1,828 words of my opinion. I hope it adds something.
This was initially my response to warrrreagl on my thread
"Hip Hop Holds Blacks Back." But, it grew in scope enough I felt it warrented it’s own thread. I believe I’ve raised at least 10 new points worth talking over.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
The following article is written by a 25 year old, White male (me), who takes responsibility for his race perpetrating slavery on the black race.
You think that’s easy to say? Try saying it sometime.
Admit the White race in America built the USA on the backs of beaten black men, and raped black women. Our fledgling country built its first agricultural economy with free, slave, labor.
Owning it is the first step to righting it.
"There is no pressure (or reward) in black society to behave."
-- warrrreagl
So, if there was pressure, say...music that encouraged useful behavior, there might be an increase in Blacks that act like their successful brethren; and, even achieve such success themselves.
But, there is no pressure to behave, right? The pressure is to "respect the value of thuggery." So, hip hop holds Blacks back.
(Just FYI , I am not responding to you, warrrreagl, from this point on. I intend this treatise to be for the general audience.)
The author never said that hip hop is the main source of Blacks’ problems. Lots of responses here responded to this article as if it did, but it did not.
The article said hip hop holds Blacks back, that’s it.
The average suburban White guy or girl isn't all that deep. S/he shops at wal-mart, works, takes care of the kids, shits, eats, and repeats the next day. S/he is mostly exposed to black "culture" through the farce that is MTV, or maybe flipping past BET. S/he also sees the wanna-be thugs at the mall, all blinged out. So, it's not too much of a reach for the avg. White Joe to decide that black people really are like the cartoon fools in the videos.
You don't think I, or a White woman that watches “Days of our Lives” religiously, to take an idiot called "50 cent" seriously, do you? Do you think the avg. Joe does either? Please, we’ve seen his type “50” times before. Wake me when his 15 minutes are up.
People aren't perfect. If the exposure one has is this hip hop crap from TV, and then some reinforcement comes from real life, the White guy is going to decide, “well, maybe black people DO act like that.”
So, Whitey doesn't hate hip hoppers, s/he just thinks they're kind of silly, but figures, hey that's their thing. Okay.
Whitey also takes Blacks less seriously because of this.
It's not a matter of degree, that is going to hold Blacks back.
More to the point, it doesn't even matter (that much) that hip hop IS holding Blacks back. What matters is that the majority of Blacks don't care about being held back.
Sure, many do, and I feel bad that they get lumped in the same group as other, less deserving, Blacks. But, hey, I get dumped in the "White" group with all of my cracker brothers from the trailer park, so I guess it works out.
Either way, Blacks are not achieving as they should, in the numbers they should.
The Hispanics are the ones making progress; they've surpassed the Blacks as the largest ethnic minority, and they're accumulating more wealth, faster, than Blacks are.
I understand that Blacks, because of slavery, do not have the accumulated wealth that immigrants had. You can argue with me on that point: that Blacks still aren’t feeling the effects of slavery and immigrants of White or Yellow color had it just as bad.
But, you'd be wrong.
Look into this enough, and some very strong points make my position stable. I will try to expound.
Blacks didn't legally have the same rights as everyone else until the sixties. Do you understand what that means? Even the most looked down-upon White minority, say the Jews, or the Italians, was better than a black man. Everyone suffers some prejudice, but Blacks weren't even legally considered as good as the White until 30 years ago. That means these hip hop thugs are the first generation of Blacks to sit at whatever counter they want to. As it should be.
That aside, this first generation of “truly free” Blacks still suffers the stigma of slavery. When one looks at a black person, one may remember that only three generations ago, this person could be owned. Try looking at an Asian, or Hispanic and seeing that. Better yet, try looking at a White French person and seeing that. Even TWO generations ago that black person could seriously face being murdered, for “stepping out of place,” at the hands of a White society that did not REALLY think a black was as good as a White.
Our White grandfathers had separate drinking fountains for crying out loud! We all say OUR grandpa would never do that, but many of ours DID. It happened, and it we shouldn't forget that.
This generation of black men should be ashamed of hip hoppers. Instead they aspire to slap hoes and drive Bentleys. MLK did not dedicate his life to bling. Malcolm X would be PISSED OFF to see his black brothers and sisters “shaking that ass.” Clowns and fools…
Okay, you ask “Why do black people have this burden?” “White people can shake their asses all day, and no one accuses Brittany Spears of holding Whites back, right?”
I’ll tell you why Black America has this challenge laid at their doorstep.
White America has proven itself. The richest man in the world is White. The most wealth in this country is held by White people. We’ve proven ourselves capable, and now we are free to lose it all, if we so choose. (Which, we may be…)
Black America has NOT proven itself. Black individuals have. Colin Powell proved himself. MLK did. Malcolm X did. Numerous black business men have proved themselves. But Black America has not. Black America has worked long and hard for its freedoms, and now it is utterly wasting them. Black America has earned, in fact created, a reputation for being a bunch of inner city gangbanging rappers. Movies like “Friday,” “Boyz in the Hood,” even crap like “How High” have displayed for America what Blacks are.
People see you how you choose to present yourself. Blacks present themselves as hip hoppers. They say, “We’ll change the rules, we have our own rules.”
Well, that only works if you make the rules. White America makes the rules.
Boy, is that offensive when said out loud.
But hey, too bad. The truth hurts. Our country is run by the quintessential rich White boy, so dispute me at your peril.
If Black America wants to make the rules, fine. Go ahead. The power in America is up for grabs every 4 years. There millions of black voters, and there are enough White people that WOULD vote for a black president, along with the other minority voters.
But hey, black politicians are busy worrying about the fact that hurricanes aren’t named “Daneshia.” Wow, that’s a great leader right there.
The fact that a black person even said anything that stupid underscores my point. This elected leader, obviously a supporter of the black race, is worried that a storm is not named after her type of person. If she didn’t know that there are more important things to worry about, she is a fool and deserves to be treated as such.
What Black America doesn’t deserve is the shadow she casts.
Back to my earlier point, if Blacks want to play by their own rules, they need the power to make the rules. Right now, Blacks can act however they want. But, no one has to take them seriously about it. Therein lies the fatal flaw. If the only power one has is in one’s own sub-group, then there is no power.
If Black America wants power to play by its rules, it must achieve that power.
There is no move to even head in that direction.
Black America is collapsing under it’s own weight, and there appear to be no black leaders willing to step up.
Black culture is self absorbed, confused, and adolescent. Black culture is not surprisingly so, because there has not been the freedom in America for Black culture to develop properly. Whites have held it back for generations.
So, White America is to blame. Yeah, so what? We know that, we knew that. But knowing doesn’t make a difference, does it?
Black America needs to stop giving a shit about those who held it back. Black America needs to stop believing the way to succeed is throwing a football, hitting a baseball, or making a slam dunk. Dominating professional sports is not the way to go.
What, you think Black people are naturally better athletes? No, Black people chose to focus on athletics as the key to success. White people have better things to do, like owning the team. How many college football teams are coached by a black man? Two? One? Now, how many college football players are black? Where are the Hispanic ballplayers? I dunno, but Black America might want to look into it. There are more Hispanics than Blacks, so it’s a good question.
Granted, initially the avenues of success allowed by the White establishment were few and far between, sports happened to be one of those allowed by the White man. Times have progressed Black America! Your own people sacrificed their lives to it! You can do more than throw a fucking ball now!
How will Black America ever get what it deserves unless it takes it? Taking political control of America is so possible right now it’s silly. There is little holding White people together, the Hispanics don’t care what Whitey does, because they plan on owning this whole thing soon anyway. The black man is lost in the melee unless he takes control now.
Black America needs a strong leader, one who could make Blacks feel ashamed for the lack of direction, focus, and achievement (in the past 30 years) it has now.
Black America is never going to be given anything, and it needs to stop behaving as if that’s going to happen.
Hip Hop is the epitome of acting like there is no tomorrow, and everything is owed to the individual. Hip Hop is the philosophy of wealth without achievement.
That philosophy is not helping anyone, and thus, it’s hurtful.
If you’re not helping you’re hurting.
If you’re not with me, you’re against me.
Recognizing hip hop’s hurtfulness is one of the first steps.
Black America needs to wake up and take what it’s owed.