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Originally posted by blackmercedes
Spike is onto something here. There is a self-defeating process going on with young African-Americans, and it needs to be recognized for what it is, and not idolized.
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Agreed.
A good place to start would be to get rid of the obnoxiously PC and often misleading and inappropriate term "African-American". Many of the people who refer to themselves by this label are neither. They were not born in Africa, and most have never even BEEN to Africa. What ever happened to "black" and "white", or even better, plain old "American" or "person". I don't consider myself "Irish-German-Dutch-Native-American". For I am none of those, really, except American. I was born and raised HERE, regardless of the heritage of my ancestors. What about black people living here who are originally from Jamaica or South America or Europe? They are not "African-Americans". Are black people in Europe "African-Europeans"? Are black people in Australia known as "African-Australians"? In a way, it's all semantics, but on the other hand, this whole hyphenated-American concept is separatist, misleading, and downright silly.
Quote:
Originally posted by blackmercedes
There is nothing wrong with rap music. The one fresh breath that Spike brings that differs from many speakers on the subject is the role of self responsibility, and the need for the community to take it on.
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There is a LOT wrong with most of the popular rap music. It carries a terribly negative and counter-productive message, and has little redeeming musical or artistic value. There's PLENTY of great rap and hip-hop artists out there...but you won't see it on MTV or hear it on the radio for the most part. It's not cheesy enough and meaningless enough. As with most styles of music, the lowest-common-denominator stuff is the most popular, and the best stuff seldom gets heard by the masses.
Yes, Spike is definitely, refreshingly on to a good thing. Self-responsibility. Now THERE'S a great hyphenated word.
Mike