#AMAsSoBlack

After debunking the supposed racial bias against blacks at the Grammy Awards and in the Billboard Top 100, as well as at the Oscars and generally across the top films of recent years, the next target for realism are the American Music Awards (AMAs). The AMAs are "an annual American music awards show, created by Dick Clark in 1973 for ABC when the network's contract to present the Grammy Awards expired." Apparently, "unlike the Grammys, which are awarded on the basis of votes by members of the Recording Academy, the AMAs are determined by a poll of the public and fans."

Consequently, the AMAs should give us a good cross-section of whether there is any inherent racial bias against blacks when it comes to preferred top pop/rock music artists among the general public. Since the first awards were handed out in 1974, 13 of the 43 awards (there were two sets of awards in 2003) for favorite pop/rock male artist went to black singers -- or a white:black ratio of only 2.3:1 (i.e., 30:13). Over this timeframe, the white:black race ratio in the American general population ranged from 7.9:1 (early 1970s) to 5.7:1 (current), indicative of a massive under-representation of white AMA male artist winners and a correspondingly large over-representation of black recipients. From 2004 through 2009, 5 of the 6 winners were black. The odds of that occurring "randomly" for a demographic comprising just over 12% of the general population are exceedingly small. Between 1996 and 2009, 9 of the 15 winners were black, further stretching the boundaries of randomness. On the other side of the gender divide, 9 of the 43 awards (21%) for favorite pop/rock female artist went to black singers, for a white:black ratio of just 3.8:1 (i.e., 34:9). Compare that, once again, to the general population white:black ratio of 5.7:1 to 7.9:1 during this period. More dramatic white under-representation at the AMAs. From 1986 through 1991, 5 of the 6 winners were black. Good luck squaring that with "randomness" statistics for a white demographic that made up over 80% of the general population at the time.

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At Fusion, Kelsey McKinney has an article discussing the Nicki Minaj/Taylor Swift dust-up from mid-2015 along with a raft of racial statistics for selected nominations and awards at the VMAs, the Grammys, the AMAs, and the Billboard Music Awards. Yet again, the data doesn't support any evidence of a pro-white bias. From 1984 to the present, 74% of nominees for the VMA Video of the Year Award were white. This is modestly below the average white proportion of the general population over the time, indicative of white under-representation, not over-representation. Among the winners, 78% were white -- in line with general population racial demographics. For the Grammy's Record of the Year since 1959, 72% of the nominees were white. This is a substantial under-representation of whites, since whites made up 88-89% of the U.S. population during most of the 1960s and 1970s, declining to 83% in the 1980s, 80% in the 1990s, and 75% in the 2000s. Of the winners, 82% were white, about equivalent to the composite proportion of the population that whites have occupied since the late 1950s. For the AMA Artist of the Year Awards since 1996, just 69% were white, well below their general population contribution ranging from 72% to 77%. Whites have, however, won 92% of the awards. This over-representation of whites -- which is clearly not indicative of the AMAs in general, as discussed already above -- is more than compensated for by the unbelievably large under-representation of whites for our next awards show category. For the Billboard Music Awards' Top Artist since 1989, whites have won just 52% of the awards -- which is on the order of 20% to 30% below what would be expected based on their proportion of the general population. Wherever we look, the argument that music industry awards are "so white" falls apart. Another fail for the race baiters.