t notice blacks drinking fruit drinks more than any other races.
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Name : J .Anderson, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 37, City : Columbia, State : MD, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,I prefer orange soda to grape soda any day. Why? I don’t know. My parents once told me that when I was a toddler, they couldn’t keep enough orange juice in the house because I would drink it all. Maybe early drinking habits have something to do with it. You know the saying: Old habits are hard to break. There’s some truth to that.
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Name : Sean28022, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 25, City : Alexandria, State : VA, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,I think this is a combination of social class and family background. A lot of black food and culture is Southern – or rather African as shaped by the American South. In general, Southerners in the United States eat and drink sweeter foods than Northerners. There is also a class component to this: the wealthier and better-educated a family, the less likely they are to consume a lot of junk food. I live in a mixed neighborhood – yuppies moving in to a traditionally lower class black/hispanic area. In the morning, I see the yuppie moms go into the corner store with little kids. The Yuppie kids get stuff like OJ, water, milk, bagels, fruit, or cheerios. The lower class moms buy their kids soda, those Hi-C juice bottles, chips, and all sorts of packaged pastries, cakes etc. As a yuppie living in NYC, I drink diet coke, club soda, gatorade, and once in a blue moon, gingerale (Canada Dry only, everything else is too sweet for my taste). I don’t know a single peer (of any color) who drinks grape, orange, or other fruity drinks – in fact most of us who drink gatorade for athletic reasons cut it with water b/c we think it is too sweet. Hispanics in the US, in my experience, also drink lots of super sweet fruity sodas, but having traveled in Latin America, I can say that this is part of their culture and all classes like this stuff.
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Name : Mary, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 33, City : New York, State : NY, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Different people tend to like different types of things, but I don’t think of it as something weird.
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Name : Jade21052, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 34, City : Cleveland, State : OH, Country : United States, Occupation : Teacher, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,How can you contend to know so much about Southern and Black culure when you are neither. And that remark about lower class mothers, how dare you? Class has nothing to do with healthy or unhealthy eating habits. I have had plenty of ‘well-to-do’ white friends who drank just as much soda and ate pizza religiously.
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Name : Marron-Bella22135, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 23, City : Anniston, State : AL, Country : United States, Occupation : Clericak, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower class,I’d say it is more of a social background thing; I grew up on red Kool-Aid and orange soda. I lived in a predominantly black, lower-class neighborhood, and in the summers when I visited my grandparents in West Virginia, it was PB&J sandwiches and Kool-Aid (though not with nearly as much sugar), so I think it’s as much where you grew up as it is what race you are.
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Name : Savannah C., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 18, City : Beckley, State : WV, Country : United States, Occupation : cashier, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Lower middle class,I’ve seen this same phenomenon, and I cannot (even as a black man) tell you why this is. It may be that you’re generalizing and relying on a sample size that is too small to be relevant. But let’s suppose you’re right. Why do blacks gravitate toward ‘fruity’ pops? Here are some possible reasons:
1) They may not like caffeine. Dark pops such as Coke and Pepsi and teas tend to have more caffeine than Sunkist, Sprite, 7-up, Nehi and what have you.
2) Acne and sweating out of pop due to strenuous activity can affect their appearances.
3) Urban legends about certain pops (especially Mountain Dew – or Mountain Don’t, as I call it).
4) Familiarity due to blacks’ inability to afford healthier beverages (ones that actually contain fruit juice) with Flavor-Aid, Wylers, Kool-Aid and other sugar-water beverages.User Detail :
Name : Mike, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 23, City : Chicago, State : IL, Country : United States, Occupation : Ed. Admin. and Law School Student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,Kool-Aid, for one, is a economical refreshment for lower or lower middle class families. Mix it with a little water and sugar. Kool-Aid also comes in a variety of fruity flavors. So if a person was raised on Kool-Aid, then they’ll probably enjoy grape soda or other flavored soda. Working delivering pizzas, you should know how to be economical.
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Name : Damon, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 31, City : Detroit, State : MI, Country : United States, Occupation : Shipping Clerk, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Lower middle class,I like grape pop!
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Name : Tena, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 31, City : Grand Rapids, State : MI, Country : United States, Occupation : dental assistant, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,
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