Has Hip Hop Changed Race Relations in America?
This of course will disturb some civil rights leaders and people of that generation, but this is not to diminish any accomplishments of past movements and or individuals.
Today the races are more connected on common ground issues affecting America than anytime in history. There is a new generation of people across the board who don’t see color, and it’s not to say they don’t practice a certain act of separatism, but its more of how they’ve been raised to believe that they are entitled, and they practice that entitlement freely and openly.
That’s the one area needed to be practiced from other races, that they’re entitled to any and everything earned and carved out in America. You don’t have to ask or beg anyone for anything in this country! These young suburban kids and even the dudes between the ages of 25 – 45, are not walking around thinking about how to hold a certain group of people from advancing. They’re busy enjoying the privileged life they’ve been raised to believe is their birth right. Heck, that’s how I’m raising my daughter. This land is Karly’s and no one will tell her she can’t own it, if she works hard and can afford to have or take it.
Other races are worried and confused with the direction of this country like many others are. There are poor and underclass groups in every race, and if people have not visited white trailer park communities and checked out their struggle, then they can’t make absurd statements about race, poverty and behavior. Because those hoods look similar to hoods you’ve seen within the former Robert Taylor homes. If you were transported to a trailer park with blindfolders on, and had the blinders removed, you could not tell the difference between hoods.
This is what made hip hop culture such a dynamic and powerful tool of communication. Because as much as we complain about poverty, crime and destruction in urban hoods, white kids and others face those same dilemmas in their day to day lives. So when they hear lyrics about drugs and police brutality, they can relate, because they’ve faced identical challenges and prejudices. See, if you’re Black, you think that being poor and dysfunction only exist in your small surrounding blocks, so you’re not aware that millions of people within different races are feeling the same pain with depressed and oppressed communities.
Hip hop music, the message and the lifestyle connected a class of people every where. Just visit China or go to Chinatown in Chicago and you’ll see thousands of young Chinese people vibing with Blacks and whites through the culture of hip hop sharing dance, graffiti and fashion. Hispanics love for hip hop culture and Jewish rappers all understand and feel the energy in the music that spans across races.
The president is aware how the music and culture has built a certain dynamic that he must embrace. Do I think he’s excited about certain content and images in not only hip hop, but popular culture altogether? Heck no, but he’s smart enough to deal with the realities that hip hop culture has transformed and connected tens of millions in its present day form. Yes, it will evolve again and change its philosophical and business model. And hopefully, the change will be a more mainstream positive movement.
Hip hop is a billion dollar industry, and like big business (banking, financial institutions and automotive), you can’t challenge or totally discount that kind of wealth, and the power and influence it showcases.
So yes, hip hop has done for America culture what no other movement has been able to do. Hip hop and its founding fathers didn’t ask or beg discriminative people to embrace the movement. They created and presented the movement and watched as people of all shades, sizes and religious beliefs embraced and emulated the cultural lifestyle and phenomenal communication outlet.
People can argue with me or debate their emotions, but he proof and evidence is in clubs where Blacks and whites vibe to hip hop beats and lyrics, crossover CD and apparel sales and the collaboration between the races in terms of music, branding and commerce.
Let’s face it, everything is about the loot. The president knows it, Fortune 500 companies know it, the emerging and savvy artists know it and the public accepts it. And how and who generates profits, is all that counts in the end. And every smart business man or woman; white, Black, Asian, Hispanic and others all got their hands in this billion dollar, one nation under a groove cookie jar. God bless America and power to HIP HOP and the next generation of leaders. Peace and one love.
NOTE: August 5th, is the date the much anticipating CD Making the Throne partnership of Kanye West & Jay – Z wil be released digitally and nationally. This will be the hottest album of the last decade. With Kanye, a musical genius and Jigga, the most prolific writer with thought provoking rhymes the last ten years will smash online and over the counter sales records.
