Racism Is Not Fun
Racism is not fun. It isn’t even mildly entertaining. It is a harsh reality that many people in the black community must live with each and every day. It impacts the black community’s ability to earn a living. It impacts the black community’s ability to buy a house. It impacts our ability to obtain credit, medical care, a quality education, a modicum of justice in the legal system, or anything else that could be considered even remotely racially fair. Black people are more likely to be the victims of police brutality and die in a hail of bullets for driving or walking home. Black people are more likely to die from a latent sickle cell trait while a boot camp guard holds a baton against our neck. Racism is dangerous. Racism is disgusting. And racism should be exposed for the ugly reality that it truly is.
TIME Magazine recently reported its 2008 Time 100, a listing the one hundred most influential people in the world. This is the fifth time the list has been made. And under artist and entertainers, forty three old Chris Rock makes the list as one of America’s favorite comedians. Jerry Seinfeld wrote the article describing the reasoning for Mr. Rock being so influential. Said Mr. Seinfeld, “You know how hard it is to make racism just plain fun? Rock does it. Racism to Chris Rock is just a Hacky Sack on his foot. He kicks it up over here, over there, behind the back and then right over to you. The tension release he offers is available nowhere else, from no one else.” Click here to read the entire article, turn to page 112 if you have the May 12th edition of TIME Magazine lying around.
Racism is about as fun to the black community as the image of a little five year old white girl being raped by a big black man can be fun to the dominant community. It is horrible thing. Sure, there are some seriously sick individuals who would find the idea of child rape entertaining and fun. We would not tolerate such behavior. But there is a lot of seriously sick people who dismiss racism and manifestations of racial hate as harmless pranks as well as just plain fun. White people can hang nooses and other people will find it funny and a nice tension release. I’m sure Jerry Seinfeld thought it was a nice tension release to see his friend Michael Richards standing on stage at a comedy club and saying of black people in the audience, “Fifty years ago we’d have you upside down with a fucking fork up your ass. You can talk, you can talk, you’re brave now motherfucker. Throw his ass out. He’s a nigger! He’s a nigger! He’s a nigger! A nigger, look, there’s a nigger! What? They’re going to arrest me for calling a black man a nigger?” I’m sure a lot of people thought Mr. Richards was just making some fun racist comments.
Everybody should be doing what they can to make racial disparity a thing of the past, including Mr. Rock and Mr. Seinfeld. But even when people see some of the most disgusting displays of racism manifesting itself right before our eyes too many of us disassociate ourselves from what we see and dismiss it with a variety of excuses. Mr. Richards was having a bad day and just so happened to gravitate to going off on the black people in the audience. The police that attacked Robert Davis in New Orleans just days after Katrina struck were tired and exhausted for working so hard and just so happened to gravitate towards attacking one of the few black people in the vicinity. Duane Chapman was behind closed doors when he went on his racist rant about how his son could not stay in the family business and have a nigger girlfriend. Don Imus was confused by all of the misogynistic gangsta rap music produced by the music industry so heavily controlled by white people, marketed to white people, but with black rappers willing to sell their souls as the front men.
Listen to people who are willing to tolerate racism and see only the humor of this ugly aspect of human nature and they will say that it is only a sad coincidence that only black males die in a hail of bullets for pulling out his wallet to identify himself. Only a black male dies for being too exhausted to run that a latent sickle cell trait can trigger his death and the fact that seven boot camp guards were beating on him simultaneously had nothing to do with it. Only a seventeen year old black male goes to jail for ten years for having consensual sex with a fifteen year old girl while fifty year old white men are free to marry and impregnate fifteen year old girls. Only black men are beaten senseless for running from police. It is acceptable for police to kill unarmed black men because a cop with his gun drawn and in body armor and with fifty of his police buddies around him and with police helicopters in the air over his head is in fear of his life. Sounds to me like this badge carrying coward needs to put his gun down and find another occupation. It is only acceptable for a cop to empty his gun, reload, and proceed to empty it again into the body of an unarmed black man. It is acceptable to see a police officer punch a fourteen year old black girl in the face while arresting her for breaking curfew.
And if all that is not low enough, police can burst into a home of a black woman whose boyfriend is suspected of distributing illegal drugs, and shoot her to death while she is holding her twelve month old infant son. The baby boy was hit by a police man’s bullet. But this is okay because the woman had a police record for a misdemeanor violation. For some reason, we are ready to excuse the irresponsible actions of cops killing black people because somehow these cops know that the black people they are killing have police records. It is a fair bet that every black person that is unfortunate enough to cross a police officer’s path has a record because racism refuses to show any leniency to any black person with the audacity to spit on a sidewalk or raise their voice. Black people are so violent that if we allow them to shout or yell they will be emboldened to do other crimes like pointing or standing up for their rights as an American citizen, as if black people have rights.
Like most high profile black people who make their substantial fortune with the support of people in the dominant community, the black community in general will not benefit from Chris Rock’s success. High profile black people will find a handful of black people to employ or to sponsor for higher education or apprenticeship designed to promote their assimilation into the dominant culture. Bill Cosby uses his clout to give scholarships to black people who want higher educations but berates poor black people for being poor. Oprah Winfrey uses her resources to reinforce the notion that it is too difficult to find African American’s who will honestly appreciate her financial help so she has to go all the way to Africa to find black people to help. Black authors like Shelby Steele and John McWhortor want to reinforce the notion that black people are poor only because they want to be and racism isn’t a factor. And Chris Rock gives white people the impression that racism and racial disparity is fun.
This is not to say that Mr. Rock is not a gifted, talented, hardworking comedian. But in many respects, his comedy can be interpreted as a modern interpretation of a minstrel show. Minstrels made racism fun for white people back in the day. It was funny to see a black person bulge his or her eyes in childish disbelief. It was funny to see a black person being the simple minded straight man for the humor of the white majority. And Mr. Rock’s work follows in this vein. The television show Everybody Hates Chris, no doubt a play on the popular television show Everybody Loves Raymond, starring Tyler James Williams as a young, Steve Urkel-ized Chris Rock, regularly relies on minstrel like visual gags to sell a cheap laugh. Instead of using his talents to promote social consciousness and racial understanding in the vein of a Dick Gregory, a gifted comedian who often speaks of the social ills affecting the black community, Mr. Rock is happy to sit back and make as much money as possible and not offend his dominant community fans.
By influential, Time magazine and Jerry Seinfeld must be referring to Mr. Rock’s influence on making people laugh. They certainly are not talking about his influence on helping to broaden people’s understanding on the realities of the black community. Instead, black people’s whole racism fueled experience has devolved into funny one liners that the white community can point to, laugh at, and say it is so funny that it can’t be all that bad.
Brotherpeacemaker found your blog over at Abagonds web site I have been reading for a couple of days and find your thoughts interesting some I agree with others I do not. Today’s subject I find myself on the fence for two reasons. 1) In your commentary it almost reads as if you only have a problem with racism as humor when present for the dominant culture to view, but that it is ok as long as it is keep in the black community. The second reasoning from my point of view that humor can be used as a tool to cope and heal.
I don’t know about Chris Rock’s philanthropy but should he choose to help one or ten or a thousand young black youths it is his decision and his money. I do believe every black person should feel a sense of responsibility for their community but we are all different individuals and can not hold other people to our personal standards.
Sorry to read that you missed your deadline on another post and that has led to some unnecessary monitoring I know what it feels like to have a shadow. Take care
Thanks for the feedback Jazzy,
I’m glad you find my blog interesting enough to come back. And agreement with everything I say is not required. I welcome different opinions. Maybe I can learn a different perspective from you and others.
Of course Chris Rock is free to do whatever he wants with his life, his talent, his money, and his whatever. That’s not the issue. The issue is that he uses his resources at the expense of the black community. All black people are free to turn their back on other black people if they so desire. That is their right and their choice. But that doesn’t mean that we have to agree with it. Bill Cosby can go in front of white people and use his humor to make white people laugh at the poverty in the black community and tell the white people that poor blacks are the most despicable example of humanity. But that doesn’t mean it does not deserve a response from others who know what it is like to be black and poor in 21st century in America.
I think it is disgusting to see high profile blacks go along with the racial disparity that is so common in America. Just because they have the right does not make it right. And if more black people step up to say that isn’t right, if the majority of black people step up and say that we don’t appreciate being characterized as caricatures of everything negative and inferior then the chances of other black people doing it will be diminished. The more we condone it the more it will continue to happen.
Peace
Jazzy,
I don’t understand why it is that people feel that BrotherP or any other black Blogger needs to be the voice for racism against whites or others. I hear this constantly at my Blog as well. If other nationalities are offended by what comedians say about them and/or their race, shouldn’t THEY start a Blog and complain. I feel that BrotherP isn’t saying it is OK he is speaking specifically of a certain comedy.
Also, humor can be used as a tool to cope and heal yet it can also be used as a tool for acceptance as it has in the past. And it is the same old story that people should be able to use their money like they choose. No one is saying anything different.
The problem is how is calling him influential when he does NOTHING to influence people in his community positively. Just having money isn’t a positive role for any young person. Why is it fine and dandy for other races of individuals to give their money so heavily in their own communities, yet when a black person is asked to do the same all of a sudden they should be able to do whatever they want?
We have GOT TO START holding these people and ourselves to this same standard. How will we ever advance if as soon as we make a buck we are all of a sudden “an individual” who can do whatever we want with our money as long as it isn’t going back to the black community?
Brotherp, great article and I feel you all the way. I can see from the picture above that this kid has been groomed in the old jig style of humor with his eyes bugged out. I would be damned if I let my child do a show where they want him to act like a shuck and jive negro from the minstrel shows of the past.
Thanks
Thanks for the feedback theblacksentinel,
I wish more black people would see the danger of sitting back and allowing this kind of humor to proliferate, even if it comes from other black people. There was a time we would call such behavior sellouts. Now, the dominant community calls them black independent thinkers. It is interesting that the early twentieth century had minstrel shows. But by the time the civil rights era rolled around it was frowned upon and rarely reared its ugly head. Here in the twenty first century, the minstrel is coming back hard and heavy. So much for progress. And so much for backsliding.
Peace
The only one seen assulting blacks here is blacks.Their mommas didn’t raise them right so they go out and kill and rob eack other.Whats up with that?
Thanks for the feedback barensingleton,
I guess those seven boot camp guards that killed fourteen year old Martin Anderson were really black. The police that shot Sean Bell on his wedding day were really black. The people who arrested the Jena Six for fighting with white students were all black. The people who threw seventeen year old Genarlow Wilson into prison for having sex with a fifteen year old girl were black. The police who attacked Robert Davis in New Orleans were all black.
You seem to think that everything negative that happens in the black community is the result of black people killing and robbing each other. What’s up with that? Don’t white people kill and rob each other as well? Wasn’t it a white person that took a shot gun into a mall and started shooting other white people? Don’t we constantly hear stories of white men killing their pregnant wives to be with the mistress? How many white kids have taken guns to school to kill everybody that cross their path? Why didn’t their parents raise them right? It seems to be a nation wide phenomenon and not just limited to the black community.
Peace
Thanks for the welcome Brother P. and the feedback same too you Sentinel.
I guess then my question to both of you would be what kind of humor would you find expectable. George Lopez and the Blue collar comedy tour group all poke fun at their representative groups. Also as a side not I happened to agree with the now “infamous” remarks made by Bill Cosby. I am new to blogging and I am finding the varying opinions interesting so please try never to take offense I am truly out to learn from other people.
“We have GOT TO START holding these people and ourselves to this same standard. How will we ever advance if as soon as we make a buck we are all of a sudden “an individual” who can do whatever we want with our money as long as it isn’t going back to the black community?”
What would be acceptable to help the black community, what type of help would be a true help versus a hindrance or viewed as a handout. Community centers are great but what happens when the thug element runs rampant and the individuals who those centers are made for are unable to enjoy. What solutions do you all propose? If you have written any blogs on these issues please forward the links I would love to read them.
Jazzy,
I am a bit brash, but I usually don’t take offense to most things that are said on most blogs as well as my own. Now as far as something being seen as a handout. I could care less if something is seen as a handout. I think that white privilege which permeates our society right now IS a handout, but no one ever focuses on that one. So, if it is seen as a handout too bad, as long as it gets the desired affect which is rising blacks to a point where they can then do it themselves.
I think that any help is true help. The only help that is a hindrance is lip service. And specifically the kind that points the finger without looking at the big picture. Nothing happens in a vacuum, which if you are around long enough you will see I am constantly saying. I am not advocating that people just keep giving while those who need help do nothing. I am advocating that we HELP them do something and that takes funding.
I propose that we fund more programs to help individuals with entrepreneurship. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to set up foundations that help inner city schools or neighborhoods. There are just a plethora of things that one can and should be doing. See Chris Rock and others get money and run away from the people who put them where they are. I am not saying that he should now throw money in everyones hand. No! He should be supporting black owned businesses, hiring blacks when he can and supporting black endeavors.
Thanks.
Also, I am sure that there will be a bunch of people who pounce on me for saying that Chris should support black this or that. But, for all you who find this racist or upsetting think about this, the majority of white entertainers hire whites, live around whites, shop in white owned businesses and otherwise support white institutions. And not ONE of you will sit here and have a problem with it. Yet the minute someone insists that blacks should do the same in a black sense it is seen as some problematic statement.
Thanks.
So what kind of help is Bill Cosby or Chris Rock offering the black community?
Quite frankly I think George Lopez is a sellout to the Hispanic community. And besides, just because others do it doesn’t mean we have to tolerate it as well. As far as the blue collar group goes, there are plenty of counter examples of white behavior that depicts white people as the epitome of courage, morality, generosity, truth, justice, and everything else the American way.
Just like the black community the white community suffers crimes. Just like the black thug there are white thugs. How many high profile white people stand in front of black people and say that the black community has done everything it can and that the white community isn’t doing it’s share to straighten this mess out? Only the so called leaders of the black community, who talk about the problems of social issues (I doubt that the blue collar comedy group is discussing social issues), will point the finger at black people and only black people.
Part of the solution is for black people to develop our sense of pride and self. That can’t happen with high profile blacks pointing the finger at other blacks and saying you are the problem. Bill Cosby wants to point at the black people buying five hundred dollar tennis shoes but says nothing to the company that markets five hundred dollar tennis shoes to black people. Bill Cosby says nothing to the other black entertainers that make the image of expensive tennis shoes so attractive that impressionable black people are willing to obtain them at any and all costs.
Racial disparity is a complex problem that has taken well over four hundred years and millions of people to create. It will take a comperable effort to repair. But it won’t start happen as long as so many black people are so quick to separate themselves from the black community and make issues of racism so much fun that there is no need to face the issue. It is not all clean fun. Racism is a problem that must be addressed.
Peace
Sentinel I guess to an extent I am sorely jaded at the moment we have repeatedly tried to help members in out family letting them move to our home live rent free for a year to remove themselves from their environment, only to have them rush back to the same mess we try to help them escape.
There is only so much you can do for adults and in truth it is probably past time that we focus our energy on children who are still impressionable. The ideas and suggestions you proposed are reasonable and feasible however motivation seems to me the key factor that is often missing. Motivation on the part of community activists and motivation among those programs would benefit. I guess what I should focus my attention on is just helping one person at a time in hopes that they can then return the favor.
When I look at the mental devastation and the lack of will that permeates most inner city black communities it is hard not view the situation as unsolvable and daunting. I mean I get so frustrated with black individuals that view education as something to scorn in hopes of making it in the rap game. Our priorities are so twisted that it is hard to pinpoint when the whole convoluted mess began.
BrotherP,
Why bother with statements like those from barensingleton? He obviously doesn’t see the crime, drugs and other debauchery that goes on in ALL races. Just those in the black community. White people can like you said shoot up schools on a constant basis and not one person comes out and asks why white mother’s don’t raise their children better.
Young white girls can deceive another girl into walking into an ambush of punches and kicks to the tune of head trauma. But, nope white people raise their children with the utmost care. White men can drag a black man to death behind their pickup truck and I guess that was a show of the outstanding upbringing white mothers give their white children.
Two white men can go on a killing rampage after ROBBING a Hollywood bank and I guess that shows the unsurpassed child rearing capabilities of the white race.
This is the exact one sided hypocritical view that those in the dominant community constantly try and spew towards blacks. Constantly needing to point the finger in our backyards all the while theirs is ripe with the same or worse depravity and corruption.
Thanks
“Bill Cosby says nothing to the other black entertainers that make the image of expensive tennis shoes so attractive that impressionable black people are willing to obtain them at any and all costs.”
Brother P. Why should Bill Cosby make an overture to the industry to stop advertising to a certain demographic? I went to schools with predominately white individuals that were constantly dressed to the nines in Tommy, Polo, etc. I don’t recall anyone demanding advertisers to stop marketing the preppy image to this demographic. Marketing to certain demographics should only be acceptable if the parents can afford it, I don’t think that’s the way to go. You can not change someone else only yourself, I think this essentially is what Bill Cosby was getting at. Children and adolescents should first be taught the value of money and the value of working towards achieving a goal, that’s what my mother and grand parents taught us growing up.
I think you and Sentinel are presenting a different point of view vastly different from the ones I am used to, so if I sound a bit confused well then it’s because I am.
“Why should Bill Cosby make an overture to the industry to stop advertising to a certain demographic?”
Why should Mr. Cosby say anything about poor black people? Personally, I don’t know any poor black people who are spending their money on five hundred dollar tennis shoes. I seriously don’t know anyone who can buy such trappings. In fact, I didn’t know five hundred dollar tennis shoes existed. But Mr. Cosby promotes an impression that this is endemic of the black community. And ignorant people, who have not the slightest clue of what the poor black community is about, or what is happening in the poor black community, are happy to go along with this image and never questioning where Mr. Cosby is getting his facts from. Instead of using his resources to dispel some of these myths, he is more than happy to confirm and reinforce them. Mr. Cosby is calling for social changes but reinforces the same rhetoric that keeps the black community in its condition. No one should help the people in the black community because the black community doesn’t help itself. Yet, we continue to let the music industry market hateful rap music that characterizes black people as mysogynistic “thugs”. If Mr. Cosby truly wants to be a voice for social change in the black community and not just another celebrity who wants to blame poor people for being poor then he needs to take his message to the root of the problem and not just the result.
Peace
Jazzy,
That is my sentiment to an extent. Like I said we should focus on schools and programs that promote the young to succeed. Also, I think all of us have been there to one extent or another helping family and/or friends.
One thing to remember is that it is easier to just return to the same old thing which is comfortable and something you know well. It is harder to start new in something that you have no experience. We CAN help adults if we approach it correctly. They need support and follow through. But that is a job that is indeed meant for those trained for it.
Also, as far as blacks making it in the rap game as opposed to school. Isn’t that the idea we give them when we let BET and the movie industry push that bull into them? Isn’t all of our duty to diligently fight this off, since they are so gullible. And any desperate poor person is gullible that is why the get rich quick schemes online do so well. So it isn’t just blacks.
Also, this is part of the big picture I am talking about. On television, movies etc. only show what they want us to see. They show us seductive views of us being uneducated rappers, ballers or some other sports or music related occupation. We are never the smart doctor, business owner or whatever. We are thugs, criminals and stupid case closed.
Thanks
Sentinel so correct I plan on doing a post in the near future titled BET is the Devil. Anyway I have enjoyed the commentary today but I really do have to get some of this work off of my plate before I leave today. Thank you both I’ll be back.
Not directly a response to the topic, but, since it talks about portrayal of blacks in entertainment….
I was very saddened over the presumed character death of CSI Warrick Brown. He was a landmark character — not just a black character, but a scientist, and someone taken seriously as a scientist week after week after week.
I really hope his participation in the show shows some young people that they too can become scientists. I know his character was an influence in the decision of a young black woman I know deciding to become a CSI.
Thanks for the feedback Deirdre Saoirse Moen,
I cannot tell you how disappointed my family and I are about Warrick Brown. We are CSI Las Vegas fans big time. Mr. Brown is one of the very few black characters portrayed on television with half a brain, integrity, and with problems. I understand the actor who portrays him, Gary Dourdan, is in a contract dispute and might not return to the show. I sincerely hope he does!
Peace
Brother Peacemaker,
I was done with Chris Rock after I was in Atlanta with friends who took me to his show. He sat there and degraded black women to the point of tears. It was horrible. The white people were clapping furiously with big smiles along with the delusional black folks who seem not to understand how destructive it is to who they are as people.
Peacemaker, I am telling you these black comedians are the worse especially in their treatment of black women.
Last year, when Don Imus thought it would be funny to call black women “nappy headed hos”, DL Hughley and Daman Wayans went on public television (The View and David Letterman) and said that Imus was right!!! They said that those girls are “nappy headed hos”. People attacked me for talking about it because they said that they were just trying to be humorous!! How is that funny? How is it funny when people are giving credence to the racist ideologies that has helf them down for 400 years. How can a black man go on TV and degrade a black women in that fashion and laugh it off!!
Black comedians are mere minstrel show actors peddling black stereotypes and exaggerating and miscategorizing black behavoir for white audience amuzement.
I dont give a damn about George Lopez and the white comedians who make fun of “white trash”…I do not. Make these people protest them. Black people cannot afford to have those kinds of stereotypes perpetuated.
Comedy has turned into masked racism. It has become the new form of perpetuating racist ideology. Too many do things and claim that it was a joke or a prank when it actually offensive and harmful. Comedy masks the fact that what they are saying is offensive!! This comedy has also allowe black people to laugh at things they should not be laughing at and accept it.
Nonsense!!
I cannot tell you how many whites repeat black comedians and go “you see even he said it. Its just a joke!”. If I could smack them without getting arrested I would. However I should really be smacking those dumb comedians.
Chris has his days but at times, he goes to far! As so many do.
Did you see Damon Wayans “Abortion Man” about a man killing a pregnant black teenager girl.
There are a few good ones but a plethora of bad ones that are continuely promoted esp. by the dominant community because they help them with their job.
Thanks for the feedback RhondaCoca,
The behavior you write about infects many, many, high profile black people. They have no clue what it means to be part of the black community and will openly and blatantly manifest their allegiance to the dominant community. The dominant community is very particular of what black person they choose to enrich. Black people who are willing to endear themselves to “normal” Americans are most likely to do well. The few that make it will tell the rest to submit and you too will be financially wealthy. But never forget who you work for or you too will suffer the wrath of being black in America.
Peace
PS – I did a post about Damon Wayans’ appearance on the View. Click here to see it!
brotherpeacemaker,
I like this essay a lot. I don’t understand the comments of those who take you to task. You’re offering thoughts on a subject, not stating Ultimate Truths. I’m sure that you have much more to share on all the things you write about — including this essay.
When you mentioned Seinfeld and Chris Rock, I thought immediately of White Liberals who have blessed Barack Obama with their seal of approval. As Seinfeld “interprets” Chris Rock for White People (makes racism “fun”), the parallel political White Liberal affirms the caliber of Obama, saying he is all about hope and change.
In both circumstances the real truth of racism and making a buck of the difficulties of Black Americans is hidden behind White Approval.
I’m a bleached-out pasty White dude myself, so I can see how Rock making racism “fun” would hold appeal to many of my fellow palefaces. They’d rather deal with that than the much more cutting humor of someone like Dave Chappelle, whose humor requires a more subtle understanding of the difficulties of race.
One thing I wonder about is the angle you take on gangster rap. I understand that music to come from 2 types of sources, one being the Music Moneybag Moguls you describe, powerful White people who are eager to have a bunch of Stepin Fetchits to make money off of. But the other is something I’ve heard and maybe isn’t at all true, but I’ve heard it often — and that is the notion that gangster rap reflects a venting of honest frustrations about what some Black folks endure on a daily basis.
Do you think that this notion of “venting of honest frustrations” is something that can explain, or even justify, the types of gangster rap you are talking about? What’s your take on that?
Thanks for the feedback Micah Pyre,
The analogy between Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock being compared to liberal whites and Barack Obama is a thought provoking one. I totally missed that. Thanks for the heads up!
I have a couple of confessions to make. I don’t listen to much rap. At least not any more. I was a huge Biggie Smalls fan and I thought the callaborations between Biggie and Mace and Puff Daddy were rap’s finest hour. I enjoyed a little Tupac as well. Snoop’s Doggey Style remains one of my most favorite CDs. Another one of my favorites is the soundtrack to the original Friday. But as I tried to develop a little consciousness I began to actually think about what I was listening to. And I had to ask myself is this the kind of music I want my children listening to. And that was back when it was still relatively tame, at least by today’s standards.
I used to listen to Queen Latifah sing about U.N.I.T.Y. Now she’s much more comfortable doing a cosmetics or shampoo commerical than she is doing anything associated with the black community. There was a time when she was singing and being a positive influence in the black community. The same was true about Tupac. Keep Your Head Up is a song that spoke to me as a black man. The entire black community needs to learn to keep its headup. Rap used to be a positive influence on the black community.
But somehow the script got seriously flipped. I never listen to rap anymore. So many of my CDs now gather dust. I think they’re gathering dust. I haven’t seen them in years. Social commentary is one thing. But now, any honest social commentary that exist is wrapped around making a quick buck and stereotypes. Not every black person is obsessed with sex, money, guns, and fashion. Not every woman who is in the black community wants a nose job and a boob job and lazer beam straight hair. Not every black man wants a harem of women and an Escalade or to wear a hip hop costume featuring FUBU apparel and lots of gold.
A lot of people point to hip hop and gangsta rap as part of the problem. How could black people promote such behavior? But the truth of the matter is that record labels, generally speaking ultimately managed by corporate America, get more than seventy percent of their revenue from the white community. The dominant community is the one mostly responsible for the proliferation of this music. White people are the majority who listen to it. White people are the majority who buy it. White people are the majority who profit from it. But it is the black community being destroyed by it.
Unfortunately, with the repetitious airing of the gangsta rap caricatures marketing an image of material wealth, poor black, impressionable people are easily seduced into the belief that this is the lifestyle that they wish to emulate. For every black professional seen on television in a respectable image, there are hundreds of images of the rap artist. It’s about time the black community got a new focus.
Peace
Too bad you didn’t read posts like the one I am going to make now first to know that for the most part I am on your side instead of thinking I hate black people.
I agree with racism not being fun, and I don’t like the fact that black people feel so helpless sometimes because of this. Sometimes I feel helpless against the discrimination that is directed towards me too(and that isn’t just anti white stuff but against who I am as a person)
Nobody likes being discriminated against or not being able to participate in something because of a trait they possess and can’t change.
I can’t stand BET or MTV etc with those stupid rappers and mindless followers of the gangsta culture because I know plenty of black people who aren’t like that and I hope they never become that way.
Thanks for the feedback Proud white,
I most humbly agree with you. Racism should never be considered fun. Nobody likes being discriminated against. And like you I cannot stand BET or MTV or anything that distracts people from the reality of what is happening in the world.
Peace