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Oh, he's definitely a scapegoat, proc. He deserved what he got but he's a
scapegoat for all the rest of them. What I'm sick of is the double standard and the defensive posturing. If a white man can't say it, then a black man shouldn't say it either. Screw the rationalization of the years of oppression and white dominance. If you are of any ethnicity and you use derogatory and insulting words concerning your ethnicity, then you have absolutely no right to hold someone else from another ethnicity to account for using it also. Denigration is denigration. Assinine rationalization doesn't make it right. Ask Bill Cosby. If you don't want to be seen as such, do not portray yourself as such. And don't act surprised and offended when others begin to emulate you...
posted by
saul_relative
on April 14, 2007 at 11:10 PM
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Rap music videos and lyrics are misogynistic as hell, TAPS. I detest the
genre; even calling it "music" makes me cringe. But it leaves a lot to be desired. And people like Snoop and Russell Simmons coming out in its defense when they've made millions off of its denigrating nature is hypocritical.
posted by
saul_relative
on April 14, 2007 at 10:59 PM
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I can only see this as a scapegoat situation.
From where I'm sitting in New Zealand. So this guy is going to pay for all the others who got away with it . It's like a public lynching. And some of those who are most vocal about his crime are probably guilty of real racism themselves. They just havn't been caught and so publicly too.
posted by
proc
on April 14, 2007 at 1:40 PM
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You may be right, Saul_relative
As I said, I am not a rap fan and not really familiar with any of the lyrics. I was just sharing his comment and the fact that if that is the way it is, then I can understand the difference. If what you say about his lyrics is true, his comment is off base.
posted by
TAPS.
on April 14, 2007 at 11:36 AM
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And Snoop is wrong, TAPS. Rappers sing about all women as hos, not
just those in the 'hood. The only distinction I draw between rap lyrics and Imus' faux pas is that Imus abused the public airwaves and directed his remark at specific people, where Snoop and his ilk simply generalize. The point still remains: they're the same thing, just varying degrees of sameness. Rappers can't justify the blatant denigration and derogation and victimization in the way they portray women any better than porn producers. I remember when the song "Black Betty" became controversial because it potrayed the shady life of a black woman. Hell, that song was tame compared to most of Snoop's and other rappers' stuff. Snoop and company can't stand behind some hypocritical second standardization of what they do because what they do is worse than what Imus did -- they denigrate all women, not just a chosen few.
posted by
saul_relative
on April 14, 2007 at 11:05 AM
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Thanks, Dylan.
posted by
saul_relative
on April 14, 2007 at 10:54 AM
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Saul_relative
Regarding your statement, "Rappers' lyrics occasionally get bad press but never the outrage that Imus had directed toward him.":
I've heard this so much in the last few days. A lot of people seem to be focusing on this one part of the situation. Rapper Snoop dismissed comparisons between sexist hip hop lyrics and the recent sexist/racially charged remarks mad by Don Imus in this way.
"It's a completely different scenario. (Rappers) are not talking about no collegiate basketball girls who have made it to the next level in education and sports. We're talking about hoes that's in the 'hood that ain't doing shit, that's trying to get a nigga for his money. These are two separate things. First of all, we ain't no old-ass white men that sit up on MSNBC going hard on black girls. We are rappers that have these songs coming from our minds and our souls that are relevant to what we feel. I will not let them muthafuckas say we are in the same league as him. Kick him off the air forever."
Even I, as an old white woman and not a rap fan, can see and appreciate the difference between the two.
posted by
TAPS.
on April 14, 2007 at 9:03 AM
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You wrote a really good post here. I agree with you.
posted by
Dyl_Pickle
on April 14, 2007 at 8:50 AM
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