Click this here. It seems we’ve seen the last of those cute Wal-Mart commercials with the greeters in wheel chairs.
And they said big business doesn’t have a heart.
But the real fun has been sent to my by Big Rell. I feel bad for him. First, he’s got to endure Tar Heel football season, and then he’s gotta read madness like this. Here’s a sampling
ROSA PARKS did not defy a white bus driver in 1955 so teenagers in 2005 could attend school-night concerts by black performers filled with self-hate.
Okay, here are where my problems start.
1. I tend not to trust people who throw their initials around for no good reason, particularly when one of those initials is “Z.” Just something about that turns me sour.
2. I’ve read this column about twenty-five times before. It would have made a lot more sense to write this after DeLores Tucker died as an indication of how her campaigns in the mid-’90s were unsuccessful. That would have led to an interesting critical analysis. This? Notsomuch.
3. Why did Rosa Parks sit down on that bus? So black folks could do whatever they wanted. That’s key. We can’t take any more from what she did than that.
To say these cats “mock” Rosa Parks is absurd, though. The main problem is that he is assuming that the level of profanity in black entertainment is waaaaay higher than it ever was, and that’s not true. The level of profanity in mainstream outlets is exponentially more than it once was, but the hike in the overall level isn’t that bad, I don’t think. Sorry, but I’ve heard too many comedy routines from those old heads that make me blush. You ever listen to a Redd Foxx album? Really, just one of ’em.
Cats were cussin way too much, callin’ women bitches, and the whole nine back then. Does it make it any better to do that now? No.
But does it mean that there must be something else at play in this criticism of today’s entertainers? Absolutely.
What was Redd Foxx doing for Mrs. Parks’ legacy? More or less than these dudes?
What we have here is more generational bullshit, the kind of stuff folks can’t wait to write.
I can respect his criticism in a lot of ways. But to call these dudes embarrassments to the ancestors is simply unfair. I’d let him slide for saying the folks are embarrassments to their mamas. Someone could easily say that for Tony Yayo (wow, his album is bad).
But what he’s saying is overkill of the cliche, a bad cliche at that.
Plus, let’s consider that this generation is not the first following the movement. That would be the generation that precedes it, one I believe Mr. Jackson belongs to. If children are reflections of their parents–which is definitely the case–then Jackson’s generation owns what might be a lion’s share of the blame. This generation was molded by his. If these rappers are that messed up and their messages are so readily identified with by the masses, then it stands to reason that his generation had a role in helping create these cats’ ideas, epistemologies, and preferences.
Because of that, he can’t wash his hands of us that easily.
We’ve got a lot of problems, and we’ve got a lot of work to do to fix them. This sort of finger-pointing, one that offers nothing constructive to build on, isn’t the way to go.
13 thoughts on “Bad, Bad Wal-Mart and More Hate Toward Hip Hop”
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Hmm..I think this writer’s article is the same tired stuff that folks have been writing for years. Except then the attacks emanated from such sources as the NAACP Crisis magazine; the music under attack was jazz and ragtime. Which makes it all the more ironic that Wynton Marsalis has been quite vocal in his criticisms of hip-hop.
I don’t think this article took much thought at all-if any. I certainly don’t think that the author provided any evidence that black folks now (or black hip-hop artists) engage in any more self-loathing or self-destructive behavior than the artists of previous generations. It’d be really hard to argue that women were viewed with more respect then and we won’t even talk about homophobia.
We could go round and round on this issue but at the end of the day, someone would be hard pressed to argue that hip-hop is any more mysogynistic and homophobic than is overall society. So rather than putting the onus on music to change, we need to think real hard about how to change our own cultural beliefs about what is acceptable and why.
I wish I’d written that last sentence myself.
Tiffany, get out of my head! I agree with you 100%. If we weren’t preaching to the choir, I’d post some more thoughts…
Hey Bomani. I have a question, or two… The recent storm over the Air Force coach’s comments has me wondering a couple of things. You are someone who’s opinions I respect, so I’d like your take on it…
1) I know it’s “wrong,” but why exactly was it wrong to say that African-Americans can run faster than non-AAs. It’s not like he went all “Jimmy the Greek” on us and pulled out scientific bullshit. He did mean it in what for him was a positive tone. Once again, I know it was wrong because it was generalizing, but why should he be fired?
2) If it is wrong, then why is it so funny, and even acceptable, for anyone to say “White men can’t jump. White men can’t dance, or have no rhythm,” etc.? It goes on and on… Isn’t this reverse discrimination?
Anyway, I’d like your take on this.
One thing about Rosa Parks I’ve noticed is what a beautiful woman she was. She aged quite gracefully! She was always smiling… Hopefully she’ll keep smiling down on us all!
I’ll have more on this next week for the BSN. But to answer your question while not speaking as some arbiter who represents the views of all black folks…
1. It’s foul to say black folks run faster for a couple reasons. First, the scientific evidence on that is tricky as is the definition of “blackness.” No one assumes that light-skinned blacks, presumably those with more white “blood” in them wouldn’t be as fast as darker ones. If black folks really were faster, that would have to hold, right? But the real reason that’s foul is that the assumption of superior negroid athletic ability is that it tends to come part and parcel with the assumption of inferior negroid cognitive ability.
2. Is that reverse racism? I guess you could say that. But if one ain’t got nothin’ to be more upset over than being assumed to be a poor leaper, that person’s life is way simpler than mine. Also, that kind of stuff is funny largely because white people find it to be funny. I think it’s safe to assume that white folks tend to find that stuff to be funnier because, again, if that’s all you gotta be mad at…
Bo,
You have really started something with this one. I’m one of your middle aged readers and I CAN’T STAND THIS GENERATIONAL HATING.
I’m always so impressed by the thoughts of you and your readers on a variety of subjects. You and most of your readers seem to be the types that I would enjoy sitting down to have a beer with and talking about life.
In the Louis Armstrong song Wonderful World, there is a line that goes as follows:
I see children laugh, I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more, than I’ll ever know
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
Let’s be real about things. In the early 1980’s
I would have been at that same concert that would have had Prince (International Lover) Time (Get it Up), Vanity 6 (Nasty Girls), Rick James (Mary Jane)on a school night. I would have been sipping some sizurp and partaking in trees before, during, and after the show. I’m now an IT professional and responsible husband and father of a 13 year old.
What is the real difference between the debauchery in my generation and this one? Not much.
Rosa Parks sat down so our kids could be free to be kids and do all of the things that the white kids do?
Has this cat seen the Real World on MTV?
Our youth will learn from these good and bad influences and go on to be productive citizens.
I’m really not a fan of Ludacris or Jayz musically, but I’m highly impressed with their moves in the boardroom.
Bo,
You have really started something with this one. I’m one of your middle aged readers and I CAN’T STAND THIS GENERATIONAL HATING.
I’m always so impressed by the thoughts of you and your readers on a variety of subjects. You and most of your readers seem to be the types that I would enjoy sitting down to have a beer with and talking about life.
In the Louis Armstrong song Wonderful World, there is a line that goes as follows:
I see children laugh, I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more, than I’ll ever know
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
Let’s be real about things. In the early 1980’s
I would have been at that same concert that would have had Prince (International Lover) Time (Get it Up), Vanity 6 (Nasty Girls), Rick James (Mary Jane)on a school night. I would have been sipping some sizurp and partaking in trees before, during, and after the show. I’m now an IT professional and responsible husband and father of a 13 year old.
What is the real difference between the debauchery in my generation and this one? Not much.
Rosa Parks sat down so our kids could be free to be kids and do all of the things that the white kids do?
Has this cat seen the Real World on MTV?
Our youth will learn from these good and bad influences and go on to be productive citizens.
I’m really not a fan of Ludacris or Jayz musically, but I’m highly impressed with their moves in the boardroom.
Bomani, I’m a fan of your writing-style and was particularly drawn to visit your site regularly after reading an article on ESPN…if memory serves, it was on the NBA Dress Code. Anyways, being Nepali, and I guess you can say, neutral in black/white issues, I tend to understand the type of discrimination and racism that African-Americans feel. Interestingly enough, I also tend to see reverse-discrimination with such generalizations as “white men can’t jump” however this is my theory in short. I believe that these issues are socially constructed, and as long as there are whites and blacks with living relatives who have prejudices, stereotypes and negative attitudes towards other people, this problem will persist and racism will be present. Even afterwards, these problems will exist, but I think the subject of racism is especially touchy when figures like Rosa Parks are just now ending there fulfilling and productive lives. Call me an optimist, but I feel like eventually color barriers will be broken, and we will have less stereotypes in sports, education, and music as a result. I hope there will be a time where we will have more black golfers, more black hockey players, more white guys winning dunk contests, more white running backs…and you know what? I think it’s a very real possibility. This is the same society that thought rappers were all puppets and that white rappers couldn’t get respect from the streets. White, black, yellow, orange, brown, purple…we will cross over in all areas, and these stereotypes that we deal with will hopefully be unencountered by future generations. Although, I fear we will never be around for this to occur. Hopefully, we can teach all our kids to respect differences rather than point them out.
Bomani, I’m a fan of your writing-style and was particularly drawn to visit your site regularly after reading an article on ESPN…if memory serves, it was on the NBA Dress Code. Anyways, being Nepali, and I guess you can say, neutral in black/white issues, I tend to understand the type of discrimination and racism that African-Americans feel. Interestingly enough, I also tend to see reverse-discrimination with such generalizations as “white men can’t jump” however this is my theory in short. I believe that these issues are socially constructed, and as long as there are whites and blacks with living relatives who have prejudices, stereotypes and negative attitudes towards other people, this problem will persist and racism will be present. Even afterwards, these problems will exist, but I think the subject of racism is especially touchy when figures like Rosa Parks are just now ending there fulfilling and productive lives. Call me an optimist, but I feel like eventually color barriers will be broken, and we will have less stereotypes in sports, education, and music as a result. I hope there will be a time where we will have more black golfers, more black hockey players, more white guys winning dunk contests, more white running backs…and you know what? I think it’s a very real possibility. This is the same society that thought rappers were all puppets and that white rappers couldn’t get respect from the streets. White, black, yellow, orange, brown, purple…we will cross over in all areas, and these stereotypes that we deal with will hopefully be unencountered by future generations. Although, I fear we will never be around for this to occur. Hopefully, we can teach all our kids to respect differences rather than point them out.
Bomani,
Since your not representing the views of all Black folk, i’ll throw somethin’ in the pot…I don’t think what the late Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder said was off the mark. All he said is what WHITE SLAVE HOLDERS ACTUALLY DID. After the abolition of the importing of enslaved Africans, we were forced to be breeders to maintain the supply of “stock”. Our ancestors were defined as property, chattel, remember?
So yes, the “big black buck” was mated to his “big slave woman” to produce a more efficient physical specimen! That’s the foul part no one wants to talk about. The white science community has been obsessed with the “fools logic” of eugenics for decades. White people obsessed with notions of “purity” and “improving the stock of the species”; that’s why it was so easy for the Air Force coach to describe the athletic prowess of Black men in such clinical terms. This mindset is imbedded in the culture.
Secondly, if it is true that we been given a particular physical “gift”, why are we afraid to cop to it. If we are the people who originated the first civilizations, built the Pyramids, produced innovators of all stripes why are we afraid of envious whites who attempt to denegrate our intellectual fitness?……
Sooner Kip,
Let us stop with the misuse of the term “reverse discrimination”. The only people doing any discriminating, segregating, rejecting and excluding in the last 500 years are WHITE PEOPLE. Now if you must use an overworked phrase, use “reverse stereotyping”. Can i claim conclusively that all white can’t dance or have any discernable “glide in their stride”?…no. If can speak for the white men i’ve observed in a dancing situation over the years, i would say NO. I was former high school/junior college basketball player. In my years of play had i come across an overabundance of white ballers with a 40 in. vertical?…NO. Is the world gonna stop turning with this information?…NO.
We need to ask ourselves why these questions are so important to be asked?
I may have a piece coming soon about why Jimmy the Greek got lambasted for what he said. The real reason Jimmy should have been fired for that was how obviously ripped he at about 9am. You can’t do that on (network) television. But as for copping to the physical gifts–if white slaveholders actually did breed black folks as such, then I’d prefer not to cop to the positive benefits of the process. Not sure the best way to phrase it, but there’s a comparison to blood money that would do the job here.
Bomani,
Since your not representing the views of all Black folk, i’ll throw somethin’ in the pot…I don’t think what the late Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder said was off the mark. All he said is what WHITE SLAVE HOLDERS ACTUALLY DID. After the abolition of the importing of enslaved Africans, we were forced to be breeders to maintain the supply of “stock”. Our ancestors were defined as property, chattel, remember?
So yes, the “big black buck” was mated to his “big slave woman” to produce a more efficient physical specimen! That’s the foul part no one wants to talk about. The white science community has been obsessed with the “fools logic” of eugenics for decades. White people obsessed with notions of “purity” and “improving the stock of the species”; that’s why it was so easy for the Air Force coach to describe the athletic prowess of Black men in such clinical terms. This mindset is imbedded in the culture.
Secondly, if it is true that we been given a particular physical “gift”, why are we afraid to cop to it. If we are the people who originated the first civilizations, built the Pyramids, produced innovators of all stripes why are we afraid of envious whites who attempt to denegrate our intellectual fitness?……
Sooner Kip,
Let us stop with the misuse of the term “reverse discrimination”. The only people doing any discriminating, segregating, rejecting and excluding in the last 500 years are WHITE PEOPLE. Now if you must use an overworked phrase, use “reverse stereotyping”. Can i claim conclusively that all white can’t dance or have any discernable “glide in their stride”?…no. If can speak for the white men i’ve observed in a dancing situation over the years, i would say NO. I was former high school/junior college basketball player. In my years of play had i come across an overabundance of white ballers with a 40 in. vertical?…NO. Is the world gonna stop turning with this information?…NO.
We need to ask ourselves why these questions are so important to be asked?
I may have a piece coming soon about why Jimmy the Greek got lambasted for what he said. The real reason Jimmy should have been fired for that was how obviously ripped he at about 9am. You can’t do that on (network) television. But as for copping to the physical gifts–if white slaveholders actually did breed black folks as such, then I’d prefer not to cop to the positive benefits of the process. Not sure the best way to phrase it, but there’s a comparison to blood money that would do the job here.
B,
I didn’t mean to imply that the Black man’s athletic prowess was a DIRECT result of the slavemasters breeding farm…The point i was trying to make is this: Jimmy the Greek inadvertently revealed a long-ignored aspect of our slavery experience. Corporate white America was embarrased…so they fired him. America has taken great pains to de-emphasize how horrific the institution slavery really was.
I am in agreement with you in this regard. There are no “positive benefits” to bondage. We had already been singled out for our capacity for physical labor. We needed no “selective mating” to build a stronger pack mule…
All together now we are.
I didn’t get any responses or comments for my piece Bomani?
Whites are to blame for sterotyping blacks but blacks are to blame for never being accountable or siding against each other when wrong even showing whites blantant dis-respect. The black mess needs to be cleaned up by a strong black man who cares about the race being respectable, accountable and working for a living.
Whites are to blame for sterotyping blacks but blacks are to blame for never being accountable or siding against each other when wrong even showing whites blantant dis-respect. The black mess needs to be cleaned up by a strong black man who cares about the race being respectable, accountable and working for a living.