,
THE PREJUDICE of
American society saturate our
daily lives. Young Black kids are
given entertainers and sport figures
as role models. Their ience labs,
libraries and cia srooms are
remarkably inadequate. Their
gyms, sports equipment and drama
programs are a little better funded.
But their chools are so poorly run
and in such a chaotic state even the
goal of the entertainment world or
sports world is overshadowed by
the inner city reality of dropping
out.
So when white teenagers hear
their ideas confirmed by African­
American rappers it's very likely
that they feel justified and correct
in their negative views of African­
Americans. Every time a picture is
palnted by a rapper of a n----'
think peopl want to hear. Th rap­
per who does gangster rap finds it
easier for hi music to be up­
ported. Let' face it MTV has paid
more than enough lip ervice t
NW A and their fellow gangsta'
rappers.
The success of gangsta' rap has
led many record companies to
believe people will only listen to
certain rappers. Arrested D velop­
ment a group from the South with
a different style=-soclal respon­
sibility and social change- ini­
tially received little or no air play.
Presently, Arrested Development
is one of the most ucces ful
grou� out. .
THE AFRI AN-
AMERICAN that doesn't fit the
one dimensional Black identity i
lcted to b unsuccessful in th
p nt m . ind try. It t th
the beat and in agreement. survival mechanism of the rapper
Why do groups like NW A per_:_ to be exiled to the role of white
petuate these myths. What reason America. The role as th angry,
ld Black men have for per- pimpish, exually agressive,
petuating the ideas of white violent, gangsta people.
America? Simply the gang ta' For those rappers the issue is not
image of power and money is the their acceptance of this role; 1t is a
most realistic way a African- matter of being molded to it by
Ame�can ca� achieve statu� in school, mass media and a family
Ame�can society. For an Afncan that i already socialized.
�encan to �eat the odds of sur- The appeal of NW A with these
vlvm� the �Ial st!"�ture success- young white suburban teenagers
fully IS one in a million. ironically is the appeal of the
Obviously, it pays to fit American value system. The
stereotypes. The white wned gangsta' role has an appeal be­
record com anies sign what they cause of the power and money tie
which is the essence of America.
The role of the gangsta' in rap is
glorified by the listener.
It's a ort of 'ghetto
romanticism' or 'Black
romantici m' that com up in his­
tory time and time again. From
slavery, the slavemater only hears
the hope in spirituals ignoring
necessity behind th song. They
MCREN
IcECuBE
ful if it's going to lead to a unheal­
thy romantici m, which only
perpetuat raci m. When white
teenagers ee groups like WA
c n irrnin their mi onccpti ns,
they take the easy route: They
don t have to tak any other.
say to themselv "I wish I could
sing like that," ignorant of the ef­
fort that backs the song. America
has an appeal with NW Aand being
Black.
I t would be nice if these white
teenagers Ii tened to NW A under­
stood the victimizati n involved in
the music and ound fault in white
America. However, they don't se
that, they hear the beat and feel the
anger. But they d n't know what
the anger is directed at, ju t as the
not- o-long ago slavemaster.
Only when white America un­
derstands the victimization of
African-American can gangsta'
rap then be an art' form shared by
all. But that leav u with an inter­
e ting question: if white America
really und r to d, would the
WA's b (round at all?
By CATHERINE KELLY
p.c'" to MlchlQ!n Citizen
Society itself perpetuates myths
about African-Americans. In
school we are taught from a Euro­
centric point of view; leaving the
views and contributions of
African-Americans, women and
other people of col r out of history
books and cla es, fueling attitudes
of ignorance and prejudice held by
white America about African­
American.
"Every b---- I know wants to
get with me the mutha f----- '
notorious D R E/Spit game
at a b---- while her nigga is
around/and you know most
hoes know' not to
clown/cause if a b---- tried
to diss mell'd smack the
b---- up and the n---- that's
with her/That's the kind of
n---- ya listening to." -
NWA, EFIL4ZAGGIN
(NIGGAZ4L1FE)
.
WHIT TE· • R lis-
tening to NWA continue the nega­
tive pr totype of
African-Americans in ciety. If
they don't make an attempt to un­
derstand groups like NWA they
d n't need to listen to it. Listening
become m re harmful than help-
For some white suburban
teenagers the only slice of Black
inner city life they see is the nega­
tive prototype of some groups like
NW A They form their ideas of
Black people from songs like the
one quoted above.
The mainstream media does not
help change the attitude of these
white teena_ger. Allover the
media Blacks are tereotyped.·
From the 'humor us' exploitive
skits of In Living Color to the
nightly new pictures of 10 ting
Blacks during the L. . riots. The
messages perpetuate the myths
held by whit America.