Letters to the Editor
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Not to step on Domini's response...
>Take solace that racism is no longer the norm in this country, that many people denounce racism privately to themselves as an intellectually and morally bankrupt mode of belief and not merely publicly to maintain an air of propriety and ward off the PC police.<
And the reason why that is is because people learned they couldn't say racist speech openly because they would get called out on it. I guess to you, those calling them out would be "the PC Police, Version 1.0."
>Interesting. I had no idea black people didn't listen to gangsta rap. That is a fascinating statement. It's complete bullshit, but hey.<
Yeesh. Do you _know_ any black people? Up in my area, we've got four black radio stations. Two play rap; another plays old-school and R&B; another plays dance mixes. So, yeah, not all black people listen to rap.
>I'm sure some black women have ripped on gangsta rappers (whose audience is white and black and every other person in American who listens to popular music, of which rap is now the standard bearer).<
Not only has ESSENCE been waging a long battle to get rappers to consider what they are saying, both Sharpton and Jackson have decried some of gangsta rap's messages. And the reason gangsta rap does so well is because white teenagers buy it by the truckload. So, that "black folks are totally responsible for rap degrading the culture" sword cuts both ways, laddie...
>Thank Christ on a cracker. I personally wish more blacks read writers like Gates Jr. and West. I don't necessarily agree with everything they write, but I rarely agree with everything anyone writes. I'd rather listen to West speak (that voice!) than go to a club any day.<
Here's the deal. Tavis Smiley and Tom Joyner are the media voices of black America. Cornel West and Henry Gates are its academic voices (among many others.) Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are the activists black folks call in when they've been wronged and they know TPTB won't listen to them. That is why the families of cop-hurt victims like Sean Bell, Patrick Dorismond, and Abner Louima in New York called in Sharpton from the start--he knows how to get them the legal help they need...and how to keep their cases from getting shoved under the rug. It's amazing--Sharpton has done a lot of good up here in representing black citizens and helping them fight the system, but people figure the Tawana Brawley mess negates every single person he's helped to find justice. And what's ironic is that MLK Jr got the exact same "he's a race-baiter agitator" crap when he came along--but those people who hate Sharpton just love them some MLK Jr. Guess that's because the latter is safely dead.