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The African American magazines or the black magazines are a source of information and entertainment for the community with a sense of identity, which makes it the most priceless of all publications. To some the African American magazines or the black magazines are considered as a source of discrimination in reverse. There is a segment of blacks who are of the opinion that African American magazines or black magazines have been used by the blacks to segregate themselves from the rest of the community and would only lead to reverse discrimination in the community. The more discerning of critics are of the opinion that this perception could not be further from the truth considering that the black magazines are more of a necessity of the African American community rather than an exercise in discrimination.

The communication wonder - black magic

The black community uses the black magazines as a media to communicate and circulate exclusively black related issues but at no stage does it communicate hate for other communities so reverse discrimination cannot be further from the truth. The mainstream magazines do not cover African American issues - whether it is police brutality or civil rights issues. On the contrary the mainstream magazines focus primarily on all white issues and rarely if ever focus on the African American issues making it all the more important for the black community to publish black magazines. It is in appropriate to believe that the black community excludes the whites from the black magazines - the reality being that when black issues whether civil rights or otherwise are being addressed the whites would be excluded just as when mainstream magazines are published the blacks are naturally excluded

The merging cultures

The concept of having black magazines like Jet Magazines is not racial - rather it is cultural - to have a all black magazine with all black issues being tackled is not racist for all are invited to comment or read - making it cultural rather than racial. To illustrate - a Chinese restaurant serving all Chinese cuisine by a Chinese staff is barely racial - it is cultural. The black magazines are known to be supported by corporate America - coca cola, wal mart and the likes. This only further reiterates that the black magazines are an asset to the blacks community and not racial or an antipathy considering that corporate America would not support a racial movement - regardless of the fact that they are making a profit out of these black magazines.

On the contrary it is a near amazing fact that the black magazines in some instances are published in collaboration with the white community too making it a highly cohesive move with the sole motive of co existence of two ethically different communities in co - existence with mutual respect for each other - be it the blacks or the African American community as they are known and the whites. The commercial sense associated with the black or African American magazines underlines the need for a black magazine, which would advertise black businesses other than addressing black issues. This further enhances the scope of black businesses like printing, publishing, PR firms and the like making a black magazine more than just a source of entertainment - it is a complete way of life for the black community!