Speaking the Truth
Rarely do I read anything by Bob Herbert, but his recent column is remarkable, brave and true. (HT: The RCP Blog.)
He bemoans the destructiveness of gangsta culture, pointing out that black "leaders" found time to celebrate the life of killer Tookie Williams and decrying the message it sends about America's "black leadership." (Of course, if Herbert and other liberals didn't spend so much time vilifying people like Clarence Thomas and Condoleezza Rice, young African-Americans might have a more varied host of role models, but that's a different topic.)
Herbert's message is one that needs to be sent -- and let's not overlook the corrosive influence of the misogynistic or vulgar messages in many popular rap or quasi-rap songs (here are some repugnant lyrics for the most downloaded song on the internet, as of 12/6/05).
Over the past several days, I've been reading Tom Wolfe's "I Am Charlotte Simmons". It's a fictional account of a young girl's experiences at a fictional Ivy League school (which seems to me largely modeled off Stanford, Duke and Princeton). In any case, if it's at all true to life, things have certainly changed on campus since the late '80's. And gangsta/rap culture has infiltrated youth culture to a repugnant and unacceptable extent.
Herbert is right to sound the alarm. And all of us need to do our part to stop the spread of destructive, degrading and wrongheaded attitudes among the young of all races.
He bemoans the destructiveness of gangsta culture, pointing out that black "leaders" found time to celebrate the life of killer Tookie Williams and decrying the message it sends about America's "black leadership." (Of course, if Herbert and other liberals didn't spend so much time vilifying people like Clarence Thomas and Condoleezza Rice, young African-Americans might have a more varied host of role models, but that's a different topic.)
Herbert's message is one that needs to be sent -- and let's not overlook the corrosive influence of the misogynistic or vulgar messages in many popular rap or quasi-rap songs (here are some repugnant lyrics for the most downloaded song on the internet, as of 12/6/05).
Over the past several days, I've been reading Tom Wolfe's "I Am Charlotte Simmons". It's a fictional account of a young girl's experiences at a fictional Ivy League school (which seems to me largely modeled off Stanford, Duke and Princeton). In any case, if it's at all true to life, things have certainly changed on campus since the late '80's. And gangsta/rap culture has infiltrated youth culture to a repugnant and unacceptable extent.
Herbert is right to sound the alarm. And all of us need to do our part to stop the spread of destructive, degrading and wrongheaded attitudes among the young of all races.
posted by LadybugUSA at 10:44 AM
2 Comments:
The decline of morality we see throughout American society is even worse in the black community. African Americans have more opportunities now than ever, but many have voluntarily segregated themselves into the gangsta culture. Black leaders are largely silent about this, preferring to blame American society rather than encouraging young blacks with a “can-do” attitude. The few who do speak out are called sellouts, etc.
Throughout most of our history, the fate of blacks was largely in the hands of whites. Racism is still a problem, but that fate is now in black hands.
Stanley Crouch has also decried the influence of gangsta "culture".
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