Tuesday, September 11th, 2007

Maryland Legislator :: Whites Should Boycott Sexist Hip-Hop

But wait! It’s not what you think.

Here’s a provocative essay by The Honorable Justin D. Ross, Maryland Delegate (D-Prince Georges Cty.) and–surprise!–hip-hop parent:

In the current debate over whether hip-hop has become degrading to women and harmful to race relations, I’ve heard quite a bit from black activists, some of whom have fought for years against the sort of lyrics I’m writing about, and I’ve gotten several earfuls from black rap artists.

But I haven’t heard a peep from the white fans who essentially underwrite the industry by purchasing more than 70 percent of the rap music in this country, according to Mediamark Research Inc.

I don’t presume to tell any artist, studio executive or record label what to record or not record. But I will presume to ask young white customers: Why are we buying this stuff?

Now it’s still very debatable whether hip-hop is actually purchased in such proportions by whites. (Read Bakari Kitwana’s Why White Kids Love Hip-Hop: Wankstas, Wiggers, Wannabes, And the New Reality of Race in America first, then check this discussion and this discussion. I’ve done a bit of research on this and can say definitively there is no definitive study, there’s still only gut feel.

But no one else has yet said what the Delegate from Maryland has said…

posted by Jeff Chang @ 11:55 am | 3 Comments

3 Responses to “Maryland Legislator :: Whites Should Boycott Sexist Hip-Hop”

Terry says:

September 11, 2007 at 3:23 pm

This one got me thinking…more to say then just a simple comment…

http://thedirtt.blogspot.com/2007/09/sexism-hip-hop-and-white-consumer.html“

let me know what you think!
green eyes says:

September 12, 2007 at 7:40 am

Interesting.. i havent heard this side of the argument brought up before..
ronnie brown says:

September 12, 2007 at 9:26 am

it’s not an either/or proposition. this country has never been comfortable in addressing its contradictions. white folk and black folks are so historically intimate it’s a shame. white people have been voyeuristically admiring/envying black people for generations. Black people are the standard bearer for what’s considered cool, stylish, desirable…while at the same time considered everyone’s inferior, the boogie man of society. Ad rates are set to the taste and preferences of white people; so it wouldn’t shock me to find out that the numbers of white youth purchasing hip-hop may be somewhat inflated.

nevertheless, hip-hop is global in scope and there are white youth outside U.S. borders who are buying Rap Music in significant numbers…consequently, the in-house elements of Black street life (which were meant to stay in house) have, for better AND worse become common currency for the world.

i admire the honesty of the legislator for addressing what should be obvious to all…

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