Modern hits / Hip Hop on Sirius radio. I’m not exaggerating when I say that every single song was n-word, b*tches, profanities, violence and graphic sex acts. Couldn’t believe my ears.
Yes, I’m white and I’m old. Yesterday’s news, which I’m reminded of daily. But I’ve never been a prude, and always been lower middle class and a little rough around the edges. I haven’t listened to modern hip hop in about 5 years but I never remember it being this bad. What happened? When did that genre of music become completely unlistenable? Every single song. I’m generally not a believer that music lyrics poison young peoples’ minds, but holy smokes. Thoughts?
This is going exactly as I expected...
I don’t expect people on this site to understand but it just seems - incongruous I guess - that while we soend so much time picking apart the significance of words, tweets, statues, etc because they’re apparently insensitive to minorities - we have this parallel universe going on where it’s an endless drumbeat and glorification of all the truly destructive things we don’t want in society today (promiscuous sex, misogyny, racism, violence, drug use...) If an alien came to America today they’d be confused as all hell.
If the black culture in America wants better race relations and move towards functional equality, then it has to set the example first. If the N word is prohibited by non African Americans to say and use, then it should also be prohibited by self discipline to set that positive example.
You can't say do this and do that to others, then do something different right in front of their faces, and expect anyone to actually respect you or your stances or values or convictions. That's a question of integrity, not a question of politics.
But the reality is if anyone who is not African American says what I just said in public, esp a celebrity or a public figure, then they will be called a racist and cancelled. Whatever their career or job, they will be attacked relentlessly until they are fired and/or deplatformed and/or demonetized and/or silenced.
There is a very small subset of black celebrities like Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock and Charles Barkley that can say some of these things and dance around some of these edges, but it's calibrated as another type of entertainment. But there are often deep biting social commentaries coming out of people like Rock and Chappelle. Also someone like George Carlin. But since Carlin was white, Identity Politics has decided he doesn't actually count.
When discussion of The Rooney Rule was in the Shark Pool deep and brutal over a decade or more ago, I said some things that were very unpopular
1) Why is The Rooney Rule the only option on the table? Why can't other alternatives to build diversity in the NFL be discussed without being called a racist if you disagree?
2) The typical powerbrokers around race were just grifter race hustlers ( i.e. the Jesse Jacksons, the Johnnie Cochrans, the Al Sharptons, etc) who didn't actually want racism to end. Because without racism, or the perception of such, they have no power, no business, no role, and no big money.
3) I pointed out the pathway to racial extortion. Where Black America gets to decide what is racist and what is not racist, who is punished and by how much and no one will ever be forgiven for any kind of mistake ever
4) I discussed the long term impact of isolation. If all interactions with Black America presents a Lose/Lose scenario, the rest of non black America will simply ignore them completely. Never talk to them, never be friends with them, never date them, never live in the same neighborhoods, never work with them them, never want their own kids around their kids, nothing at all. Because you can't blame people for self preservation. You can't be called a racist if you never engage at all. And how does that help anyone, esp Black America move forward?
So, if we are talking the political perspective here, what you are seeing is a product of Black America progressively getting to a point where non African Americans, both racists and non racists, have zero incentive to interact with them at all. And before anyone points a finger at me, parents teach their kids all the time that some people will only bring you problems, fair or not, and it's just better to avoid those situations.
******