Memo to White Folks and the Mass Media

"Believe me, I know that that phrase didn't originate in the white community. That phrase originated in the black community, and I'm not stupid, I may be a white man, but I know that these young women and young black women all through that society are demeaned and disparaged and disrespected by their own black men and that they are called that name."
—Don Imus on The Today Show

Putting aside Asshat Imus and his irrelevant defense of his now-infamous epithet, there's something that's been bugging me for ages about the manner in which the "Black community" and "Black culture" are often discussed by certain white folks and in the mass media.

Having recently observed the discursive efficacy of Venn diagrams, let me put it this way (perhaps somewhat roughly but I think you'll get the idea):

Clear? Cool.

Next:

This is not to excuse in any way the vile misogyny that is so common to the juvenile poser pop-rap that is so heavily promoted by the corporate media. But it's disingenuous to act as though hip hop is the only place where misogyny exists in pop culture or indeed in our society in general. And given the long history of white supremacy disguising itself as a noble effort to "defend women" when its true aim is to violate and oppress people of color, it's hard not to be skeptical when one hears bombastic "culture warriors" focusing on misogyny in "Black culture", especially when in the previous breath they were focusing on misogyny in the Middle East in order to justify imperialist war.

End of memo.

UPDATE: See also Gangster Culture and Underground Railroad and Progressive Hip Hop.

Comments

[Eli]

it's hard not to be skeptical when one hears bombastic "culture warriors" focusing on misogyny in "Black culture", especially when in the very last breath they were focusing on misogyny in the Middle East in order to justify imperialist war.

It's funny how they only seem to care about misogyny when it's coming from non-white people - if they cared that much about *all* misogyny, hell, we wouldn't even *need* feminists.

[Yolanda Carrington]

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, Kai. Amen and hallelujah a thousand times!

[AradhanaD]

OMG - that totally rocked!!!

[Donna]

I'm in agreement with everyone else. TOTALLY RAWKED! And especially for the venn diagrams, they are the perfect illustration while at the same time cracking me up thinking about "This is why I'm hot".

[Sylvia]

Meaningful words and accompanying diagrams...*sniff*...so lovely...

I think...there's something in my eye...

[Vincent]

It is interesting how this intellectually lazy assertion pops up whenever there is outrage expressed and action demanded in response to hate speech/ethnic slurs/racial ephitets, even when disguised as humor. So I am glad you brought this up.

Just by way of pointing out, I wanted to reference how the "Black Community":

a) expresses both concern, academic study, about mysogny and hate speech reflected in some rap/hip-hop lyrics.

b) demonstrates how rap music and hip-hop culture serves a useful purpose of expression and art, despite what the corporate media and poser-punks release into the marketplace.

c) takes action in the form of protests and awareness-building, despite the fact it is not a juicy of story for the media to cover on a relatively consistent basis.

Here are 3 references to illustrate that there those "fighting the good fight". This is not to say that we have made enough progress. This is not to say they we do not have much more work to do. However, for Don Imus and others to imply that the "Black Community" only expresses outrage and action when a white person uses racial epithets is a pedantic joke.

The Journal of Negro Education, Summer 2002 by Richardson, Jeanita W, Scott, Kim A
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3626/is_200207/ai_n9085450

"America for all her protests against violent rap lyrics has failed to acknowledge her role in the creation of this relatively new art form. There is no denying the language in some rap lyrics could be construed as offensive, however, just as other music forms are not homogeneous, neither is rap music. It is far too simplistic to portray rap artists as perpetuators of behavior deemed socially deviant without placing the artists and their life experiences in context. Instead, this article considers rap music as a creative expression and metaphorical offspring of America's well-established culture of violence.....

Often the terms "rap music," "hip-hop," and "gangsta rap" are used synonymously. While closely related, each has a distinct meaning. Hip-hop is a broad term referring to a cultural movement among African American youth that has influenced styles of clothing, music and other forms of entertainment. Rap music, is rooted in the African tradition of speaking rhythmically to a beat generally supplied by background music. Grandmaster Flash and Kool Herc are credited with being instrumental in the development of rap music as a distinct genre in the 1970s, which at the time was party-oriented. In the early 1980s, Grandmaster Flash used rap to call attention to the deplorable conditions in inner cities. Gangsta rap grew out of Grandmaster Flash's recording, "The Message," and became the focal point of political controversy because of its explicit, violent lyrics in the late 1980s and early 1990s. At its root, gangsta rap was following in its predecessor's tradition because many songs protested police brutality and highlighted the realities of the violence commonplace in the communities of the artists (Center for Black Music Research, 2002). Also for purposes of clarification, youth culture in this article refers to all young people irrespective of race and socioeconomic status under the age of 18. "

C. Delores Tucker (I may not always agreed with her, but respected as a civil rights activist and as someone geuinely concerned about the impact of rap lyrics and hip-hip culture)
http://www.thenewblackmagazine.com/view.aspx?index=26

Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN)www.hsan.org

Mission

"Founded in 2001, the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) is dedicated to harnessing the cultural relevance of Hip-Hop music to serve as a catalyst for education advocacy and other societal concerns fundamental to the empowerment of youth. HSAN is a non-profit, non-partisan national coalition of Hip-Hop artists, entertainment industry leaders, education advocates, civil rights proponents, and youth leaders united in the belief that Hip-Hop is an enormously influential agent for social change which must be responsibly and proactively utilized to fight the war on poverty and injustice."

This is just 3 references. There are obviously many others and I do not think that Don Imus and others who claim that people of color are hypocritical in there condemnation care that people of color are handling there business. I am digusted with intellectually lazy (maybe too charitable a description) assertion and will not tolerate it anymore.

Again thanks for the call out and insight.

peace,

v

[Eli]

I'm in agreement with everyone else. TOTALLY RAWKED! And especially for the venn diagrams, they are the perfect illustration while at the same time cracking me up thinking about "This is why I'm hot".

I was actually trying to come up with a "This is why I'm hip-hop" variation, but I pulled my brain muscle.

[Julian]

Picking up on themes raised by Kai and Sylvia (and, um, Imus):

"Believe me, I know that that phrase didn't originate in the white community. That phrase originated in the black community, and I'm not stupid, I may be a white man, but I know that these young women and young black women all through that society are demeaned and disparaged and disrespected by their own black men and that they are called that name."
—Don Imus on The Today Show

Are Black women demeaned, disparaged, and disrespected by Black men in the U.S.? Yes. And so are all women of color (and white women, and men of color) by U.S. white men. Who are Black men's role models? What is "the standard of masculinity" which all oppressed/marginalized/objectified/debased (read: feminized) groups men must contend with? A white heterosexist (woman-hating, woman-harming) male standard in a white male-owned place called Amerikkka.

So while self-servingly appearing to be "knowledgeable", Don, you reveal yet deeper levels of your own ignorance. The concept of "whore", the very word itself, is an Anglo-Euro white male creation, made meaningful through white male supremacist force and aggression, subordination and abuse, against all women. (It, and its derivations, are still English words, after all.) The term and its meaning are firmly located in Anglo-white society, even while appropriated by other cultures than the most dominant one.

You are exactly wrong, Imus, in saying "I know that phrase didn't originate in the white community." Actually, it did.

Byron very effectively makes this point too, in his film: the racist and misogynist dimensions of (some) Black (and white) rap music, in both lyrics and videos, and values connected to what it is to be "masculine" that Byron effectively exposes and critiques in his film, are values taken directly from white male-dominated society and culture.

The very narrow and dehumanized images of African-American men, and the even narrower and more dehumanized images of African-American women are perpetuated and recycled in too much contemporary corporate rap. Predominantly white (and also corporate) "cock rock" and other white-artist dominated genres of contemporary music, and their videos, also perpetuate their brands of misogyny and racism. And all of it is regulated by corporate white men.

These economically and socially elite white men are profiting off all of this racist and misogynist media that they control and manufacture; the fact that a few African-American artists and performers can and do express themselves as force and fetish objects for a largely white audience, reveals a lot about how corporate white male supremacy works, and tells us what options Black artists really have, while seeking stature and a salary, in white America. White male supremacy is served very well by these whitemale-controlled cultural products.

Get that, Imus, and also, get off the air.

[Kesha]

This is probably the best response to Lizard Face Imus' drivel and the bigger picture of the media fallout involved. I did a funny little piece on my blog for laughs about it, as a Black woman, but Kai, you are good.

[A. Smith]

Hallelujah for someone who's finally made an intelligent comment about this whole business.

[Ravenmn]

Excellent. This "they did it first" excuse is one of the many Detours whites throw whenever we get caught doing something really stupid. I love having funny and spot-on articles like this to show how wrong it is.

It is interesting how this intellectually lazy assertion pops up whenever there is outrage expressed and action demanded in response to hate speech/ethnic slurs/racial ephitets, even when disguised as humor. So I am glad you brought this up.

Just by way of pointing out, I wanted to reference how the "Black Community":

a) expresses both concern, academic study, about mysogny and hate speech reflected in some rap/hip-hop lyrics.

b) demonstrates how rap music and hip-hop culture serves a useful purpose of expression and art, despite what the corporate media and poser-punks release into the marketplace.

c) takes action in the form of protests and awareness-building, despite the fact it is not a juicy of story for the media to cover on a relatively consistent basis.

Brother, you are so on point with these assertions. What I don't understand is why the so-called "black leaders" fail to address this aspect sufficiently during these media gaffes. They sometimes mention it, but it's one of those things that all of us really need to drive home in one way or another. Venn diagrams are a good start, lol.

This morning, I was absolutely beaming because an awesome sister from Spelman broke it down for Matt Lauer that for years, black activists and scholars have confronted the presence of misogyny and homophobia in mainstream rap music, but the media ignores it or pushes it under the table until people like Imus make remarks. Years. She focused mostly on the actions of black women activism at Spelman, but after Lauer heard her say that, he instantly jumped back to the panel discussion on "double standards" for black and white America. After he brushed her commentary aside, I didn't have the heart to try to see where the rest of the discussion would go. If I spot an online clip of the interaction, I'll post it here.

[Sylvia]

That's weird...that's my comment, btw.

[chicago dyke]

that's a slam dunk of a post, wo/man. new to your blog, and this warrants being added to the blogroll. damn fine job.

[Colin]

I'm in such agreement; I think my head's gonna explode. I say we start telling CBS and their sponsors about posts like this and others, just a small email aptly titled (somehow, I am not very creative) and with links to certain posts...who's with me?

[Nezua Limón Xolagrafik-Jonez]

good stuff, kai.

in truth, we'd actually need another smaller circle inside hip-hop culture for groups like Jurassic 5 and such who don't even go in for all the typical Jay-Z type misogyny. this only furthers your point.

[t'challa]

thanks as always to our host for some excellent points well made.

colin,
i'd be interested in reading what you think the 'typical jay-z type misogyny' consists of. is it because he uses the word b*itch?
are there other examples of hatred or uses of hate-speech that make you feel it warrants singling him out as a particular example?

i'm genuinely curious.

i only own the black album but, judging by that, i would have said there were far worse than he, in and out of hip hop circles.
do you have any particular lyrics in mind?

i'd also be interested to hear more about jurassic five, and why you picked them as the other side of the coin.
again, i only have one album, the self titled one, but i haven't found any lyrics on there that made me think of them as stand-out male allies of feminism.
was there anything i missed, perhaps on their later work?
or were you just referring to their not using the word b*tch all that much?

feel free to cite lyrics of stuff i don't have, i can always have a listen at some point.

[Yolanda Carrington]

T'Challa---Nezua is the one who made the comments you're citing, not Colin.

[Sylvia]

T'challa, if you would like an example of one of Jay-Z's more misogynistic songs, look up the lyrics of "N*gga What, N*gga Who." It's on The Life and Times of Shawn Carter, Vol. 2. That song also has its splotches of homophobia. And I'm not quite sure whether your question about Jay-Z using the word "bitch" helps or harms your point. Is it generally a good thing to refer to women as bitches now? I'm just curious.

[t'challa]

no, i don't think it is.
i don't think it's all that great a word in any context outside of dog-handling, and have all but eradicated it from my own conversation.
the reason i asked was i was curious if that, a fairly obvious reason to call misogyny, was the reason he was being named as misogyny's figurehead.

see, i didn't want to assume 'big pimpin' was the reason he was exemplar of the hatred and then find out later on it was an interview he did once that was inspiring nezua-not-colin's post.
i still think it'd be interesting to hear nezua's thoughts, but i shall have a look at the tune you mention.

cheers for the reply, and for the song.

on a less fun tack,
did you assume i wasn't sensitive to the word b*tch, and were you thinking of writing me off accordingly?
i can understand the defences have to be up on the hate-filled internet, but i think you've got me wrong.
i may be off the mark, as i don't know what you meant by the phrasing of your second last sentence.
i am trying to invest it with positive intent as i read it, but it still seems to me as though you are implying that i think b*tch(a word i have starred out every time i have written it) is acceptable, or should be.

i should think the answer to your question 'is it a good thing now?' was clearly 'no'.

can you see how the way you asked it made me feel a little antagonised?
i appreciate text is a difficult medium, so i doubt it was intentional. please, though, if you are willing, could you assume me to be right-on until i fuck up? if and when(probably when, we all fuck up) i fuck up, i fully expect to be taken to task. until then, i expect the default assumption of my character to be pleasant.

is that cool?

[Kai]

t'challa, I see no assumptions in Sylvia's comment, which was based solely on what you wrote. Please turn it down a notch or I will actually start to get annoyed. Thanks.

[t'challa]

well, i disagree.

Is it generally a good thing to refer to women as bitches now? I'm just curious.

sylvia's question asks 'is it generally a good thing', suggesting an extrapolation from the specific 'good thing' to the general.
the specific, 'it is a good thing to refer to women as b*tches' does not appear anywhere in the text, except if one assumes it was behind my questions as an unspoken belief.
the use of 'i'm just curious' echoes my earlier affirmation of curiosity, so i didn't take that part of the comment at face value.
as i said, text is a difficult medium to gauge tone and intent, and it is more than likely there was no malice or enmity involved.

add to that my having starred out the word continually, suggesting fairly clearly that i think it is not acceptable, and the question appears to me to be rendered redundant.

i won't press it, out of deference to you and the enjoyment i get from your blog. that, and how i am perceived is a pretty minor issue in the grand scheme of this site.
i'd feel a bit of a shithead if i didn't point it out, though.

i'm unsure of what i am to turn down because i thought i was asking calmly, so instead i think i shall opt to leave it alone from here, unless directly required to rejoin this conversation.

once again, i apologise for having misconstrued what was acceptable conversation in your space, and for having caused you to feel uncomfortable enough to want to warn me off.
i know it's never pleasant to have to do the authority thing, and i apologise for having created a situation in which you were forced to assume that position in your own home.

back to the lurk with me!

[Sylvia]

No, that question wasn't meant to come across as hostile. I read this inquiry from you.

i'd be interested in reading what you think the 'typical jay-z type misogyny' consists of. is it because he uses the word b*itch?

And I couldn't understand whether you were saying that Jay-Z's use of the word "bitch" was not to be considered misogynistic or not. Hence my specifically saying I wasn't sure:

And I'm not quite sure whether your question about Jay-Z using the word "bitch" helps or harms your point. Is it generally a good thing to refer to women as bitches now?

Perhaps I assumed you were asking because you were trying to make the point that Jay-Z's rapping wasn't very misogynistic except for his use of the word "bitch." It kinda read as "it's not so bad compared to," and I guess I thought that calling any woman a "bitch" for whatever reason stems from misogyny. Even if, to his credit, that's the only thing Jay-Z does in the spectrum of furthering resentment, hatred and violence against women, I don't see it as a point in his favor. It seems like you were minimizing his use of that term from what you said following that question.

[gar]

Great post. Love the diagrams.

[t'challa]

right, makes sense.
as you say, though, you read what i wrote, asking for clarification, and couldn't understand whether [i was] saying that Jay-Z's use of the word "bitch" was not to be considered misogynistic or not.

i'd suggest that is because you were looking for my question to work as a statement.
i wasn't saying anything at all, because i had nothing to say.
i was asking for clarification of another person's use of JayZ as the exemplar of misogyny, because, while i'd agree he is guilty of it, i wouldn't necessarily agree there are none so bad, nor none worse.

he's often used as the example, and i wanted to hear the why from some folks who seem to know it.

[Sylvia]

I'm sorry; I did presume you were making a point. Pardon me?

And though I can't speak for Nezua, I'd guess that he probably invoked Jay-Z because he is one of the few very successful black mainstream entrepreneurs in hip-hop right now, and one of the few in that group that still makes relatively popular albums. Personally, whenever I think of mainstream rap, I think of Jay-Z because I spent a sizable part of my adolescence listening to him. He's less an exemplar and more a figurehead, in my opinion.

[Vincent]

There is no question that Hip-Hop is a small part of Black Culture. It is a damn shame that many pundits blame hip-hop for the decay of our country's moral fiber. That is just a lie. That said, the hyper-buzz created by Imus' racist spewing can be used as a twist focus to effect change. In a earlier post, Kai referenced the corporate media related to Imus. That is where the action is at in this media-fueled pop-culture. By way of extension, the sponsors are an integral part of the equation. Let's face it. While the outrage expressed by individuals, NGOs, employees of MSNBC, NBC, and CBS played an important role in Imus' firing, the loss of American Express, GM, Staples, GlaxoSmithKline, and Protor and Gamble as sponsors was central to why Imus is not on TV and radio today.

So to keep the ball rolling. I think we have to bring the heat to Russell Simmons, Jay-Z, P-Diddy, Chuck-D, Master P, and others to use their considerable clout and money to not just clean lyrics, but to the even more vocal to advance race and gender relations by raising awareness and organizing consumer and investment activism. There were ten hip-hop entrepeneurs who were profiled in BusinessWeek, http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jan2007/sb20070104_507897.htm, in January.

Sylvia and Nezua are on point in my mind from the perspective that someone like Jay-Z can make moves by changing the language in his own music and that of his label's artists. People like Jay-z, while I know they are doing good work, have the opportunity to use their status and money to help lead and bring awareness to issues of race, sexism, education, AND economic self-determination more prominently. I would like to have seen what I will coin as the "hip-hopeneurs" out their as much as Sharpton and Jackson during the Imus "sitch".

The crisis of race and sexism in this country is not the sole fault of hip-hop, but the hip-hopeneurs can be a big part of the evolving solutions.

peace,

v

[magniloquence]

*hyperventilates* Oh my goodness! You... you like reached through the screen and pulled out what I was thinking, then did it simpler and better and with cooler diagrams!

You are totally my latest blogcrush.

[Blackamazon]

Kai wins

and I find it interesting that in a discussion of misogyny in hip hop and the cultural effects that you'd rather focus on which name calling rapper was used than the substantive point that his misogyny is and was readily accepted .

[Rainbow Girl]

Right on! Loved the diagram!