The media and advertising play a very important role in today's society. Therefore as human beings it can influence our thoughts, decisions and actions. Society gets these negative perceptions from the media, unfortunately not from personal relationships. African American males are portrayed negatively in the media, for example by saying that all African American males are problematic, inadequate, womanizing, and uneducated fathers. “Research has revealed that the most serious crimes such as (homicide, rape, robbery and assault) in urban centers are committed by a very small percentage of African American youth, approximately 8% according to estimates.”(Balkaran)”. Additionally, African American males are 4 times more likely to appear on the news when they commit a crime, unlike their white counterparts. Susan Smith, who had kidnapped and killed her two children, told police that the crime was committed by a African American male. This led the police to search for African American males, after nine days confessed that that incident itself changed the perception of African American males making them criminal in nature. and “Boyz In The Hood,” while entertaining, portray black males as thugs and brutes “There are inadequate fathers everywhere, no matter the race, but the media portrays black males as the main source of the problem. In television shows of the last decade, most black male father figures were absent. This is how the media manipulates people into believing that most black males are absentee fathers. The TV show “TI And Tiny The Family Hustle” features rapper TI, who the media would paint as a poster child for being an inadequate father. With his seven children in one house, and they are a close family unit. Sure there are African American males absent from home, but there are many good African American fathers who are very involved in their children's lives. Being a womanizer can have many different connotations, but most people agree that it has a sense of accomplishment attached to it. The media portrays that being a womanizer is not normal for African American males. The TV show “Love And Hip Hop Atlanta” is a great example of this. There are two African American males featured on the show named Stevie J and Lil Scrappy who swing between women throughout the show. This creates the impression that all African American males are like this and as they should be.