Rap is the culprit in killing of black men

The Baltimore Sun ^ | January 6, 2007 | Gregory Kane

[neverdem]

The 800-pound gorilla is back, and as usual folks are pretending the critter ain't in the room.

We'll call this particular 800-pound gorilla Joey, in tribute to that 1940s film about the giant ape called Mighty Joe Young. I think it's time Joey got his props. I think it's time we acknowledge Joey.

Joey, meet the guys.

Guys, shake hands with Joey.

"The guys" in this case are those Baltimoreans who, for the past week, have expressed angst and dismay about the appalling way some young black men in this city, addicted to the thug life, dispatch each other with such chilling ease. Of Baltimore's nearly 300 homicide victims each year, the overwhelming majority of victims and killers are young black men.

Everybody and everything has been mentioned as enablers to Bodymore, Murderland's culture of death: lack of jobs, lack of recreational facilities, lack of music and art programs in schools, lack of mentors. Everybody's been mentioned, that is, except Joey, who's standing in the middle of the room with a Bloods bandana on his head, a Crips scarf tied around his neck, "grillz" on his teeth and holding a Glock in his hand.

Oh, and Joey's holding a copy of The Source magazine in the other hand with a picture of rapper The Game on the cover. Get where I'm going here?

Joey represents the entertainment industry and, to a lesser extent, my profession, which some folks call "the media." If I may be permitted to use a Bill Cosbyism, the entertainment industry and the media aren't holding up our end of the bargain when it comes to reducing violence. We just don't get the link between rap music and the carnage that's going on not only on Baltimore's streets, but America's streets.

Now before I hear from hard-core...

[prophetic]

bump

[sumocide]

In the past, huh? Here's Redman in recent self documentary feature on Smack DVD.

Warning: There's drugs and crude language.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=sehE45IWikI&mode=related&search=

[Fresh Wind]

Sure, rap isn't helping, but the rappers are recounting what they did in the past - long before rap music.

Rap has been around longer than most of these rappers have even been alive.

[durasell]

Hey it came from the California prison system where one size fits all.





Much more complicated than that -- how else to explain Timberland and professional sports team jerseys.

[stumpy]

They are following the market. It started with the prison system.

[nopardons]

Wasn't Peckinpaugh's "BONNIE AND CLYDE" his first "splatter" movie?

[durasell]

The pants thing came out of the prison system. The sports thing came out of pop culture and the bling thing came from the Italian American community. Lord knows where the Timberland thing came from.

[mc6809e]

The 60's screwed things up. Looks like recent decline in murder rate was just temporary.

[metesky]

Queens Reigns Supreme: Fat Cat, 50 Cent, and the Rise of the Hip Hop Hustler by Ethan Brown

[Northern Alliance]

Wasn't Peckinpaugh's "BONNIE AND CLYDE" his first "splatter" movie?

First 'splatter' movie ever, by anyone. According to a TV special I saw a long time ago on violence in film, it was the first time the impact of bullets was shown in the same shot with the shooter in any major movie. But the director was Arthur Penn.

It got 5 Oscar nominations!

Hey, your post tweaked me to check Peckinpah at IMDB. I never realized he was a writer for TV shows like Gunsmoke, Have Gun, Will Travel (what a great series!!), The Rifleman, Route 66, and many others.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001603/

[Sprite518]

Facts may sometimes be uncomfortable, but they must said. Ignoring the problem (because your not black) is the reason why this problem has manifest itself and has not gone away.

[Sprite518]

You know this was never a problem in the black community before the 60s. The Liberals have managed to destroy the black community by embracing a culture of death.

[Sprite518]

What is ridiculous is you saying that rap music has no impact on the black community.

[SantosLHalper]

Rap is the culprit in killing of black men....

WRONG!!!!

RAP!
Is just a way for people with no musical talent to make $$$MILLIONS$$$ in the 'music' industry.

OH!

Kind of proves your point;
In a way.

Anything to make money, promote thuggery and sloth.
And they say that conservative whites are evil money grubbers.

[GATOR NAVY]

None of the bugmenot passwords for the Sun worked for me, but google the name of the author (Gregory Kane) and you will get a link to take you right in. I find this often gets me past registration.

[oldenuff2no]

I know areas where there is high white and Hispanic unemployment and yet they do not kill each other in wholesale lots. Having to prove myself in my youth I still remember how absolutely important it was for me in perceiving myself as a man. I did my proving in the military by volunteering for three tours in Viet Nam.
When I travel now I am always legally armed and usually transporting large trained K-9's. Even then I try to do my homework so I know what areas to avoid. I also try and avoid needless confrontations. I have nothing left to prove unless it is the ability to stay alive.
I think the black city cultures are always pushing their young to prove themselves and the only challengers they have to face are each other. It appears to be more about the need to prove their manhood and courage and doing so in the only way they can, fighting each other. This is a learned trait that has been witnessed for many generations. It won't stop until there are other accepted ways for young black men to prove themselves. When you look at young blacks in rural areas they are not creating the same statistics. There are other avenues they can use to establish their masculinity, so the don't end up killing each other.
Other cultures find these defining challenges in other ways and places but it is always a process that young men go through in some way.
As all animals have instincts we men have a need to compete against each other and to claim things and areas as our own. That is just a part of us as the human animal. It seems that many women think they are a few rungs up the evolutionary ladder from that persona but look who the young girls are attracted to. We've always heard that men do not know how women think. That may be true but it is also true that women have no clue that it is in every man to be a warrior.

[American in Singapore]

It's liberal welfare-state policies since the '60s that have contributed most to the sorry state of inner city blacks, encouraging the break-up of families. And of course a liberal will never say that.

I'm a middle-aged (some say old :-) white guy from the midwest that's listened to rap for 20 years (Geto Boys, N.W.A., Public Enemy...). I use it as inspiration when the chips are down; never for violence.

To blame the sorry state of black youth on rap is utter bullsh*t and a copout.

[Smokin' Joe]

Perhaps The Wild Bunch which came first, but the scenes in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid were in slow motion with close-ups of bullet impacts, etc.

It created a stir because it was particularly gory for the Western genre and because of controversy with the studio.

To my knowledge, he did not direct a version of Bonnie and Clyde.

Filmography (not counting TV) from wikpedia

Filmography 1961 The Deadly Companions

1962 Ride the High Country

1965 Major Dundee

1969 The Wild Bunch

1970 The Ballad of Cable Hogue

1971 Straw Dogs

1972 The Getaway

1972 Junior Bonner

1973 Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

1974 Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia

1975 The Killer Elite

1977 Cross of Iron

1978 Convoy

1982 Jinxed! (stunt director)

1983 The Osterman Weekend

[proudofthesouth]

"Rap is the culprit in killing music."

Add hip hop to that and you've got a deal.

[anton]

Sure, rap is the problem just like fishnet stockings cause prostitution and bandaleros create South American dictators. Black men are more likely to commit violent crimes by multiples of their white and Hispanic counterparts.


Is it genetic? Is it cultural? Is it responsive to oppression? Who cares?