Free Republic

Courtney Smith figures she heard it nearly every day she was in public school: “Courtney acts white.” “Courtney talks white.” “Courtney thinks she’s all that.” Just because she did well in school and spoke proper English. “The black friends I did have, we were the overachievers,” said Smith, now a 20-year-old journalism major at Norfolk State University who hopes to be a news anchor. “We knew that we 'talked white,’ and we were going to continue doing that. We didn’t care if we were teased.” The “acting white” theory – that some black students are dissuaded from trying their hardest...

Four Kennedy High School students were charged Thursday in an assault on a Kennedy senior who was pummeled in the school auditorium in front of scores of students and who, witnesses said, was attacked with feces later found strewn across the auditorium floor. Teachers and students were horrified by the incident, which left the victim, an 18-year-old honor student, with a broken nose, two black eyes, abrasions on both eyes and a swollen cheek, according to his father. "For these [attackers] to do what they did is beyond disgusting,'' said one teacher who asked for anonymity. "No kid should go...

Money for guns, latest effort to get guns off Minneapolis streets For two days only, a group calling itself Project Cease Fire will be buying back guns in Minneapolis. They'll take the guns for one day in north Minneapolis, and the following day in south Minneapolis. The program comes amid what project officials say is an epidemic of gun violence, not only in Minneapolis but around the country. Details of the program were unveiled Wednesday in north Minneapolis at the site of the first buy back. It will take place Friday from noon to midnight. "Weapons of mass destruction are...

A Queens cop, who is being dubbed the "hip-hop cop" because of his fascination with the music genre as well as his attempts at breaking into the industry, was arrested recently for gun possession, when he and three other men found in possession of loaded weapons early Tuesday (December 27) in Washington Heights.

Should hip hop take the rap for rioting? (Filed: 08/12/2005) French politicians have called for legal action to be taken against hip hop musicians in the wake of the French riots. Joe Muggs reports The waves of riots that swept across France this year have had an unexpected consequence for the French music industry. Urban violence: hip hop has been blamed for the Paris riots Last week, 200 politicians backed a petition by MP François Grosdidier calling for legal action against several hip hop musicians for their aggressive lyrics. Although prime minister Dominique de Villepin immediately dismissed the idea, it...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - At first glance, Walt Temple thought the animal he saw hopping through the city was a deer. "But then, why would it be on its back legs?" he wondered. It turns out a deer wouldn't be hopping on its hind legs. But a kangaroo would. So he called South Bend Animal Care and Control on Monday to let them know he thought he just saw a kangaroo, not far from the South Bend Regional Airport. "I didn't believe him," animal control officer Sumyr Springfield said. Then Springfield, who was first on the scene, saw the top...

Pandemonium broke out during the taping of Vibe magazine's award show last night, when a man was stabbed during the ceremony, sending stars fleeing from the mayhem in their limos. The violence broke out as rapper Dr. Dre rose to accept the Vibe Legend Award from presenters Quincy Jones and Snoop Dogg, a witness at the Santa Monica event told The Post. An unidentified man sitting with Death Row Records chief Marion "Suge" Knight lunged toward Dr. Dre with a knife — but members of rapper 50 Cent's entourage intervened, the witness said. [snip] The witness said that the...

Lil' Kim was indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice Wednesday by a grand jury in a New York federal courtroom. The charge stems from the rapper's alleged involvement in a three-year-old shootout that occurred outside the offices of New York radio station Hot 97. The 28-year-old MC, whose real name is Kimberly Jones, is charged with conspiracy to commit perjury, make false statements and obstruct justice; perjury before the grand jury; the making of false statements; and obstruction of justice, according to court documents. Indictments occur when a grand jury decides that there is sufficient evidence for a case...

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Today's hip-hop constituency possesses even greater media access and financial clout than when Public Enemy first exhorted the hip-hop generation to "Fight the Power" in 1989. Rap artists have since tackled gang violence, South African apartheid, drugs, police abuse and more. Now they want to play an instrumental role in this year's presidential election. Political groups are tapping hip-hop to engage not just young people but all disenfranchised people of color, hoping their votes will unseat President Bush. "Most hip-hop followers come from struggle. There's a common agenda for all of those who are locked out,"...

AS marketing schemes go, the hip-hop music star Nelly risks sending a lot of mixed signals with the name of the new energy drink he's marketing. It's called "Pimp Juice." I could be wrong, but "Pimp Juice" does not sound to me like something that you want to put in your mouth. Either way, you won't get a chance to find out, if certain leaders of black community organizations have their way. In Los Angeles, three organizations called Project Islamic HOPE, the National Alliance for Positive Action, and the National Black Anti-Defamation League staged a press conference last Tuesday (Sept....

Black popular culture continues to descend. The most recent and monstrous aspect of it comes, as usual, from the world of hip hop, where thugs and freelance prostitutes have been celebrated for a number of years. This new development is observable in the work of Snoop Doggy Dog, Jay-Z and 50 Cent: the elevation of pimps as cultural heroes. That's beyond degraded. A black executive in the world of popular music said to me a few years ago that the number of Negro performers who have actually become millionaires through hip hop sales is surely not even 100, but the...