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Dustin Davis

Dustin Davis. The American Dream, Marginalizing Groups, and Public Service Announcements. The American Dream. Material Success, to be pursued, and individual competition Personal achievement, individualism, universalism, and money Achievement = end achievement not means

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Dustin Davis

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  1. Dustin Davis The American Dream, Marginalizing Groups, and Public Service Announcements

  2. The American Dream • Material Success, to be pursued, and individual competition • Personal achievement, individualism, universalism, and money • Achievement = end achievement not means • All Americans encouraged to embrace American Dream • White Identity (Deibert, 2003)

  3. Drugs and the American Dream • Drugs seen as illegitimate means • Racial association (George, 2005). • Cocaine and Crack (George, 2005) • Opium, Heroin and Morphine (Lusaine, Gaines, & Kraska, 1997) • Cigarettes and Marijuana

  4. Media’s Construction of Success • Media undermines success gained by drugs by disclosing the negatives • Present worst case scenarios as the norm • Over-sensationalize • In the end, the responsibility of the PSA is to entertain, not inform • Makes a moral argument • Blame the individual, don’t acknowledge the situation (Boyd, 2002) • Purpose of media is to legitimize American Dream • Since mid 1800, media representations of drug users and traffickers in the US have centered on the non-white (threatening) classes • Threaten ‘protestant morality’ and the values of the American Dream

  5. PSAs Demonstrate Failure of American Dream • Anti-Drug PSAs demonstrate that illegal drug use will undermine your strives toward the American Dream • EX: “Don’t be an Asterisk”; “Love Lost”

  6. Conclusion • American Dream focuses on traditionally white values • Anti-Drug PSAs reinforce white values, target racial groups • Anti-Drug PSAa show how drugs undermine success and the achievement of American Dream

  7. References • Boyd, S. (2002). Media constructions of illegal drugs, users, and sellers: a closer look at Traffic. International Journal of Drug Policy. 13. p.397-407. • Deibert, G. R. (2003). Teens, drugs, and the american dream. In D. Podus (Chair), Substance Use, Abuse, and Treatment. Paper presented at annual meeting of the American Scientific Affiliation, University of California, Los Angeles. • George, N. (2005). Hip hop america. New York, NY: Penguin Group. • Lusane, C., Gaines, L. K., & Kraska, P.B. (1997). Racism & the drug crisis. Drugs, Crime, & Justice: Contemporary Perspectives.p. 35-66 • Mitchell, O. (2009). Is the war on drugs racially biased. Journal of Crime & Justice. 32 (2).

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