Michael Richards. Isaiah Washington. Tim Hardaway. Ann Coulter. Cedric Maxwell. Don Imus.
And those are just the more recent offenders.
Racism. Sexism. Homophobia.
When those who have previously been held down dare to stand up and display their brilliance to the world, you can always expect those in the ruling class to act out in ugly displays of hatred.
What is ironic however, if you look at the composition of the list above, is that some of these oppressors are also among the oppressed.
How well some of us have learned the master’s lessons.
3 comments ↓
A friend of mine has told me to read the book “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” for a while. He said the book discussed how the oppressed always takes on the characteristics of the oppressors and actualy masters it better than orginally intended.
What was your opinion about Imus losing his job? Many commentators have been saying that instead of people focusing on the words and instead should use this situation as a learning experience to educate people on such issues.
Others make mention that rap and hip hop use some of the same kinds of words and yet they are not being fired or banned, but are profiting by the offensive language.
It is true that rappers and hip hop artists use the “N”, “F” & “H” words far too freely, and I’m not giving them a free pass. Two wrongs however do not make a right. Imus’s comments and rappers making money off the words, doesn’t mean they cancel each other out. Rather, it means we examine and bring an end to all offenses.
But I would also ask you, who owns the record companies, music distributors and radio stations that play that music? Who decides which rappers will get a record deal and which ones won’t.
Hint: It ain’t us!
I disagree with the “hip hop as victim” argument. Record companies, music distributors and radio stations are in business to make money. They make money from selling music their audiences want. The audience has plenty of choices in music that are not homophobic or sexist. Overwhelmingly, they choose the hateful/mindless mess over anything else.