| Last week, I observed one of the most disgusting things I've seen on television in quite some time. A major Rapper from NYC whose name escapes me (I, obviously am not into Rap and he, in so many ways, reflects the norm for many of those involved in this industry), was being interviewed by a reporter who asked him what he thought about the heat being put on Rap and related types of music in the wake of the Don Imus affair. His response was that Rappers would continue this genre of music and video because it was just what the people wanted and he closed the interview by saying that it would never cease to exist because it has made so many White folks rich. After boasting about the number of cars and other exotica that his Rap music videos paid for, he "dissed" another rapper, Fifty Cent by calling him a sell-out and a snitch (someone who goes to the police to report any type of crime). To make matters worse, a follow-up interview was done with young kids and young adults (in their early 20s) where they addressed some of the same questions with some of the very same startling answers. They all agreed that Fifty Cent was a snitch and that in "The Hood" one of the biggest crimes for anyone to be accused of was being a "Snitch." They agreed that this point was evident in the lyrics of many Rapper songs. They were convinced of this to such an extent that when asked if they would report the name of someone that they saw murdering another individual, they responded that, no, they would not! The forgoing reminds me of a story that I saw in the media a few months ago that was equally as telling and disgusting in terms of how the music and life styles have served to influence our youth. You probably saw it. It was in the national media for almost an entire week. What happened? Two young African American teens, ages 15 and 16 videotaped themselves smoking "blunts" (Marijuana joints) and sharing them with two TODDLERS while the mom was sleeping in the next room! What was even more disgusting than the event itself was the fact that one of the teenagers did a follow-up interview a few days later where the young man blew off all of the national media coverage asking what was the issue stating that everyone knows that these toddlers would be smoking blunts in a few years so what's the big deal?! These two examples provide painful proof that documents how much the negative pathologies inherent in the words, images and life styles have penetrated so deeply into the psyche of our children and young people. Notwithstanding this, there is, however, some good that is beginning to be manifested from the Don Imus episode. The level of the debate has been elevated and some specific actions and initiatives have been undertaken. More focus and pressure has been put on radio and television stations that play and profit from the vulgar music and videos in the media. Robert Johnson, the mogul who became one of the first African American billionaires when he sold Black Entertainment Television, BET to Viacom, has come under fire for his criticism of Don Imus' remarks. Armstrong Williams, the African American Republican operative has come out of the woodwork after being shunned for being paid secretly as a hit man for the Bush Whitehouse, to be critical of Johnson accusing him of being duplicitous for criticizing Imus when BET, on his watch, was and continues to be the purveyor of more misogynous images and language that berate Black woman than any other source. The owner and profiteer from Def Jam Records, Russell Simmons, after first trying to rationalize and defend Rap and the related videos as legitimate inner city forms of "cultural expression," has now come about face making statements suggesting that recording studios, radio and television stations need to take immediate actions to clean up their acts. In a move that illustrates that there are also White entrepreneurs interested in promoting positive change, Michael V. Roberts Sr., CEO and Founder of Roberts Broadcasting Company has taken action recently to drop all music demeaning of woman and people of any race. In a press release issued last week, Roberts stated, "I am announcing, effective immediately, that music degrading women and other members of our community will no longer be played." Rather than simply censuring vulgar words in songs, we're going to ban them altogether, which is a hard move for a hip-hop station. If it's offensive in any way towards women, towards African American, it's not going to be played on my stations," Roberts said. The Chairman of the Board for RBC, Donald E. Wildmon has taken further action by circulating a petition to others in the industry requesting that they do the same. It is encouraging that some of the key individuals and corporations have risen to the call and exercised good leadership in addressing this important and timely issue. On the international level, the Japanese government recently took action in the right direction by refusing to give Snoop Dog a visa to travel to Japan to perform in concert and spread his filth. I applaud the efforts undertaken by RBS, Russell Simmons and others to save the young people from the trash that has so poisoned them as indicated in the passages above. However, much, much more needs to be done at every level; internationally, nationally, state-wide and locally, with the radio, television, cable and even the new satellite channels to continue to put pressure on the owners and stockholders and to keep them accountable if we are to raise the consciousness level required to make a difference here. An important distinction must be made between "good Rap" and "bad Rap" with the emphasis on promoting more of the good. The focus, should not, however, be solely on Black music and videos. Efforts must also be addressed on getting the mainstream media to discontinue the bombardment of the degrading images and life styles through images of Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie and the like. Misogyny has penetrated and permeated all aspects of our society and nothing short of a full court address is required if we are serious about addressing it! |
| The Literary Divide/Dr. Paul Barrows Rap getting a bad rap and deservedly so |
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