The message of O.J.

By JASON ROWLAND

Michigan in Color Managing Editor

I’m going to ask you three questions, and I need you to answer honestly.
First, did you know that Black children are punished more often and more severe-

ly than their white classmates? Second, that Black borrowers are much less likely 
to be granted a loan than their white counterparts with similar credit scores? And 
third, that employers prefer applicants with “white”-sounding names over those with 
“Black”-sounding ones?

If you’re like most Americans, you probably did know all of that. Those facts don’t 

surprise you in the slightest; they’re just a reality of life. And that is the problem.

When those facts are given as simple statistics, they’re easy to ignore because of 

how commonly accepted they are — even for people who claim to care deeply about 
these issues. Yet when they’re packaged into other mediums, such as television, film 
or music, they’re denounced for mixing politics and entertainment. This creates a 
dilemma where these issues aren’t properly acknowledged because the “accepted” 
ways to discuss them are ineffective, but using other mediums (mainly, the arts) is 
deemed taboo.

The good news is that breaking such “taboos” can create a dialogue that fights 

to tackle many of these issues. For example, I wouldn’t be writing this article if the 
response to Jay-Z’s “The Story of O.J.” — a song on the rapper’s album 4:44 that details 
the Black community’s struggles against poverty and racism — hadn’t been so nega-
tive. The bad news: in order for any good to come from these conversations, we must 
move past the hypocritical idea that one can claim to be a fan of Black artists yet turn 
them off when they start talking about Black issues. Especially when these “Black 
issues” are systemic problems of racism, segregation and discrimination — problems 
that require the attention of more than just the African American community.

While “The Story of O.J.” has received a generally positive reception from music 

ritics, many casual listeners hold a much less favorable opinion of the song — with 
most finding offense in the song’s coarse language and frequent allusions to Black 
stereotypes. However, the detractors are offended for all of the wrong reasons. People 
need to be outraged that these problems exist, not by the way they’re being discussed 
by the victims. And, perhaps more importantly, people need to realize that the only 
reason these problems are being discussed so frankly in popular culture is because 
they’d otherwise continue to be swept under the rug and ignored.

“Rich nigga, poor nigga, house nigga, field nigga / Still nigga,” a line from the “The 

Story of O.J,” sends the same message as “African Americans, regardless of their 
income levels or occupations, are discriminated against.” The difference is that one 
grabs your attention, while the other fades into the background as just another com-
monly accepted, if unfortunate, reality. To spark a discussion, we’ve given artists no 
choice but to use ostensibly provocative language. And by blaring Jay-Z when he raps 
about money and fame but muting him when he talks about real issues, you’re simply 
allowing these problems to continue unsolved by depriving them of the attention they 
deserve.

If we’re ever going to address these massive issues about race and discrimination, 

we need to first have a conversation. And in order to have a conversation, we must 
be cognizant of the issues at hand. Since traditional facts and figures haven’t drawn 
enough attention, the only way to raise this awareness is through unsparing channels 
such as “The Story of O.J.”

One of the great things about music is that it exposes listeners to cultures other than 

their own — and this cross-cultural exposure can change the world. However, this can 
only happen once people step out from the schoolhouse door and let the change in. For 
this to occur, we must be willing to listen and empathize with the experiences of art-
ists without complaining, because if you get offended listening to them, just imagine 
how offended the artists get living those experiences every day.

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Thursday, July 20, 2017

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com MICHIGAN IN COLOR

