Current Events

Nov

2007

Hip-Hop and the Problem America Has With It

Agree2Disagree - Current Events
Written by Rachman Crable

Hip-Hop started as a way of young impoverished minorities voicing what was going on in their neighborhoods and lives. Hip-Hop was seen as a fad a renegade type of music, many questioned the longevity it would have. Yet it’s arguably as strong as it has ever been. Hip-Hop has had dirt thrown its grave several times and blamed for a lot of what goes on with today’s youth and the supposed negative culture manifested by it. Hip-Hop catches the brunt of its criticism from those who believe it is changing the moral and social compass of its listeners to the detriment of society. I find this absurd what people are complaing about in hip-hop is very much a social problem, the things that are talked about are actual events that go on regularly in the neighborhoods. People need to first realize and understand that these societal ills that are talked about were brought on by racism and classism. So to blame someone for being in a way a reporter of the ‘hood news’ is crazy. Do people feel the same when they watch the evening news and see all of the harmful and disgusting things going on in america. Of course they don’t they say reporters are just doing their jobs. Like they say perception is reality. The perception is that Hip-Hop is devisive and teaches people to rebel against the norms of society. It is also perceived that it glorifies, guns, drugs, money, and demeans women only showing and talking about them in sexual ways. The reality is that america actually loves all of these aforementioned things you can look at commercials, popular sitcoms, talk radio, movies, billboards. They all have elements of what is being talked about in hip-hop, yet aren’t being singled out as hip-hop is. America is a society that loves violent movies, raunchy sitcoms, and now more than ever reality shows. That’s what hip-hop is reality how more real can you get it’s reality at its finest. The notion is that television and movies don’t have the same affect on people as music does. How do you even begin to quantify that. You can look at all of the copycat crimes that have taken place throughout the years and that’s has a direct correlation to people seeing it on the news and movies. You can look at fashion trends or all of the fad diets that seem to change week to week and are said to be the best thing for you, judging your appearence and what you want to feel and look like. All of these can be found in just about any store. Nevertheless hip-hop is seen as a large reason for the moral and social decay of this country. No one blames all the horror and gore movies. Just about any genre of entertainment depending on what you like is available to you in this country, few are viewed as more deplorable than hip-hop.

There are some things about hip-hop I don’t like, but that has to do with the record label. The record label decides what music they will put out, and a lot of the music they decide to promote is laden with sex, money, drugs and partying. I don’t necessarily have a problem with the content of the music, because that is what goes on in society and several other genres have the same content. The problem lies in the fact that there are many rappers that have a lot more positive content whether it be education, spirituality, or trials and tribulations of life and how to deal with it. These rappers mostly go unheard or are forced to go the underground route to get their music out. The reason for this is that record companies are not in the business of losing money, so they many times put music out to feed the masses their seemingly insatiable appetite for money, sex, drugs, and partying. So detractors of hip-hop need to understand that a lot of music that is pushed and put out is for those very reasons. As a whole hip-hop has been a very good thing it has created thousands of jobs that didn’t exist before. You have artists that can now provide better lives for themselves and their families. It has inspired countless amount of our youth to aspire to do things with their lives they might not thought as possible. Many hip-hop artists have started their own record companies, their own clothing lines and apparel. They have been used endorse several Fortune 500 companies products. So with knowing that how can hip-hop be devisive?

If hip-hop is so destructive why is it so prevalent in american society, no more so than in marketing and advertising. Ten years ago most of advertising was jingles and companies using their brand name to sell the products. Now more hip-hop songs, hip-hop themes and dancing are used to sell products. You can even go in sports events and see the same thing, more hip-hop music is used more now to get the crowd involved and pumped up. All of the teams various dance teams dance to hip-hop songs, the timeouts or filled with hip-hop music. No one seems to dislike hip-hop then. Rock and roll used to be seen in the same light and in some cases still may be, but as a whole has been seen as more accepted by society. You no longer see demonstrations and protests to rock and roll anymore, so hopefully in the near future hip-hop will be given the same type of treatment. 70% of hip-hop is bought by white america maybe that’s the big fuss. White america doesn’t want their youth influenced by an overwhelmingly minority group of people. They see hip-hop artists as people they don’t want their children to idolize or aspire to be like. It also seems like the word hip-hop is used describe things people don’t like(tatoos,hairstyles,clothing,speech,attitude). It like that’s their politically correct way to say black culture, when in actuality it is very derogatory. Hip-hop is music, a way of expresing yourself lyrically. I hope people can see hip-hop for what it is just another form of entertainment that can be enjoyed by its listeners. If you don’t like hip-hop you don’t have to listen to it simple as that. People need to stop being so quick to judge things they don’t fully understand

Tags Hip-hop race music America society Hip hop Music Entertainment

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Nov

2007

Race and the Problems with Having an Open Discussion About it

Agree2Disagree - Current Events
Written by Rachman Crable

Race continues to be a major issue in America whether people want to acknowledge it or not. People are so afraid of it, if not wanting to be politically correct about the the subject. The true harm and reality of race and race relations doesn’t come into the proper light. Race won’t be dealt with properly until people aren’t so afraid of talking about it and understanding it is still very prevalent. Until then the subject of race and race relations is openly talked about it won’t be understood and dealt with properly. And we as a nation will never understand how to correct this. There is such a sensitivity when you begin to talk about race and race relations by all parties involved, it’s hard to get to the core of the problem. You can’t have any discussion without first realizing the horrible atrocities minorities have suffered through in this country and the stigma that carries with it. Not saying that minorities haven’t made huge advancements financially and status wise in this country because they have. The problem is that minorities are still viewed as not equal in today’s society. You can take any walk of life and apply this theory, politics, workplace, sports, and intellectuals. You can pick up a newspaper in any metropolitan area and see this in action. Minorities are mostly shown in a negative light whether it be in the disproportionate amount of minorities in the correctional systems or how minorities are viewed and portrayed in the sports world. You can see clear evidence in the Barry Bonds situation and Bill Belichick situation both revealed in their respective sports and both have been accused of being cheats, yet Bonds faces constant criticism and many want his accomplishments marked with an asterik. Also this is seen in police brutality and misconduct involving minorities and the selective prosecution of minorities as opposed to whites. The police shootings in Cincinatti and New York, the Jena case in Louisiana. What is the motivating factor behind that. I feel a lot has to do with the media which is 95% white and caters to their audience, and perpetuates stereotypes. Not to say they are totally to blame, because they aren’t. People still can do their own research and don’t have to spoon fed information pushing a certain agenda or ideas.
The problem also exists in minority communities where minorities believe they don’t have an equal chance at the same type of lifestyle as whites. In minority communities accepting the status quo as they believe it to be is widely accepeted. In too many cases minorities are told they are equal but really should be told separate not equal creating the glass ceiling theory. You can see what America has to offer but you can’t get there. The same opportunities aren’t afforded to minorities, studies have been done on numerous occasions to validate this. The problem is that minorities haven’t been unchanging in their demands of equality which is a right of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. I guess when you see repeated occurrences of not being seen on the same playing field as the powers that be takes a toll on one’s psyche. In no means am I excusing this, because you look around the world and you see so much civil unrest this is the reason why. People around the world will fight and do what they feel is necessary to gain equal status as those in power in their respective countires. What happened to all the civil rights activists disciples from the 1960s and 1970s? The problem is in minority communities they are judged unfairly and torn down sometimes it is justified in others cases it is not. Minorities need to realize that there will never be a perfect leader and spokesperson for them, but they can’t continually tear down those who try to step up and take on this daunting task of gaining equality for all.

Until all the issues with race and race relations are put on the table openly the situation will never get any better. The people who are in power are scared of losing power and this frightens them beyond belief, that is the main obstacle. So once again I utter the phrase seperate but not equal. So until minorities are resolute and demand change and equality it will move at a snails pace. Minorities need to not buy into theory that things can’t change and be more steadfast in their fight for equality. Also people need to understand power is never given it is taken, so if those in power don’t believe you are willing to go to the mat about being treated equally across the board, minorities won’t be taken seriously.